Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Use Qt Creator as full fledged C++ IDE

 I was putting efforts to learn C++ for so many months but didn't find any suitable IDE on which I can practice. Then few months ago, one of my friend introduced me to Qt Creator, as one of the best IDE for C++. During the free time in this summer I gave it a try and started learning the language with the help of a ebook on this IDE. And surprisingly, I found Qt Creator to be perfect in so many ways. Every feature I was looking for previously, is  available in it.

Even though, Qt Creator is basically designed for development of Qt applications but It has everything to become a full fledged C++ IDE. I tried it on ubuntu till now. It can be installed directly from software Center. Windows version is also available for download on website.

  • To properly compile and run C++ projects do as following.

- Create a new C++ Project by first clicking on File -> New File or Project then select Other Projects -> C++ Project and follow the instructions.
- You will get checkbox of shadow build, by checking it you can be sure that the source files will be in separate folder than build files.
- Now select the Project mode by clicking on the box below debug box in left side pane. Here go to Run Settings and check the Run in terminal.
- Now go to Tool menu and select Options->Environment -> General . Here look for Terminal in System. Enter /usr/bin/X11/xterm -e instead of existing text.
QtCreator is ready to compile and run your C++ projects. Use Ctrl + B to build and Ctrl + R to run or use buttons given at bottom in left panel for build and run or you can use build menu.
  • To enable C++11 support do as following.

- Find the your_project_name.pro file in your project hierarchy in Qt Creator. Just add  following line in this .pro file to enable the support
QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += -std=c++0x (or -std=gnu++0x)

- This .pro file is used qmake tool to generate makefile for your project. The above line adds flag -std=c++0x(or -std=gnu++0x) to CXFLAGS in the makefile.
- After changing anything in .pro file right click on project and Run qmake so as to generate final Makefile in your build folder
  • Qt Creator has many attractive features like
- Autoindentation of selected code by pressing Ctrl + /
- Autocomplete feature is awesome and better than almost all other IDEs
- Beautiful animations.
- Split screen using shortcuts like  Ctrl + E, 2 : Ctrl + E, 3 : Ctrl + E, 0
- Switch Header/Source using F4.
- Switch declaration/definition using Ctrl + Left Click .
Many more features can be found out by using the it. So Install and Experience one of the Best C++ IDE available.


Disclaimer: This post was originally posted by me only on my other blog dated May 14, 2012

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