Qt creator 4.8 beta released, adds language server protocol

The Qt team announced the release of Qt creator 4.8 beta yesterday. It includes generic programming language support and some more C++ experimental features since 4.7.

Generic programming languages in Qt creator 4.8 beta

In Qt Creator 4.8 Beta experimental support for language server protocol (LSP) is introduced. Many programming languages have a language server, with Go also having plans to include it. An LSP provides features like auto code complete and reference finding in IDEs.

Addition of LSP means that by providing a client for the language server protocol, Qt Creator gets some support for many programming languages. Currently the Qt Creator supports code completion, highlighting of the symbol under the cursor, and jumping to the symbol definition. It also integrates diagnostics from the language server. Highlighting and indentation are still provided by the generic highlighter.

The client is tested with Python for the most part. Currently, there is no support for language servers requiring special handling.

C++ support

There are some C++ experimental features add in this release.

Editing compilation databases

A compilation database is a list of files and compiler flags used to compile them. You can now open a compilation database as a project solely for editing and navigating code. You can try it by enabling the CompilationDatabaseProjectManager plugin.

Clang format based indentation

Auto-indentation is done via LibFormat which is the backend used by Clang format. To try this, enable the ClangFormat plugin.

Cppcheck diagnostics

The diagnostics generated by the Cppcheck tool is integrated into the editor. Enable the Cppcheck plugin to use it. In addition to the many fixes, the Clang code model can now jump to the symbol indicated by the auto keyword. This also allows to generate a compilation database from the information the mode model has. This can be done via Build | Generate Compilation Database.

Debugging

Now there is support for running multiple debuggers on one or more executables simultaneously. When multiple debuggers are running, you can switch between them with a new drop-down menu in Debug mode.

More about various improvements and fixes can be found in the changelog.

For further details, visit the Qt Blog. Qt creator 4.8 can be downloaded from the Qt website.

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