From the Back Cover
"...not only the best book on Qt I have ever seen, but also the best book presenting any programming framework. Every sentence appears to be carefully worded, and every chapter has a sound concept, and so does the work as a whole." --Matthias Ettrich, Trolltech's lead developer, founder of the KDE project
"The 'Tao of Qt'.... The Qt system is a beautiful example of object oriented design, and the authors take advantage of this.... The authors have done an excellent job of presenting the subject in an interesting and engaging way...." --Ron McCarty, Instructor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
The first official Trolltech guide to Qt 3.2 programming!
Straight from Trolltech, this book covers all you need to build industrial-strength applications with Qt 3.2.x and C++--applications that run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and embedded Linux with no source code changes! The book teaches solid Qt programming practices; it is not a rehash of the documentation. You'll find start-to-finish coverage packed with examples, plus a CD with the Qt 3.2 toolset and Borland C++ compilers--including a non-commercial Qt 3.2 for Windows available nowhere else! Build powerful C++ GUI applications quickly and easily Design dialogs and main windows visually and in code Learn Qt's innovative typesafe signals and slots mechanism Use layouts to create forms that automatically size and scale Create custom signals, slots, events, and controls Program the ''Qt way'' with techniques for Qt 3.2 that'll work with Qt 4 Code applications with menus, toolbars, dialogs, and drag and drop Utilize 2D and 3D graphics, multithreading, and networking Write database and XML applications Internationalize to reach foreign markets Exploit platform-specific-features like ActiveX
Already using Qt or just starting out? Evaluating Qt or managing it? Building open source applications--or commercial applications? Want to develop for Windows without buying an expensive compiler? Whatever your goal, this is the only book you need!
CD-ROM: Everything you need to write great GUI programs! Qt 3.2 Non-Commercial Edition for Windows Borland C++ 5.5 Non-Commercial Edition Borland C++ 6.0 Trial Edition Qt 3.2 Free Editions for Unix/Linux/Mac OS X SQLite database The book's code examples
About the Author
Trolltech software engineer JASMIN BLANCHETTE develops and maintains Qt classes and tools including Qt's regular expression engine and layout managers, and is lead developer for Qt Linguist. MARK SUMMERFIELD, Trolltech's documentation manager, writes Qt's example programs and tutorials, and edits Qt Quarterly and Qt's online documentation.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Preface
The Qt toolkit is a C++ class library and a set of tools for building multiplatformGUI programs using a "write once, compile anywhere" approach. Qt letsprogrammers use a single source tree for applications that will run on Windows95 to XP, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and many other versions ofUnix with X11.A version of Qt is also available for Embedded Linux, with thesame API.
The purpose of this book is to teach you how to write GUI programs using Qt 3.The book starts with "Hello Qt" and quickly moves on to more advanced topics,such as creating custom widgets and providing drag and drop. The text iscomplemented by a CDthat contains the source code of the example programs.The CD also provides Qt and Borland C++ for Windows, Qt for Unix, and Qtfor Mac OS X. Appendix A explains how to install the software.
The book focuses on explaining good idiomatic Qt 3 programming techniquesrather than simply rehashing or summarizing Qt's extensive online documentation.And because we are involved in the development of Qt 4, we have triedto ensure that most of what we teach here will still be valid and sensible forQt 4.
It is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of C++. The code examples usea subset of C++, avoiding many C++ features that are rarely needed whenprogramming Qt. In the few places where a more advanced C++ construct isunavoidable, it is explained as it is used.
Qt made its reputation as a multiplatform toolkit, but because of its intuitiveand powerful API, many organizations use Qt for single-platform development.Adobe PhotoshopAlbum is just one example of a mass-marketWindowsapplication written in Qt. Many sophisticated software systems in verticalmarkets, such as 3D animation tools, digital film processing, electronic designautomation (for chip design), oil and gas exploration, financial services, andmedical imaging, are built with Qt. If you are making a living with a successfulWindows product written in Qt, you can easily create new markets in theMac OS X and Linux worlds simply by recompiling.
Qt is available under various licenses. If you want to build commercialapplications, you must buy a commercial license; if you want to build opensource programs,you can use a non-commercial Qt edition. (The editions of Qton the CD are non-commercial.) Qt is the foundation on which the K DesktopEnvironment (KDE) and the many open source applications that go with itare built.
In addition to Qt's hundreds of classes, there are add-ons that extend Qt'sscope and power. Some of these products, like the Qt/Motif integration moduleand Qt Script for Applications (QSA), are supplied by Trolltech, while othersare provided by companies and by the open source community. See http://www.trolltech.com/products/3rdparty/ for information on Qt add-ons. Qt alsohas a well-established and thriving user community that uses the qt-interestmailing list; see http://lists.trolltech.com/ for details.
The book is divided into two parts. Part I covers all the concepts and practicesnecessary for programming GUI applications using Qt. Knowledge of thispart alone is sufficient to write useful GUI applications. Part II covers centralQt topics in more depth and provides more specialized and advanced material.The chapters of Part II can be read in any order, but they assume familiaritywith the contents of Part I.
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