Qt pushes for wider cross-platform interest

Munich last autumn saw me miss the Oktoberfest by just a few days as I came in about a week behind the ‘Oompa bands’ for Qt’s Developer Days event. Since that time the Nokia subsidiary has attempted to raise its game with various enhancements to its cross platform (wait for it) ‘write once – run anywhere’ offerings.

I am mentioning the below enhancements for completeness in terms of my previous reports on ZDNet.co.uk and to back up David Meyer’s blog from last week. Newest to the table (hot and fresh today actually) is release 4.5 of its the C++ based Qt graphical toolkit. Previously only available under joint GPL/commercial license, the company is trying to reach out to outside of the GPL arena and appeal to other developers including the open source community.

The company also chose this week to pump out a new Integrated Development Environment called Qt Creator, the intention being to provide a customisable environment specifically suited and pre-configured to Qt development. Logically then, the smorgasbord of announcements also includes a new SDK. Both new items are intended to attract developers new to the Qt environment.

Chief Technologist Benoit Schillings, who has been interviewed previously for ZDNet.co.uk has said that the new releases mean that, “Developers looking for a native or a hybrid native/web application framework now have greater power and flexibility they need.” But he is not without his critics who feel that his company’s products do not pay enough attention to the design and test phase.

According to the company’s web site, Qt 4.5 has an improved graphics system and better data handling capabilities - while Qt Creator provides an editor with syntax highlighting, error hints and code completion functions.

ZDNet.co.uk readers have already commented – in some cases sceptically - on Qt’s tools and what the real benefits are behind its cross platform approach… and you can read these comments on some of the links in this blog.