Preface

There are many buzzwords in computing today, most of which revolve around various software technologies and concepts. Browsers have become the preferred means of accessing information and consuming all manner of data. But there is still a void that can only be filled by standalone applications that must be installed and run on an operating system. The browser itself as an application cannot be accessed through a browser and bears witness to this assertion.

Applications such as VLC, Adobe Photoshop, Google Earth, and QGIS are a few examples of applications that run directly on an operating system. Interestingly enough, these well-known software brands are built with Qt.

Qt (pronounced "cute") is a cross-platform application framework and widget toolkit that is used in creating graphical user interface applications that run on a number of different hardware and operating systems. The aforementioned applications were written using this same toolkit.

The main aim of this book is to introduce Qt to the reader. Through the use of simple and easy-to-understand examples, it will walk the user from one concept to the next without focusing too much on theory. The size of the book requires us to be concise in our presentation of materials. Coupled with the ample examples presented, we hope to shorten the path to understanding and learning how to use Qt.