
Qt Creator 4.7.0 released - ScottWRobinson
http://blog.qt.io/blog/2018/07/18/qt-creator-4-7-0-released/
======
zx2c4
Qt Creator is a fantastic editor and IDE. If you're doing cross-platform GUI
development, Qt is a good choice (especially compared to something grotesque
and unseemly like Electron), and for Qt development, Qt Creator is as good as
it gets. But it turns out that it works really well for generic C and C++
development too, even with obscure C like the Linux kernel, thanks to the
Clang code model. I use Qt Creator sometimes when working on WireGuard (in
addition to the usual typical vim/cli flow).

~~~
remoroid
Yep, if you can even compare Electron to Qt. Electron is just a buggy ill-
conceived hack to wrap a browser with nodejs to make webpages. All it provides
is a blank window with no customisation and a huge size and memory overhead.

~~~
dilap
I hate the slowness and bloat and entire ideology behind electron,
BUT...electron apps do a pretty decent job of feeling native on the platform.
Something I've never seen a Qt app do.

Would love a counter-example, if you've got one. I'm on a mac.

~~~
cpburns2009
What Electron applications feel native on any platform? I use Discord and it
feels and looks like a web-page, not a Windows application.

~~~
dilap
I feel like slack is decent. It definitely feels like a webpage, but the
embedded UI elements are good -- the text boxes support all the MacOS
shortcuts, you can insert special characters using the character viewer, text
selection works properly, the menus aren't weird.

I guess maybe I'm just so used to web stuff now that that codes as "native
enough" to me?

------
berti
These guys continue to do a great job. If you're looking for a nice cross-
platform C++ IDE that supports multiple build systems this is it. I'm looking
forward to upcoming meson integration (GSoC project IIRC).

~~~
Tyr42
It's also got a quite usable Vim mode.

~~~
freedomben
Second this. Fakevim in Qt Creator is one of the better Vim emulation
implementations. Not perfect, but it's at least 90% of the way there. Probably
100% if you don't use lots of crazy ex commands like I do

~~~
geezerjay
Fakevim doesn't support :wqal or even some basic movements and range
specifiers. It may be usable but it's hardly an elegant implementation that
only misses "crazy ex commands".

------
DoofusOfDeath
Anyone have a good way to run Qt Creator locally on their desktop, but edit,
build, and debug code running on a remote, headless server?

I love Qt Creator, but this use-case has led me to settle for Vim+gdb over
ssh.

[edit] Clarification: X-over-SSH isn't a good solution because of the lag.

~~~
nofunsir
TL;DR: Just set up the "Build" toolchain (configuration) in Qt Creator and
point Qt Creator at your target (with the correct ssh user login) for when you
click "Run" or "Debug".

[http://wiki.qt.io/Raspberry_Pi_Beginners_Guide](http://wiki.qt.io/Raspberry_Pi_Beginners_Guide)
[http://wiki.qt.io/RaspberryPi2EGLFS](http://wiki.qt.io/RaspberryPi2EGLFS)

These two tutorials use slightly different setups, so don't get confused on
details, but both are great to glean tips from.

I've successfully used Qt Creator on both a Linux VM (desktop Intel) and a
Windows desktop to build originally-desktop-based Qt projects for embedded
Linux on ARM. The projects are not headless, but also do not use X to run the
Qt GUI. Instead they use EGLFS.

Even if your software doesn't have a GUI, you can still do remote debugging
with Qt Creator... or Eclipse, or Visual Studio , or anything that has the
proper hooks.

I don't think any sane developer would want to use a remote X server to get to
an instance of an IDE.

As long as you have the proper cross toolchain (some cost $) set up correctly
in Qt, and your target code is all included properly (libraries and headers
for your target, NOT your dev machine), you should be able to do exactly what
you want for any desktop+remote target pair.

Additionally you don't even have to work in Linux to target Embedded Linux:

[https://wiki.qt.io/Visual_Studio_Add-
in](https://wiki.qt.io/Visual_Studio_Add-in)
[https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/03/30/visual-c-...](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/03/30/visual-
c-for-linux-development/)

~~~
nofunsir
Specifically, I think the tip to make an exact copy of the target's sysroot
structure (libraries, headers, etc) on your dev machine using rsync (and
remember to fix the symbolic links!) is very valuable.

Then make sure your project is (only) aware of those headers and libraries.

------
yani
This is the IDE I use with pleasure. Very intuitive and fast.

------
nurettin
I'd like to mention that the IDE has a scxml editor which I've been abusing
for generating business logic lately.

------
xmichael999
C# C# C# one day?

