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I am competing in a cybersecurity competition and have been a competitor for a while and have built up a script of dos commands I run to secure a system and would like to build it into a GUI rather than a terminal.

I want to do this to sort of get some experience in writing programs.

If it helps, Iwill post the batch script, I just couldn't find a way to link it to the post. I just want a recommendation of what program and language to start this project with so I can have a basis to work from.

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    Welcome aborad ;-) A great question, with many possible answers. If you don't want to pay money, please add the gratis tag.
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 10:00

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I have been using Delphi since the first edition, which I got as a Christmas present about 20 years ago. I agree with @spring 's recommendation, or Lazarus as an open source alternative.

To offer you more choice, Python is an extremely simple to learn language which, as @Gordon says, is like most (all?) in that it can interface with DOS.

It can also generate GUIs, so you might want to look at it.

If you do go for Python, there is no better IDE than the community edition of JetBrains' PyCharm. It will make you much more productive and make debugging easier.

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I'm not sure how much DOS that a recent or current Windows operating system will emulate. A 32-bit console is available but it's not DOS.

Basically, just consider getting Visual Basic or Delphi and starting over. In fact a relatively simple Delphi 7 is still available when the current Delphi is purchased. But either Visual Basic or Delphi can easily make GUI's on Windows operating systems. Visual Basic or Delphi can also link to a DLL and use a DLL like a function.

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    If you Google hard enough, you can find a copy of the full Delphi7 which was once given away on a magazine cover. There is also a free community edition of the current Delphi. And, of course, the Open Source "clone", Lazarus
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 9:44
  • Btw, to get an idea of what different languages look like, visit Rosetta Code
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 10:01
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All of the languages I have encountered have a way to execute a shell command (DOS).

Since you are talking about DOS, I assume that you are using windows. If that is the case, VB.NET, C#.NET will be super simple and provide a nice graphical interface for making your GUI. There are also thousands of helpful posts on SO about those languages and very extensive useful documentation from MS. They will also provide you with options to do most windows functions/management/configuration tasks directly instead of using the shell if you want to delve into the MS APIs.

Unfortunately I have not done any GUI design on Linux, so I would have to resort to nodeJS with an HTML front end (not a good solution for security IMHO).

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  • Qt is an excellent, free, cross-platform GUI developer code.
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 9:46
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Another simple scripting language is AutoIt.

AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages.

You can use the general scripting side of it to run your batch scripts (or re-write them in AuotIt), while I know of no other free solution with AutoIt's window control abilities, which will be invaluable if you want to automate GUI based Windows apps.

And, of course, you can add a GUI to your AutoIt scripts.

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