KDE Dev Guide

The Qt Framework

To start developing on the KDE Development Platform you will need to get familiar with the Qt framework, which is one of building blocks of KDE development.

Qt (pronounced officially as cute) is a cross-platform application framework based on C++, that is widely used for developing application software with a graphical user interface (GUI). Thus, it is largely a widget toolkit, but is also used for developing non-GUI programs such as command-line tools and consoles for servers.

Besides the KDE Development Platform, Qt is most notably used in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop Elements, OPIE, Skype, VLC media player, VirtualBox, and Mathematica, and by the European Space Agency, DreamWorks, Google, HP, Lucasfilm, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, Volvo, and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Advantages of Qt

Writing code once to target multiple platforms

Qt allows you to write advanced applications and UIs that you can deploy across different desktops and embedded operating systems without rewriting the source code, saving time and development cost.

Creating amazing user experiences

Whether you prefer C++ or JavaScript, Qt provides the building blocks for modern, interactive interfaces: a broad set of customizable widgets, graphics canvas, style engines, and more. You can incorporate 3D graphics, multimedia audio or video, visual effects, and animations to set your application apart from the competition.

Doing more (and faster!) with less 

Qt is fast to learn and to use, particularly when used together with the new Qt Creator cross-platform IDE.  And Qt's modular class library provides much of the necessary infrastructure for interactive applications.

Blending web and native code in a single application

Qt's integration with the WebKit web rendering engine means that you can quickly incorporate content and services from the Web into your native application, and can use the web environment to deliver your services and functionality.

To learn how to use Qt, we recommend the tutorials here:

 http://doc.qt.nokia.com/