Visual C++ versus QT Creator

Question

I usually code in Java and C#, but there is a project that I have to use C++. My question is what is the advantage and disadvantages of using QT Creator over Visual Studio Express or the other way for me, I know there are similar questions like this but they date back to at least 2 years ago.

I have to note that I am writing my system only for windows and I am not intending to make it multi-platform.

I'm not sure I understand your question. Visual Studio is an IDE, QT is a toolkit for creating GUI programs. You can write QT programs using Visual Studio if you want. — sepp2k, Jan 22 '13 at 17:00
Visual Studio has some useful native GUI designers, but they aren't part of the Express Edition. OTOH Qt is its own ecosystem entirely and forces you to change your build processes and debug experience (there are Visual Studio plugins to help). Have you considered something more lightweight like wxWindows (cross-platform) or Windows Foundation Classes (Win32-only)? C++ backend plus a C# GUI is also quite a nice approach. — Ben Voigt, Jan 22 '13 at 17:00
Thanks for your clarification, so could you tell me what are the advantages and disadvantages of using QT with QT Creator comparing to QT with Visual Studio IDE — hoooman, Jan 22 '13 at 17:12
As Charles' answer points out Qt docs are much better than MS. I notice you're using VS2010. I believe intellisence was left out for VC++ on that one as stated [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2681999/no-intellisense-for-c-cli-in-visual-studio-2010) - big disadvantage to someone not already familiar with it. — ChiefTwoPencils, Jan 22 '13 at 18:24
@C.Lang: VS2010 Intellisense for C++ works just fine. The information you point to is about C++/CLI which is a different programming language. — Nemanja Trifunovic, Jan 22 '13 at 19:25
@NemanjaTrifunovic - yep I suppose I assed myself by assuming. — ChiefTwoPencils, Jan 23 '13 at 09:42

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 22 '13 at 19:26

7

Visual Studio is the better IDE but Qt Creater does for free what VS will not (processing MOC files, UI files, QRC files, tr calls, etc...) Those have to be done manually in VS in pre and post build steps. Creater also has the advantage of being the same on all platforms.

answered Jan 22 '13 at 19:26

cppguy

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using qmake to generate visual solutions does the job for free. but I upvote for your 6 first words – azf Jan 22 '13 at 20:41
Also QtCreator comes with a profiler while VS Express doesn't. – Apprentice Queue Nov 19 '13 at 21:51
@JBentley You cannot use Addons with Visual Studio Express. – Korchkidu Dec 13 '13 at 09:58
@Korchkidu Good point. Comment removed. – JBentley Dec 13 '13 at 11:55

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 22 '13 at 17:03

I find Qt easier to use and find Qt's documentation better than Microsoft's pretty good documentation. Qt offers a lot of functionality (networking, web browsing, sound, 3D) which feels very focused and well-integrated, whereas using such features in the Microsoft world does work, but feels like each was done by a dozen teams that often did not agree on their approach.

Visual C++ versus QT Creator

2 Answers2