Dey Cross-Platform Development with Qt 6 and Modern C++

Design and build applications with modern graphical user interfaces without worrying about platform dependency
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-80020-885-8
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 442 Seiten

Qt is a cross-platform application development framework widely used for developing applications that can run on a wide range of hardware platforms with little to no change in the underlying codebase. If you have basic knowledge of C++ and want to build desktop or mobile applications with a modern graphical user interface (GUI), Qt is the right choice for you. Cross-Platform Development with Qt 6 and Modern C++ helps you understand why Qt is one of the favorite GUI frameworks adopted by industries worldwide, covering the essentials of programming GUI apps across a multitude of platforms using the standard C++17 and Qt 6 features.
Starting with the fundamentals of the Qt framework, including the features offered by Qt Creator, this practical guide will show you how to create classic user interfaces using Qt Widgets and touch-friendly user interfaces using Qt Quick. As you advance, you'll explore the Qt Creator IDE for developing applications for multiple desktops as well as for embedded and mobile platforms. You will also learn advanced concepts about signals and slots. Finally, the book takes you through debugging and testing your app with Qt Creator IDE.
By the end of this book, you'll be able to build cross-platform applications with a modern GUI along with the speed and power of native apps.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dey, Nibedit Dey

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Programmierung | Softwareentwicklung Software Engineering
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion User Interface Design & Benutzerfreundlichkeit
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Programmierung | Softwareentwicklung Programmier- und Skriptsprachen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Table of Contents - Introduction to Qt 6
- Introduction to Qt Creator
- GUI Design Using Qt Widgets

- Qt Quick and QML

- Cross-Platform Development
- Signals and Slots
- Model View Programming
- Graphics and Animations

- Testing and Debugging

- Deploying Qt Applications
- Internationalization
- Performance Considerations

Leseproben

Preface

Qt is a cross-platform application development framework designed to create great software applications with amazing user interfaces for desktop, embedded, and mobile platforms. It provides developers with a great set of tools for designing and building great applications without having to worry about platform dependency.

In this book, we will focus on Qt 6, the latest version of the Qt framework. This book will help you with creating user-friendly and functional graphical user interfaces. You will also gain an advantage over competitors by providing better-looking applications with a consistent look and feel across different platforms.

Developers who want to build a cross-platform application with an interactive GUI will be able to put their knowledge to work with this practical guide. The book provides a hands-on approach to implementing the concepts and associated mechanism that will have your application up-and-running in no time. You will also be provided explanation for essential concepts with examples to give you a complete learning experience.

You will begin by exploring the Qt framework across different platforms. You will learn how to configure Qt on different platforms, understand different Qt modules, learn core concepts, and learn how they can be used to build efficient GUI applications. You will be able to build, run, test, and deploy applications across different platforms. You will also learn to customize the look and feel of the application and develop a translation aware application. Apart from learning the complete application process, the book will also help you in identifying the bottlenecks and how to address them in order to enhance the performance of your application.

By the end of this book, you will be able to build and deploy your own Qt applications on different platforms.

Who this book is for

This book is intended for developers and programmers who want to build GUI-based applications. It is also intended for software engineers who have coded in C++ before. The entry barrier isn't that high, so if you understand basics C++ and OOPS concepts, then you can embark on this journey.

In addition, this book can help intermediate-level Qt developers, who want to build and deploy in other platforms. Working professionals or students, who want to get started with Qt programming, as well as programmers who are new to Qt, will find this book useful.

What this book covers

, , will introduce you to Qt and describe how to set it up on a machine. By the end of the chapter, readers will be able to build Qt from source code and get started on their platform of choice.

, introduces you to the Qt Creator IDE and its user interface. This chapter will also teach you how to create and manage projects in Qt Creator. You will learn to develop a simple application using Qt Creator and learn about different shortcuts, and practical tips.

