In this tutorial, we’ll build a desktop app that counts vowels, consonants, words, and characters in real time using Python’s Tkinter GUI library.
Step 1: Import Required Modules
First, we need some Python modules:
import sys
import os
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk, messagebox
Explanation:
sys & os → Helps with file paths (useful when packaging the app).
tkinter → Main library for creating the GUI.
ttk → Tkinter themed widgets (optional here).
messagebox → To show popup messages like “About”.
Step 2: Define the Theme
Next, let’s create a consistent color and font theme:
# Colors
APP_BG = "#121212"
PANEL_BG = "#1F1F1F"
BTN_BG = "#2C2C2C"
ACCENT = "#FF6F61"
TEXT_CLR = "#E0E0E0"
# Font
FONT = ("Segoe UI", 11)
Explanation:
APP_BG → Main background color.
PANEL_BG → Left/right panel color.
BTN_BG → Button background.
ACCENT → Highlight color (for important buttons).
TEXT_CLR → General text color.
FONT → Default font for text and labels.
Step 3: Create a Resource Path Function
This function helps us get file paths correctly even after packaging the app with tools like PyInstaller:
def resource_path(file_name):
base_path = getattr(sys, "_MEIPASS", os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
return os.path.join(base_path, file_name)
Explanation:
_MEIPASS is used by PyInstaller to locate bundled files.
This ensures the app can find resources like images or data files.
Step 4: Create Text Logic for Counting
We need a function to count vowels, consonants, letters, words, and characters:
VOWELS = set("aeiouAEIOU")
def count_chars(text):
vowels = sum(1 for c in text if c in VOWELS)
consonants = sum(1 for c in text if c.isalpha() and c not in VOWELS)
total_letters = vowels + consonants
total_chars = len(text)
words = len(text.split())
return vowels, consonants, total_letters, words, total_chars
Explanation:
VOWELS → Set for fast lookup.
vowels → Count characters in text that are vowels.
consonants → Count letters that aren’t vowels.
total_letters → Sum of vowels + consonants.
total_chars → All characters including spaces/punctuation.
words → Number of words (split() splits by spaces).
Step 5: Build the Main App Class
We’ll encapsulate our app in a class for better organization:
class VowelConsonantCounter:
def __init__(self, root):
self.root = root
root.title("Vowel & Consonant Counter")
root.geometry("1000x520")
root.configure(bg=APP_BG)
root.resizable(False, False)
Explanation:
root.title() → Sets the window title.
root.geometry() → Sets window size.
root.configure(bg=...) → Background color.
root.resizable(False, False) → Fixes the window size.
Step 6: Create the Left Panel with a Text Box
This is where users will type text:
left = tk.Frame(root, bg=PANEL_BG, width=420)
left.pack(side="left", fill="y")
tk.Label(
left,
text="Enter Text",
bg=PANEL_BG,
fg=TEXT_CLR,
font=("Segoe UI", 12, "bold")
).pack(anchor="w", padx=12, pady=(12, 4))
self.text_box = tk.Text(
left,
height=17,
bg=BTN_BG,
fg=TEXT_CLR,
font=FONT,
wrap="word",
padx=10,
pady=10,
relief="flat"
)
self.text_box.pack(fill="x", padx=12)
self.text_box.bind("<KeyRelease>", self.update_counts)
Explanation:
tk.Frame → A container for widgets.
tk.Label → Displays “Enter Text”.
tk.Text → Multi-line input box.
.bind("", ...) → Updates counts whenever the user types.
Step 7: Add Buttons
Let’s create Clear and About buttons:
btn_frame = tk.Frame(left, bg=PANEL_BG)
btn_frame.pack(fill="x", padx=12, pady=12)
def make_btn(text, cmd, color=BTN_BG):
return tk.Button(
btn_frame,
text=text,
command=cmd,
bg=color,
fg="white",
font=("Segoe UI", 11, "bold"),
relief="flat",
height=2,
width=20
)
make_btn("Clear Text", self.clear_text).pack(side="left", expand=True, padx=4)
make_btn("About", self.show_about, ACCENT).pack(side="left", expand=True, padx=4)
Explanation:
make_btn → Helper function to create styled buttons.
Clear Text → Clears the text box.
About → Shows a popup with info about the app.
Step 8: Create the Right Panel for Statistics
This panel shows live counts:
right = tk.Frame(root, bg=APP_BG)
right.pack(side="right", fill="both", expand=True)
stats_card = tk.Frame(right, bg=PANEL_BG)
stats_card.pack(padx=30, pady=40, fill="both", expand=True)
tk.Label(
stats_card,
text="Text Statistics",
bg=PANEL_BG,
fg=TEXT_CLR,
font=("Segoe UI", 14, "bold")
).pack(pady=(20, 10))
self.stats = {}
for label in ["Vowels", "Consonants", "Total Letters", "Words", "Characters"]:
frame = tk.Frame(stats_card, bg=PANEL_BG)
frame.pack(fill="x", padx=40, pady=6)
tk.Label(
frame,
text=label,
bg=PANEL_BG,
fg="#AAAAAA",
font=("Segoe UI", 11)
).pack(side="left")
value = tk.Label(
frame,
text="0",
bg=PANEL_BG,
fg="white",
font=("Segoe UI", 12, "bold")
)
value.pack(side="right")
self.stats[label] = value
Explanation:
Each statistic (vowels, consonants, etc.) has its own label/value pair.
self.stats dictionary → Easy access to update counts dynamically.
Step 9: Add App Methods
def update_counts(self, event=None):
text = self.text_box.get("1.0", "end-1c")
v, c, letters, words, chars = count_chars(text)
self.stats["Vowels"].config(text=str(v))
self.stats["Consonants"].config(text=str(c))
self.stats["Total Letters"].config(text=str(letters))
self.stats["Words"].config(text=str(words))
self.stats["Characters"].config(text=str(chars))
def clear_text(self):
self.text_box.delete("1.0", "end")
self.update_counts()
def show_about(self):
messagebox.showinfo(
"About",
"Vowel & Consonant Counter\n\n"
"Counts vowels, consonants, words, and characters.\n\n"
"Built by MateTools"
)
Explanation:
update_counts → Reads the text and updates stats.
clear_text → Clears text and resets stats.
show_about → Shows a popup window.
Step 10: Run the App
Finally, we run the app:
if __name__ == "__main__":
root = tk.Tk()
VowelConsonantCounter(root)
root.mainloop()
Explanation:
tk.Tk() → Creates the main window.
VowelConsonantCounter(root) → Initializes our app.
root.mainloop() → Starts the Tkinter event loop.
✅ That’s it! Now you have a fully functional Vowel & Consonant Counter desktop app in Python.
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