Monthly Digest
Welcome to our jam-packed March offering
We bring you Reducing Visual Studio Installations with Toolchains and Introducing the ConnectionEvaluator in KDBindings.
Then, for embedded developers, Punctuality Matters: Using Linux to Manage Time-Critical Situations and Streamlining Multi-platform Development and Testing.
After that comes Introducing: KDSPDSetup, then Slint 1.5. released, followed by KDE’s Megarelease 6, with an interview from Nicolas Fella from our latest KDAB News.
In case that’s not enough for you, we’ve released the whole of Module 3 in our Introduction to Qt Widgets series, and we have some great training news if you’re a QML developer.
To top it off, read below for some exciting developments in the world of events. We hope to see you at next month’s Embedded World in Nuremberg.
Meanwhile, we wish you all a very Happy Easter break! 🥚🌷
Reducing Visual Studio Installations with Toolchains
by Miłosz Kosobucki
If you work on C++ projects on Windows that need to be built with multiple Visual Studio C++ compiler versions, you need some way to manage the installations of all these build environments. Either you have multiple IDEs installed, or you know about build tools (https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vs_BuildTools.exe) and maybe keep only the latest full VS IDE plus older Build Tools.
Read on to find out a more efficient alternative.
The ConnectionEvaluator in KDBindings
Control When Connections are Emitted
by Shivam Kunwar
In 2022 we introduced KDBindings, making the advantages of property bindings that QML users enjoy, directly available in C++ code.
Now we’ve added ConnectionEvaluator, a tool which allows you to decide when exactly your connections should ‘wake up’ and do their jobs.
To find out how, and also how ConnectionEvaluator integrates KDBindings into any framework, read the blog.
Embedded Development
– continuing our series by Nathan Collins
Punctuality Matters
Using Linux to Manage Time-Critical Situations
The robustness of Linux is widely acknowledged, but it can’t quite match the microsecond management of a real-time operating system (RTOS) for time critical situations such as CNC machine instructions, vehicular control, or health sensor collection.
If your software must record, manage, or control events within a narrow and precise time window and you’re invested in Linux for core development, you can consider some of these strategies for handling time-critical tasks without abandoning your familiar environment.
Streamlining Multi-platform Development and Testing
In the digital age, developing software that runs seamlessly across various platforms is not an option, it’s a necessity. You knew that already.
In this blog, Nathan covers the key points that can elevate your project’s efficiency and reliability. You might not have thought of all of them.
Introducing: KDSPDSetup
Initialize loggers with simple config files and focus on your code’s functionality
KDAB’s newest open-source library is now publicly available: KDSPDSetup!
KDSPDSetup is a small library written in modern C++ (≥ 20) that initializes objects from the spdlog library by reading a toml configuration file. This makes setting up loggers more convenient and results in cleaner-looking code.
Read on to find out how useful it can be to you.
Slint 1.5: Embracing Android,
Improving Live Preview, Introducing Pythonic Slint
Slint 1.5 continues the series of incremental updates that add new features while maintaining backwards compatibility.
The Slint team is excited to report the stabilisation of the first parts of their Android support, improve the live-preview, and kick off the Python APIs.
Slint is a declarative GUI toolkit to build native user interfaces for desktop and embedded applications written in Rust, C++, or JavaScript. Find out more or check out the source code.
KDE Megarelease 6
Plasma 6, Frameworks 6 and Gear 24.02
KDE Plasma is a modern, feature-rich desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems. It is also open source, devoid of ads, and makes protecting your privacy and personal data a priority. With Plasma 6, the KDE technology stack has undergone two major upgrades: a transition to the latest version of Qt, and a migration to the modern Linux graphics platform, Wayland.
As part of our KDAB News edition this month, we asked Nicolas Fella, a longtime contributor to KDE, what went into the latest release, and why it was so successful. His comprehensive response includes advice to anyone planning to port from Qt 5 to Qt 6 in their project.
Introduction to Qt Widgets
Module 3
This month we decided not to show you the many faces of Jesper in the 9 videos from Module 3 we released this month. Instead, here’s a
to click on to get to Module 3 in its entirety. Don’t worry, it still leads to Jesper ;-). He’ll be talking about common widgets and some not so common ones, then moving on to layout management, including stretching, size hints, size policy, and more.
Module 3 (for those who dislike buttons)
Advanced QML Scheduled Training
14 -16 May, Berlin
For those of you who develop in Qt QML, we still have some seats left in our acclaimed Advanced QML training course, live, in Berlin, this May.
Take the opportunity to meet your peers and bring your QML skills to another level, with working examples, best practices and an opportunity to ask questions in real time. This course introduces advanced QML/C++ integration and QML Application Architecture.
You will also learn how to use OpenGL QML elements, how to analyse and profile the Qt Quick scene graph and how to remove bottlenecks affecting a QML UI.
Events
It takes off in April, with the massive Embedded World exhibition and conference in Nuremberg, Germany with visitors from all over the world. We hope you will be one of them, and come see us in Hall 4-302. Find out more below.
Check out the events after that – this month, we’ve picked out ten of the best for you.
Embedded World, 9-11/04
We’ll be there in Hall 4-302 with a host of demos featuring Qt, C++, Slint, Rust and Flutter.
We even have an interstellar navigation interface!
Check us out and get your free ticket!
Where is it: Nuremberg, Germany
ACCU, 15-20/04
Workshops on 15th &16th
Talks schedule is published. There are 5 workshops, 4 keynotes, 3 lightning talk sessions & 54 presenters. Give it a whirl!
Where is it: Bristol, UK and streaming
Embedded Open Source Summit, 16-18/04
With a focus on Linux. Check out the program.
We’ll be there! Come meet us at our table 🙂
Where is it? Seattle, Washington, USA
Oxidize, 28-30/05
Workshops on the 28th including
– confidently using async/.await and
– cross-platform GUIs with Rust
Where is it? Berlin, Germany
SIGGRAPH, 28/07-01/08
It’s the biggest and the best for interactive 3D, gaming, graphics, multimedia developments – visual tricks to expand your repertoire and so much more. Be dazzled, why don’t you?
Where is it? Denver, USA
Virtual access until September
KDE Akademy, 07-12/09
The annual world summit for KDE Community members, developers, translators, designers, and friends. What’s not to like?
Where is it? Wurzburg, Germany
RustConf 2024, 10-13/09-
A Rust Foundation event and the biggest Rust event globally, in the lovely city of Montreal. How can you refuse?
Submit a talk! (CfP closes April 25th)
Where is it? Montreal, Canada & online
CppCon, 15-20/09
The biggest C++ conference globally.
We’ll be there!!
Check out the videos from 2023 – almost all are published now. Delivering Safe C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup is a must.
Where is it? Aurora, Colorado, USA
EuroRust, 10-11/10
CfP is now open!
Submit a talk by 3rd of June.
Where is it? Vienna, Austria and online
Meeting C++ 2024
Still no dates – Jens is keeping us in suspense! But all last year’s videos are online now.
Where is it? Berlin, Germany and online
