concept10 / Workbench

Learn and prototype with GNOME technologies 🛠️

Workbench

Learn and prototype with GNOME technologies

Workbench goal is to let you experiment with GNOME technologies, no matter if tinkering for the first time or building and testing a GTK user interface.

Among other things, Workbench comes with

• realtime GTK/CSS preview
• library of examples and demos
• JavaScript and Vala support
• XML and Blueprint for describing user interface
• syntax highlighting, undo/redo, autosave, session restore
• code linter and formatter
• terminal output
• 1000+ icons

ℹ️ Workbench is made possible by Flatpak. Only Flathub Workbench is supported.

Testimonials

“ It is an essential tool for those who develop applications with GTK ” • “ as someone who is learning GTK, Workbench is definitely a must have! ” • “ created a simple mockup using the amazing Workbench app ” • “ It used to be hard but Workbench helps me learn GTK. ” • “ I recommend it even to those who are new to GTK ” • “ This tool has simplified my life by saving my time drastically. ” • “ Gone too wild playing with Workbench ”

Tips and tricks

Disable code formatting

Workbench uses Rome and Prettier code formatters. If you need to exclude some code you can use special comments.

JavaScript

// rome-ignore format
matrix(
  1, 0, 0,
  0, 1, 0,
  0, 0, 1
);

CSS

/* prettier-ignore */
.my    ugly rule
{

}

Turn a prototype made in Workbench into an application

Use GNOME Builder to start a new project using the appropriate GNOME Application template and copy paste your Workbench code.

Credits

Workbench would not be possible without

Flatpak, GTK, GLib, GtkSourceView, libadwaita, VTE, GJS, Blueprint, icon-development-kit, Vala

and the GNOME community 🖤

Copyright

© 2022 Sonny Piers and contributors

License

GPLv3. Please see COPYING file.

Except for everything under src/Library/demos which is in the public domain under the terms of CC0 1.0.

Testimonials

From Mirko Brombin creator of Bottles

My favorite tool is definitely Workbench, an application that allows me to compose GTK interfaces with XML/Blueprint, JavaScript, and CSS, seeing the results in real-time. This tool has simplified my life by reducing my time drastically. It is an essential tool for those who develop applications with GTK and I recommend it even to those who are new to GTK.

https://console.substack.com/p/console-112

---

From Marco Melorio creator of Telgrand

GSoC coding period started on Monday, so this is a good time to blog about what I’ve started working on and what’s my milestone to finish the project. First off, I’ve created a simple mockup using Sonny Piers’ amazing Workbench app. This is the first step in knowing how we want the UI to look like, at least in the first iteration.

https://melix99.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/gsoc-update-1-planning/

---

Workbench has been great! It used to be hard to mess around with GTK but Workbench helps me to learn GTK.

https://twitter.com/synthesizedecho/status/1528958932911280129

Gone too wild playing with Workbench and Blueprint.

https://mastodon.online/@waimus/108582108701889960

as someone who is learning GTK, I can confirm that Workbench is definitely a must have for me!

https://fosstodon.org/@TheEvilSkeleton/108598098682948266

I'm really new to development and workbench its being a fantastic help not just to code itself, but to understand the gtk logic.

https://matrix.to/#/!kDBZrVKCdhrVuWxbGe:matrix.org/$XmIz7FA-UwpoiwHxDyzve1P-J1ecMHkL0x8Br23mUxg

Installed this (again) a short while ago this is for sure the most fun I've had with a development tool

https://floss.social/@[e-mail]/110594674482784960