Programming a GUI

[Cube Code]

I have been studying programming for almost three years as a hobby and just finished reading through a book that had many examples of console applications.Now that I am finished I am left with a few questions:
How would one go about programming a graphical application in Windows?
I have read on the internet about qt 4, but I am not exactly sure what it is and am finding it difficult to find information on it. I have been using Code Blocks for all my programming and thought it might just be another IDE. I would be exceedingly grateful to anyone willing to shed some light on the subject.

[Athar]

You can't tell me you didn't find this? http://qt.nokia.com/products/
As it says, Qt is an application framework and GUI functionality is one of the things it offers.

There's also an IDE that allows easy creation of Qt applications, called Qt Creator.

[Cube Code]

I did and have been through the site...there appear to be many different downloads. Most of the explanations of what it is appear to be very generic. I was also wondering if this is the best "GUI toolkit" to use. I am not sure if that is the right term.

[vonpik]

I suggest you to start with Qt. It's really friendly IDE.

http://developer.qt.nokia.com/ - they are very helpfull
http://doc.qt.nokia.com/ - official documentation

Also check-out this positions

C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4, Second Edition, Jasmin Blanchette, Mark Summerfield CPP GUI Programming With QT 3 Prentice.Hall.C.plus.plus.GUI.Programming.with.Qt.4.2nd.Edition.Feb.2008 The.Book.of.Qt.4.-.The.Art.of.Building.Qt.Applications

[Cube Code]

Never mind about the explanation part..I just found a very good one on their site but, I still would like to know if this is the best one to invest my time into learning.

[Cube Code]

Thanks for your replies. I'll take your advice.

[Athar]

Besides Qt, there are other GUI toolkits such as wxWidgets.
I recommend trying various toolkits to see which you like best.

[vonpik]

Cube Code it's really hard to tell which is best to invest your time. I know what are you talking about, you are wondering which IDE is most common in companies. It's hard to tell, it's depend on what company is programming. Visual Studio is popular but in Visual Studio C++ you are not programming in standard C++ but Microsoft C++ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B/CLI) It has some differences...
In IBM they use Eclipse, in Sabre they often writing programs under console.
On the other hand KDE4 was written in Qt. Samsung, Volvo Mobility Systems also worked/are working with Qt (full list: http://qt.nokia.com/qt-in-use/story/customer).

To sum up: Start with Qt. Interface is really friendly, it's pleasure to write programmes in it.

[zb0S216C]

C-Sharp; you can't go wrong.

_Wazzak

[Cube Code]

@vonpik Thanks for the replies, they have been helpful...especially the books. Do you have any recommendations for one to start with?

@Framework I was under the impression C# was a language...

[z05DSL3A]

vonpik wrote:

Visual Studio is popular but in Visual Studio C++ you are not programming in standard C++ but Microsoft C++ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B/CLI) It has some differences...

Visual Studio has projects for ISO standard C++ as well as Ecma C++/CLI.

Cube Code wrote:

@Framework I was under the impression C# was a language...

It is.

[vonpik]

@Cube Code
That Jasmin Blanchette book is official book for Qt. I think you can start from them.

@Grey Wolf
Really?! (i'm confused)

[z05DSL3A]

vonpik wrote:

Really?! (i'm confused)

Yes. What are you confused about?

Whether it you use C++ or C++/CLI is dependant on the project type you setup. All CLR projects are C++/CLI and Win32 are C++ ... You can mix C++ with C++/CLI in CLR projects as well but that way madness lies (for the novice programmer).

You gotta love them TLAs

[vonpik]

I was just absolutely sure that you can write only in C++/CLI