When comparing Java / SWT vs wxWidgets, the Slant community recommends wxWidgets for most people. In the question“What are the best cross-platform GUI toolkits?” wxWidgets is ranked 1st while Java / SWT is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose wxWidgets is:
wxWidgets was started in 1992 by Julian Smart.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Open source
Pro Actively developed
Pro Native controls
Pro Mature
wxWidgets was started in 1992 by Julian Smart.
Pro Truly native look and feel
It uses the platform's native API rather than emulating the GUI.
Pro Open source
wxWidgets can be used for free or commercial projects, at no cost.
Pro Can do custom control rendering
You can make a custom renderer using the class wxDelegateRendererNative to draw directly any standard control or using the class BackgroundWindow to use any bitmap as a control background.
Pro Forms designers
Several forms designers, like wxFormBuilder, are available.
Pro Designer
A very nice designer: wxCrafter. Free for non-commercial use/evaluation phase (without time expiration). Highly recommended if you plan to use wxWidgets.
Pro Perfect combination: wxFormBuilder + ZeroBrane (wxLua)
Lua Language can provide extra high level scripting
Pro Can use Qt on X11
WxQt is available on X11.
Cons
Con Only works in Java or JRE based software
Con Inherits limitation of native controls
E.g. slow handling of tables with a lot of rows on Linux.
Con No elegant abstraction
As in Swing; no models.
Con Needs separate libraries for each platform
Con Android port not totally usable yet
See WxAndroid.
Con Uses GTK on X11
WxWidgets uses GTK+ on X11 desktop which well known for looking like an alien on non GTK+ desktops.