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Getting Started with Qt 5
Getting Started with Qt 5

Getting Started with Qt 5: Introduction to programming Qt 5 for cross-platform application development

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Profile Icon Benjamin Baka
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$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.1 (7 Ratings)
Paperback Feb 2019 136 pages 1st Edition
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$15.99 $22.99
Paperback
$32.99
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Benjamin Baka
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.1 (7 Ratings)
Paperback Feb 2019 136 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$15.99 $22.99
Paperback
$32.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$15.99 $22.99
Paperback
$32.99
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Renews at $19.99p/m

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Getting Started with Qt 5

Creating Widgets and Layouts

In this chapter, we shall take a look at what widgets are and the various kinds that are available for creating GUIs. For most GUI applications that you will write, Qt is laden with sufficient widgets to implement it. Coupled with widgets are layout classes, which help us to arrange and position the widgets for better appeal.

By the end of this chapter, you should be aware of the following:

  • Understand and know how to use widgets
  • Know the classes needed to lay out widgets

Widgets

Widgets are the graphical components with which we construct user interfaces. A familiar example of such a component is a textbox. This is the component that is used to capture our email address or last and first names on forms in a GUI application.

There are a few critical points to note regarding widgets in Qt:

  • Information is passed to widgets by way of events. For a textbox, an example of an event could be when a user clicks within the textbox or when the return key has been pressed while a textbox cursor is blinking.
  • Every widget can have a parent widget or children widgets.
  • Widgets that do not have a parent widget become a window when the show() function is called on them. Such a widget will be enclosed in a window with buttons to close, maximize, and minimize it.
  • A child widget is displayed within its parent widget.

Qt organizes its classes with heavy use of inheritance...

Layouts

Up to this point, we have been creating applications that only have one widget serving as the main component and, by extension, a window too. However, GUI applications are usually made up of several widgets that come together to communicate a process to the user. One way in which we can make use of multiple widgets is to use layouts to serve as the canvas into which we insert our widgets.

Consider the following class inheritance diagram:

It is important to consider the classes used in laying out widgets. As usual, the top class from which the QLayout abstract class inherits is QObject. Also, QLayout makes use of multiple inheritances by inheriting from QLayoutItem. The concrete classes here are QBoxLayout, QFormLayout, QGridLayout, and QStackedLayout. QHBoxLayout and QVBoxLayout further refine what the QBoxLayout class is by adding orientation to how the widgets within...

Summary

In this chapter, we have looked at a number of widgets that are useful in creating GUI applications. The process of compilation remains the same. We also learned how to use layouts to present and arrange multiple widgets.

Up to this point, our application does not do anything. The QPushButton instances, when clicked, do nothing along with the other widgets that are action driven.

In the next chapter, we shall learn how to animate our application so that it responds to actions, thus making them useful.

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Key benefits

  • Learn how to write, assemble, and build Qt application from the command line
  • Understand key concepts like Signals and Slots in Qt
  • Best practices and effective techniques for designing graphical user interfaces using Qt 5

Description

Qt is a cross-platform application framework and widget toolkit that is used to create GUI applications that can run on different hardware and operating systems. The main aim of this book is to introduce Qt to the reader. Through the use of simple examples, we will walk you through building blocks without focusing too much on theory. Qt is a popular tool that can be used for building a variety of applications, such as web browsers, media players such as VLC, and Adobe Photoshop. Following Qt installation and setup, the book dives straight into helping you create your first application. You will be introduced to Widgets, Qt's interface building block, and the many varieties that are available for creating GUIs. Next, Qt's core concept of signals and slots are well illustrated with sufficient examples. The book further teaches you how to create custom widgets, signals and slots, and how to communicate useful information via dialog boxes. To cap everything off, you will be taken through writing applications that can connect to databases in order to persist data. By the end of the book, you should be well equipped to start creating your own Qt applications and confident enough to pick up more advanced Qt techniques and materials to hone your skills.

Who is this book for?

Anyone trying to start development of graphical user interface application will find this book useful. One does not need prior exposure to other toolkits to understand this book. In order to learn from this book you should have basic knowledge of C++ and a good grasp of Object Oriented Programming. Familiarity with GNU/Linux will be very useful though it's not a mandatory skill.

What you will learn

  • Set up and configure your machine to begin developing Qt applications
  • Discover different widgets and layouts for constructing UIs
  • Understand the key concept of signals and slots
  • Understand how signals and slots help animate a GUI
  • Explore how to create customized widgets along with signals and slots
  • Understand how to subclass and create a custom windows application
  • Understand how to write applications that can talk to databases.

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Publication date : Feb 28, 2019
Length: 136 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789956030
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Product Details

Publication date : Feb 28, 2019
Length: 136 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789956030
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

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Getting Started with Qt 5
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Table of Contents

7 Chapters
Introducing Qt 5 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Widgets and Layouts Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Signals and Slots Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Implementing Windows and Dialog Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Events, Custom Signals, and Slots Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Connecting Qt with Databases Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.1
(7 Ratings)
5 star 28.6%
4 star 28.6%
3 star 0%
2 star 14.3%
1 star 28.6%
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George McGinn Jul 03, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I new nothing about Qt5 before I got this book. After working the 6 chapters in it, I am designing my own GUI and even creating, updating and using MySQL databases in C++.This book is a great introduction and you will come away with a basic understanding of Qt5. If you want to advance to more features and a better understanding, you can supplement this book with one that goes into greater detail, like the Qt5 Cookbook or the Mastering Qt5 book.If you are not versed in C++, then this book will not help you with the C++ code. You need to be at least an intermediate level (understand the "this" pointer and other object-oriented principles) to carry the knowledge gained forward.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ian Mars P. Acut Feb 04, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Nice to have Qt 5 book on my shelf!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Brendan Chong Aug 15, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Description was a little deceiving, doesn't really show you how to develop cross platform. But still worth the purchase
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Cliente Amazon Aug 20, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Il libro costituisce un buon mezzo per entrare nel mondo delle qt5 per chi ne fosse del tutto digiuno. Tutti gli esempi sono corredati del codice da scaricare da github. Il codice viene spiegato in dettaglio nel libro. Tutti gli esempi sono funzionanti senza dover operare correzioni. In definitiva un buon testo per novizi, dove trovare i principi di base delle qt5. Necessaria una conoscenza, anche minima, di C e C++.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Retired Developer Sep 24, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 2
Book gives a good overview of QT 5.Oriented to Linux or MacOS user.Have been unable to get the examples in the book to run in a Windows environment.If there were a book out there focused on QT 5 in a Windows environment, I'd return this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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