Sebastopol, CA--Qt remains one of the niftiest toolkits for building graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in Linux, Unix and even Windows. Its applications are environment-portable, it's included in most recent Linux distributions, it's much easier to use than the standard Motif toolkit for Unix systems, and it provides Windows users with native-looking interfaces.
Frustrated by the lack of a good tutorial-style manual when Qt made its debut, author Matthias Kalle Dalheimer used his hard-won knowledge to craft the first edition of Programming with Qt, which has become a much thumbed-through tome on many a programmer's bookshelf. Dalheimer's motivation for updating Programming with Qt for Version 3 was the fact that "the Qt landscape has changed considerably since the first edition was published. It is no longer a niche product, but one that is widely used. Especially the embedded version, Qt/Embedded, has brought Qt into many new places, so the need of a good tutorial-style introduction (but also of some more advanced programming topics that I also cover) is even more pressing than before."
As the popularity of Linux continues to grow (there are an estimated 12 million users worldwide), so does the need for guidance in generating user-friendly interfaces. Qt is already the toolkit of choice for the thousands of participants who help develop and maintain the open source KDE desktop, the popular Unix-Linux GUI--which Dalheimer helps to write in his spare time. Programming with Qt, 2nd Edition (O'Reilly, US $39.95) shows how to use all of the Qt GUI elements, and covers advanced topics like 2D transformations and drag-and-drop. The book contains exercises and fully worked-out answers to make learning easy, debugging hints, and instructions for reading and writing XML documents. Among the many features adding value to the second edition is a new chapter on network programming.
What's Dalheimer's prediction for the future of Qt? "This might seem pretty bold, but I believe that in one or two years from now, at least in the embedded space, Qt will be the most often used toolkit which in turn will also give its desktop (Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac OS X) versions another boost. Consequently, I would expect 'Qt programming experience mandatory' in job ads to be as common as the 'Java programming experience mandatory' or 'MFC programming experience mandatory' is today."
What the critics said about the previous edition:
"An excellent introduction to Qt"
--Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk, May 2000"Programming with Qt, by Matthias Dalheimer, covers a tool that addresses some of the thornier topics in modern GUI programming, cross-platform application frameworks, and widget toolkits...Dalheimer provides a good overview of the Qt programming model, and presents a solid conceptual framework for any experienced programmer new to Qt. He includes several usage tips and many pieces of thoughtful advice, any one of which could easily be worth the cost of the book in the right circumstances...For readers new to Qt, especially those with a Windows background, this is all useful and enlightening material."
--Lou Grinzo, Dr. Dobbs ERB
Online Resources:
Chapter 8, "Container Classes," is available free online
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples
Programming with Qt,
2nd Edition
Writing Portable GUI applications on Unix and Win32
By Matthias Kalle Dalheimer
2nd Edition March 2002
0-596-00064-2, Order Number: 0642
499 pages, $39.95 US $59.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
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