Chapter 3.  Introduction to Qt

Table of Contents

3.1. Style Guidelines, Naming Conventions
3.2. The Qt Core Module
3.2.1. Streams and Dates
3.3. QtCreator – An IDE for Qt Programming
3.4. Exercises: Introduction to Qt
3.5. Review Questions
3.5.1. Points of Departure

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Abstract

This chapter introduces some style guidelines and naming conventions that will be used in the rest of this book. The Qt Core module is introduced with examples and exercises that use Qt stream and date classes.

Qt is a modular system of classes and tools that makes it easier for you to write smaller modules of code. It provides an almost complete replacement for STL classes/types, builds/runs on more compilers than code written using C++0x, and supports some of the same features without requiring a modern compiler.

Inside the Qt source archive, there is a collection of Examples and Demos. Sometimes we will refer to them, and they have paths which fall under the examples/ or demos/ path prefix. If you are using the Qt SDK or a Qt installed with Linux, you may need to run the package manager to install them. Figure 3.1 shows the Getting Started page from the Qt Creator Welcome screen.

Figure 3.1.  Qt Creator Welcome Screen

Qt Creator Welcome Screen

[Note] Installing Qt

Appendix E("C++/Qt Setup") has some tips for getting quickly set up on various platforms.