Is Qt Creator built with Qt Creator?

Question

Questions:

1. Is Qt Creator built with Qt Creator?

2. Similarly, is Qt Designer built with Qt Designer?

3. BTW, why are there two Qt IDEs? Are they competitors? Which one should I use? I am using Creator.

4. What is Qt SDK? I am asking this because the Qt Designer & Creator 2.2.1 and Qtmake 4.7.4 that I installed thro ubuntu 11.10 s/w centre does not work. The build menu is all greyed out. When I downloaded the latest QtSDK (2.3.1/4.7.4) into a separate installation into /opt/QtSDK, both the ubuntu sanctioned installation and the /opt/QtSDK would work as expected. Why did my ubuntu sanctioned installation not work without the SDK? What does the SDK do?

5. This one is for Ubuntu enthusiasts - Qt IDE requires the SDK to work, and yet ubuntu released both Creator/Designer without checking if they work first? There is no QtSDK installation item in s/w centre. Is that intentional, or a procedural bug?

6. After I build my desktop app (I am building a tabbed file explorer) on Linux, what steps do I need to make to have it running on Windows 7/Vista? Will I rebuild on a windows version of Qt Creator?

I also notice that Qt Creator code generation is not perfect. It would forget to include some Qt library files in the auto-generated code, and I had to correct that manually.

Answer 1

Is Qt Creator built with Qt Creator?

I believe so.

That doesn't mean that everyone who works on Qt has to use it - just that I believe that lots of people do.

I don't work for any of the companies that have produced Qt, but my reasoning is:

• A Google search for "dogfooding qt creator" brings up plenty of hits, including this comment from November 2010:

  We're also “dogfooding” by releasing complex apps like Qt Creator and the Ovi Suite on the desktop ports of Qt

• They've put a massive amount of effort into Qt Creator over the last few years. It's hard to imagine that being worthwhile, unless they used it themselves
• At recent Qt Developer Days, Qt Developers have spoken really enthusiastically about Qt Creator

Similarly, is Qt Designer built with Qt Designer?

Yes. A look at the Qt Designer source code shows plenty of .ui (Designer) files.

Why are there two Qt IDEs? Are they competitors? Which one should I use? I am using Creator.

When you edit .ui files insiide Qt Creator, you are still running Qt Designer: it's simply showing the Designer window inside Creator, for convenience.

What is Qt SDK? ... What does the SDK do?

Qt SDK is just a convenient way to download all the Qt tools in one go. You don't have to use it.

This one is for Ubuntu enthusiasts ... Is that intentional, or a procedural bug?

Sorry - no idea. It's hard to imagine it being intentional though.

After I build my desktop app (I am building a tabbed file explorer) on Linux, what steps do I need to make to have it running on Windows 7/Vista? Will I rebuild on a windows version of Qt Creator?

You will need to install Qt on a Windows PC, and then build your source code in it.

You can either do that by using Qt Creator and the Windows compiler it includes (mingw) or you can use another compiler, if you have one, eg Visual Studio.

I also notice that Qt Creator code generation is not perfect. It would forget to include some Qt library files in the auto-generated code, and I had to correct that manually.

If you've used any non-Qt classes in arguments to signals and slots, then this answer may help you there.