Programming with QT: Writing Portable GUI Applicat

Programming with QT: Writing Portable GUI Applicat Writing Portable GUI applications on UNIX and Win32

By Matthias Kalle Dalheimer
April 1999
Pages: 380
ISBN 10: 1-56592-588-2 | ISBN 13: 9781565925885
(Average of 0 Customer Reviews)

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Book description

This indispensable guide teaches you how to take full advantage of Qt, a powerful, easy-to-use, cross-platform GUI toolkit, and guides you through the steps of writing your first Qt application. It describes all of the GUI elements in Qt, along with advice about when and how to use them. It also contains material on advanced topics like 2D transformations, drag-and-drop, and custom image file filters.
Full Description

Qt is a C++ class library for writing GUI applications that run on UNIX, Windows 95/98, and Windows NT platforms. Qt is much easier to use than the standard Motif toolkit for UNIX systems, but at the same time Qt emulates the look-and-feel of Motif. Best of all, after you have written an application with Qt, all you have to do is recompile it to have a version that works on Windows systems. Qt also emulates the look-and-feel of Windows, so you can provide all of your users with native-looking interfaces. Platform independence is not the only benefit of Qt. Qt uses an ingenious signal/slot mechanism for connecting user interaction with program functionality, providing an excellent framework for component-based programming. Graphical rendering in Qt is highly optimized due to its use of effective caching mechanisms -- rendering in Qt is often faster than with the similar native API. In addition to user interface classes, Qt features portable support for file system access, working with date and time values, and network programming. With Qt, you'll find that you need to write very little, if any, platform-dependent code because Qt already has what you need. Qt is popular with open-source and Linux developers because it can be used for free on UNIX systems for this type of development. For commercial development, you need a license for Qt, which is available from Troll Tech, the developers of Qt. In addition to open-source development, Qt is being used by several major companies and government and international agencies. While programming with Qt is straightforward and feels natural once you get the hang of it, the learning curve can be steep. Qt comes with excellent reference documentation, but beginners often find the included tutorial is not enough to really get started with Qt. That is where this book steps in. Programming with Qt guides you through the steps of writing a Qt application by showing you how to write a simple paint application. It also helps deepen your understanding of the topics with exercises and fully worked out answers. The book presents all of the GUI elements in Qt, along with advice about when and how to use them, so that you can make full use of the toolkit. There's also lots of information for seasoned Qt programmers, including material on advanced 2D transformations, drag-and-drop, and writing custom image file filters. Programming with Qt helps you get the most out of Qt. With it, you'll learn to take full advantage of this powerful, easy-to-use, cross-platform toolkit.

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Cover | Table of Contents | Index

Book details

First Edition: April 1999
ISBN: 1-56592-588-2
Pages: 380
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 0 Reviews)

Featured customer reviews

Programming with Qt Review, December 26 1999
Submitted by Jonathan   [Respond | View]

Very, very cool book. Buy it! It's indispensable
for people wantin' to learn QT.
If you live in Brazil, the translation is not so cool, buy the english one.
A tradução ficou uma merda.

Programming with Qt Review, December 05 1999
Submitted by Victor   [Respond | View]

Just bought the book today.. what can i say.. GREAT!!! at last i can create a simple text editor in KDE. always wondered how the copy+cut+paste works.. hei, just reading about 15 minutes into the book and i get a working text-editor. What more can a beginner programmer asked for?? Thanks going out to TrollTech for such an over-simplified app-library and Matthias Kalle Dalheimer for tearing down the hardness in understanding slots/signals..

BUY THIS BOOK!!

Programming with Qt Review, June 21 1999
Submitted by Josin Alvistur   [Respond | View]

Many thanks to Mr. Dalheimer for a well-organized, well-written introduction to Qt. Wish more computer books were written as thoughtfully as this one. And many thanks to Troll Tech for Qt, as well.

Read all reviews

Programming with Qt Review, June 14 1999
Submitted by NotoRand   [Respond | View]

A gentle but useful intro to Qt. The authors do a good job of explaining why Qt does things the way it does. Reading this and _Developing Linux Applications_ by Eric Harlow gives a good feeling for the differences between GTK and Qt. If you are interested in programming Linux GUI applications take a look at both books. Qt, the book and the code, seem a little slimmer as might be expected of C++. _Programming with Qt_ is an excellent way to get started with Linux (or Unix or Win NT) programming if you are familiar with C++.