, explores the Qt Widgets module. Here, you will learn the various kinds of widgets that are available for creating GUIs. You will also be introduced to Layouts, Qt Designer, and learn how to create your own custom controls. This chapter will help you in developing your first GUI application using Qt.

, , covers fundamentals of Qt Quick and QML, Qt Quick Controls, Qt Quick Designer, Qt Quick Layouts, and Basic QML Scripting. In this chapter, you will learn to use Qt Quick controls and how to integrate C++ code with QML. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create a modern application with fluid UI using QML.

, , explores cross-platform development using Qt. You will learn about different settings in Qt Creator. In this chapter, you will be able to run sample applications on your favorite desktop and mobile platforms.

, covers the signals and slots mechanism in depth. You will be able to communicate between different C++ classes and between C++ and QML. You will also learn about events, event filters and event loop.

, , introduces you to the Model/View architecture in Qt and its core concepts. Here, you will be able to write custom models and delegates . You can use these to display required information on your Qt Widget-based or Qt Quick-based GUI application.

, introduces the concepts of 2D graphics and animations. You will learn how to use painter APIs to draw different shapes on the screen. We will further discuss the possibility of graphics data representation using Qt's Graphics View framework and Scene Graph. This chapter will guide you towards creating an attention-grabbing user interface with animations. The chapter also touches upon the state machine framework.

, , explores different debugging techniques for a Qt application. You will learn about unit testing and the Qt Test framework in this chapter. We will also discuss how to use the Google Test framework with Qt Test, as well as learn about the available Qt tooling and GUI specific testing techniques.

, discusses the importance of software deployment. You will learn to deploy a Qt application on various platforms, including desktop and mobile platforms. You will learn about the available deployment tools and steps to create an installer package.

, introduces you to internationalization. Qt provides excellent support for translating Qt Widgets and Qt Quick applications into local languages. In this chapter, you will learn how to make an application with multi-lingual support. You will also learn about inbuilt tools and various considerations for making a translation-aware application.

, introduces you to performance optimization techniques and how to apply them in the context of Qt programming. Here, we will discuss different profiling tools to diagnose performance problems, concentrating specifically on the tools available on Windows. In this chapter, you will learn how to profile performance with QML Profiler and benchmark your code. The chapter will also help you write high-performance optimized QML code.

To get the most out of this book

We will only use open source software, so you will not need to purchase any license. We will go over the installation procedures and detail as we progress through each chapter. To install the required software, you will require a functional internet connection and a desktop PC or laptop. Apart from that, there is no particular software requirement before you begin this book.

Important notes

For Android setup, you will need the following:

OpenJDK 8 (JDK-8.0.275.1)

Android SDK 4.0

NDK r21 (21.3.6528147)

Clang toolchain

Android OpenSSL

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code via the GitHub repository (link available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

All code examples have been tested using Qt 6 on the Windows platform. You may see failures if you use Qt 5. However, they should work with future version releases too. Please make sure that the version you're installing to your computer is at least Qt 6.0.0 or later so that the code is compatible with the book.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Cross-Platform-Development-with-Qt-6-and-Modern-Cpp. Additionally, you can find some bonus examples with C++17 features in the aforementioned mentioned GitHub link. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://static.packt-cdn.com/downloads/9781800204584_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "Typically, the exec () method is used to show a dialog."

A block of code is set as follows:

    QMessageBox messageBox;

    messageBox.setText("This is a simple QMessageBox.");

    messageBox.exec();

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

    QMessageBox messageBox;

    messageBox.setText("This is a simple...

Über Autor(innen)

Dey Nibedit :

Nibedit Dey is a software engineer turned serial entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in building complex software-based products with amazing user interfaces. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, he worked for Larsen and Toubro and Tektronix in different R&D roles. He holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and a master's degree in digital design and embedded systems. Specializing in Qt and embedded technologies, his current role involves end-to-end ownership of products right from architecture to delivery. Currently, he manages two technology-driven product startups named ibrum technologies and AIDIA Health. He is a tech-savvy developer who is passionate about embracing new technologies.