Cross(-Platform) Your Fingers..!!. Review on Trolltech Qt

Hi people this is my second review..don't worry I am not going to count the REST.! The motive behind writing reviews is I am trying to improve my writing skills, and I would be obliged if you are going to post HelL lot of Comments...!

Qt is a comprehensive C++ application development framework,...and blah blah...! For all those people who want to read more geek stuff can turn their heads to.. https://Trolltech.com . A ll I would like to tell you guys is... Qt is a set of TOOLS which includes >>

A class-library

Tools for cross-platform development

Internationalization ...which let's you bring JAVA to your C++ Applications.

There are many application frameworks and GUI framework (like GTK+,etc) and Virtual Machines GoDB which uses Visual Basic as coding standard and a virtual machine which is just 400 k compared to 4 MB of JVM, but they are still less experienced..and may take time to mature.

For now I will concentrate on Qt . It helps you to build applications once and run anywhere...and when I say anywhere I mean anywhere -

Microsoft Windows

Linux

Macintosh

Embedded Systems like MOBILE Devices

It supports Windows DLL and Linux's Static Libraries and whatever they have for MAC :D. Qt is being used my European Space Research Organisation, and many more companies are headed for it too.

As I feel, It's always better to use C++ than using JAVA or .NET Framework kind of things while building applications of any kind because they are - faster and have low memory consumption and more features too.

:: Installation ::

Well for guys using Linux already know that this is available with almost any distribution. As far my experience is conserned, The best is to use Fedora Core 4 or later which contains Qt 3.x.x with Qt Designer and almost all documents and Tools you need and it is FREE for Linux too.

But if you are looking for a Windows Version you have to request personally to Trolltech for a 30-Day Trial copy, which integrates itself with MicroSoft Visual Studio, or may be you are lucky and can find on Google who knows.

SUSE 10 Experience was Bad ..It contained everything except for the Qt binary with which the program was to be compiled, (or may be I couldn't find it).

:: Usage/Tools ::

It provide lot's and loadz of tools to help you build, layout and translate your applications. The one thing I liked about is their translation tool that helps you deploy your application in many languages they support.

Once you have written your Application you can compile it for different platforms.

The thing I disliked is that you have to manually compile your Files preferably from a Command line.

:: Learning ::

So Coming to the usage, it's very easy but like everything it takes time too. If you are a Visual C++ programmer then it is gona be really easy to work with, but if you are still stuck in Borland C++ like me...Get your mind set to do some real work.

If your C++ basics are really clear then go ahead otherwise sit back and relax and get your basics clear.

OK you can't wait to try it out just go to Trolltech and have their TUTORIAL downloaded it's in PDF format. You can do a bit of googling and find forums and lots of stuff out there waiting for you.

The last thing I would like to say is..If you are looking for a career in Qt bet it you are headed right. A project in Qt on your resume can pop your boss's eyes, that's for sure. There are more and more Application Framworks like Qt coming in the market but Experience counts and Qt stands right there.