Programming with Qt Review, May 21 1999
Submitted by William T. D'Silva   [Respond | View]

Programming with Qt is really a great book.
Although some of the other comments talk about it being a book for "newbies" it offers exactly the right information to bootstrap one into the Qt world.

Advanced users can look at the sources of Qt and KDE for "heavy metal" to sink their teeth into.

Perhaps the critics can write a more advanced book themselves! They will find that it is easy to be an arm chair critic, but much harder to be a practical author!

Our thanks to Matthis Kalle Dalheimer and the O'Reilly team for doing us programmers such a valuable service.

Thanks to Troll Tech as well for Qt. Last but not least our thanks to the KDE team for having used Qt and produced such a wonderful suite of programs with it. Imagine investing so much blood sweat and tears and then offering it to the world for free!

Programming with Qt Review, May 13 1999
Submitted by Ernie Pasveer   [Respond | View]

I too think its a book for newbie's, but its
a good book for newbies.

It did manage, though, to solve a few
problems I've been having with widget
layouts and color allocations.

Perhaps a follow up book for "Advance Uses of
QT" should be in the works.

Programming with Qt Review, April 27 1999
Submitted by Juergen Messerer   [Respond | View]

The book is not bad, but I think it is more for
newbies. I'm little disappointed. It would be nice
if they publish a Qt-Book for advaced programmers.
The most O'Reilly books are for both (newbies and advanced).
But anyway. He did a good job.

Programming with Qt Review, April 23 1999
Submitted by erik olson   [Respond | View]

O'reilly coming out with a Qt book is great.

Now what I want to know is when can I expect a Gtk book?

Programming with Qt Review, April 20 1999
Submitted by Graham TerMarsch   [Respond | View]

Can't wait for it to come out. Have been reading
announcements about it since Christmas each one
saying that it's coming "real soon now". First
was February, then April, now May? Me thinks its
going to be quicker to pick one up in Holland when
I'm there in June rather than wait for it to show
up here on the shelves in Canada.

Programming with Qt Review, April 12 1999
Submitted by Ivan Brusic   [Respond | View]

The book has been released in Germany only. As of today, April 12th, 1999,
the book has still not been released in the United States (I can't verify for
the rest of the world).

For those lucky enough to have read this book, are the examples platform
specific? One of QTs strenghts is its ability to run on Unix and Win boxes.

Cheers!

Programming with Qt Review, March 10 1999
Submitted by Stefan Oskamp   [Respond | View]

Michael,
what do you mean "Can't wait until it's released....."?
It IS released. Until now I've read the first hundred
pages, and it is so far a very good introduction
to Qt. Now I have to make some room on my Linux
box so that I can do the exercises ;-)

Programming with Qt Review, March 10 1999
Submitted by Michael Smith   [Respond | View]

Can't wait until it's released.....

Media reviews

"a good book and I recommend it." --Al Stevens, Dr. Dobbs Journal, September 2001

"An excellent introduction to Qt" --Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk, May 2000

"The official QT 'Bible'" --Dave Jewell, EXE, Dec 1999

"The author's presentation in this book is a model of clarity. Programming with Qt makes a good argument that Qt is a great choice for creating rich user interfaces in UNIX, Linux, or Windows with a minimum of developer effort." --Richard Dragan, amazon.com, June 1998

"An excellent book on Qt programming, and a must buy. The Parrot Book, as this is sure to be known, is excellent for a beginner looking to quickly learn the ins and outs of Qt programming . . . Everything you expect from a book with an animal on the cover and O'Reilly on the spine." --ErikSev, slashdot.com, June 1999

"I must give credit to Mr. Dalheimer. Writing an instruction book on how to program using Qt, while keeping it both simple and interesting, must have been a major undertaking. I'm happy to say that Dalheimer has succeeded on both counts. His style is light, and instructive, his examples are clever and educational it is well worth the US $32.95 you pay for it. Qt is a most wonderful library, and every programmer would benefit greatly from using it." --Geir Erik Nielsen, 32bitsonline, August 18, 1999

"Programming with Qt, by Matthias Dalheimer, covers a tool that addresses some of the thornier topics in modern GUI programming, cross-platform application frameworks, and widget toolkits..... Dalheimer provides a good overview of the Qt programming model, and presents a solid conceptual framework for any experienced programmer new to Qt. He includes several usage tips and many pieces of thoughtful advice, any one of which could easily be worth the cost of the book in the right circumstances...For readers new to Qt, especially those with a Windows background, this is all useful and enlightening material." --Lou Grinzo, Dr Dobbs ERB

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