Project Lighthouse show way to Qt roadmap; reveal QML and commitment

The Nokia’s Director for Qt development, Lars Knoll gave a detailed description of the Qt plans at the Qt Developer Days conference. The development on a wider scale was driven by user needs such as web integration, 3D graphics, tactile feature supports and improved performance.

Qt Quick components
Qt Quick components

Qt Quick was also discussed in the conference. Knoll pointed out the role played by QML user interface language in Qt. Nokia uses Qt Quick to denote the QML and related technologies. The programming for the user interface is done in a finer pace to suit the developers. This could revolutionize the field of user interface developments and determine their future in Qt mobiles. Eventually, the development will have its effect on desktop and the way of the developers.

Qt Quick components strive to create pre designed user interface apps for QML and thus play a significant role in accelerating the growth of Qt Quick. QML Layouts can have an option to retain the original look on MeeGo as well as other OS plat forms. A newly devised debugger switches from QML to C++ and vice versa. It is currently under development. The QML tooling is to get a dynamic restructuring with such features. It allows the system to reload the layouts when an app is working simultaneously.

Qt believes in performance. A new Open source GL scene graph system to render apps fast is under trial. The current apps QPainter and QGraphicsView are a little costly. The next priority is set on portability. Qt is used in almost every niche of hardware technology from coffee vending machines to sophisticated medical equipments. Project Lighthouse is aimed to create an outreach of Qt on more embedded platforms by accelerating the adaptation process. The project gradually rose up from research stages to become Qt’s integral part. It has been instrumental in promotion of Qt ports like Google native client plug in port. The project is to be included in Qt4.8 release.

Knoll also brought out the Qt/3D project which provides wrapper APIs in his keynote address. The project is yet another milestone which simplifies programming of 3D graphics. The difference between the OpenGL ES and Open GL is to be further diminished for the developers to integrate and implement codes that suit all platforms both mobiles and desktops. The common redundancy and boilerplate code in programming of 3D graphics is also reduced. The app will also be made adaptable to QML for better animation with simple scripts. Chances are high for the incorporation of this feature in the new Qt 4.8.

Nokia gives a statistical figure of 1.5 million for downloads of Qt SDK for the year 2010 alone.  Qt is gaining popularity as evidenced by the 7000 accounts for the Qt bug tracker and the attendance of the Qt Developer Days both which exhibit faster growth rates. The development plans and the unhindered commitment of Nokia as revealed in the developer conference are sure to take Qt to larger sections of the industry with unimaginable capabilities.

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