Welcome to Qt 5
===============
Qt is a cross-platform application and user interface framework. It
consists of a number of software libraries and development tools.
Qt is developed as an open source project. It is available under both
open source and commercial licenses.
All information on Qt is available on the Qt Developer Network:
http://qt-project.org
Be sure to check out the release notes, which will list any known
problems or limitations of this version:
https://wiki.qt.io/Category:Release
Overview
--------
You can use the Qt 5 installation program to install the following components:
- Qt libraries, prebuilt for a particular development platform (operating system
and compiler)
- Qt Creator integrated development environment (IDE)
- Basic development tools, prebuilt for a particular development platform
- Documentation
- Qt in source code form (needed only if you want to build the framework and
tools yourself)
Install Qt libraries to develop or run applications that need the Qt runtimes or
to try out example applications built with Qt.
Qt Creator is designed to make Qt development easier, but you can also use a 3rd
party IDE (such as MS Visual Studio), or just an editor and command line, in
addition to basic Qt development tools (Qt Designer, Qt Assistant, qmlscene, and
so on).
Installing Qt 5
---------------
You can download Qt 5 from http://qt-project.org/downloads. The site provides
download links for all supported development platforms.
Start the installation program like any executable on the development platform.
On Linux, you might first have to make the installation program executable.
Select the components that you want to install and follow the instructions of
the installation program to complete the installation.
Use the Maintenance Tool under <install_dir> to remove all installed
components.
Directory Structure
-------------------
The default top-level installation directory is the directory "Qt<version>" in
your home directory, but you can specify another directory (<install_dir>). On
Windows, however, the default top-level installation directory is "C:\Qt\Qt<version>".
Each Qt version is installed in the <install_dir>/<version> directory. This directory
contains subdirectories for the Qt libraries (<compiler>) and sources (Src).
The <compiler> directory contains subdirectories for development tools (bin) and
examples.
Starting Development Tools
--------------------------
You can start Qt Creator directly after the installation by selecting the option
on the last page of the installation program. You can start most of
the development tools, such as GUI designers, compilers, and debuggers
directly from Qt Creator. You can also access the installed documentation and
example applications from Qt Creator.
The development tools are located in the directory
<install_dir>/<version>/<compiler>/bin. You can run them from Qt Creator or from
the command line. You can also launch some of them as standalone applications.
For example:
- Qt Assistant, the Qt documentation reader
- Qt QML Scene, the viewer for Qt Quick 2 files
- Qt QML Viewer, the viewer for Qt Quick 1 files
and - Qt Designer, the GUI designer for Qt widgets-based applications
You can use Qt Creator to develop with other Qt versions as well:
http://qt-project.org/doc/qtcreator-2.6/creator-project-qmake.html
Running Example Applications
----------------------------
You can open most example applications in the Qt Creator Welcome mode to build
and run them. Additional examples can be opened by browsing
<install_dir>/<version>/<compiler>/examples.
Building Qt 5 from Source
-------------------------
See <install_dir>/<version>/src/README and
http://wiki.qt.io/Building_Qt_5_from_Git
for instructions on building Qt from source.
Developing Qt Applications
--------------------------
To develop a Qt application, you need to set up a project. Qt Creator contains
wizards that guide you step-by-step through the project creation process. The
wizards prompt you to enter the settings needed for a particular type of project
and create the necessary files for you. To start, select File > New File or
Project.
The wizards create projects that use the Qt build tool, qmake. It is a
cross-platform system for build automation that helps simplify the build process
for development projects across different platforms. You can modify the build
and run settings for qmake projects in the Qt Creator Projects mode.
Qt Creator provides support for building, running, and deploying Qt applications
for different target platforms, or using different compilers, debuggers, or
Qt versions. Kits define the tools, device type and other settings to use when
building and running your project.
The Qt 5 installation program adds the installed Qt version
(<install_dir>/<version>/<compiler>/bin/qmake) to Qt Creator and creates a kit
that specifies the installed Qt version and compiler. To use the kit, add it for
your project in the Qt Creator Projects mode. Then select the kit in the Kit
selector before you build or run the project.
To compile C++ Qt applications by some other means, add
<install_dir>/<version>/<compiler>/include to your build tool's search path
for include files, and <install_dir>/<version>/<compiler>/lib to the search
path for libraries.
Want to Know More?
-------------------
Much more information is available at:
- http://qt-project.org/resources/getting_started
- http://qt-project.org/doc/
- http://qt-project.org
We hope you will enjoy using Qt!
- The Qt developers @ qt-project.org
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