KDAB Training Day

In this training, we do a step-by-step walkthrough of how to build a QML-based embedded application from the ground up and discuss some challenges that are typically met along the way.

An important part of that journey is an investigation of where to put the boundaries between what you do in C++ and what you do in QML. We also look at some of the tools and building blocks we have available in QML that can help us achieve well-performing, well-structured, and well-maintainable applications.

In this training, we start with a recap of fundamentals:

• How do we expose C++ API to QML?
• How do we make data available to QML?

Afterward, we explore several more advanced techniques, often widely deployed within Qt's QML modules, such as Qt Quick.

This will answer questions such as:

• How would I do a Loader like component?
• How would I do a Layout like component?

Modern C++ emphasizes safer, more efficient, and maintainable code through higher-level abstractions that reduce error-prone manual work.

This training will explore key paradigms shaping recent C++ evolution, starting with value semantics in class design, which enhances code safety, local reasoning, and thread safety. We will examine modern C++ tools for creating value-oriented types, including move semantics, smart pointers, and other library enablers.

Next, we will look at expressive, type and value-based error handling.

Finally, we'll cover range-based programming, which enables clean, declarative code and unlocks new patterns through lazy, composable transformations.

In this step-by-step course, we start with a Qt/C++ application and add Rust code to it piece by piece. To achieve this, we will cover:

• Use of Cargo (Rusts build system) with CMake
• Accessing Rust code from C++ with CXX (and vice-versa)
• Defining your own QObject types in Rust with CXX-Qt

We discuss when to use Rust compared to C++ to make the best of both languages and how to use them together effectively to make Qt applications safer and easier to maintain.

In this training, we look into all the new developments in QML over the last few years and how they lead to more expressive, performant, and maintainable code.

This includes:

• The qt_add_qml_module CMake API
• Declarative type registration
• The different QML compilers
• New language and library features
• New developments in Qt Quick Controls
• Usage of tools like qmllint, QML Language Server, and qmlformat

The focus will be on gradually modernizing existing codebases with new tools and practices.

Qt has long offered ways of using low-level 3d libraries such as OpenGL to do custom rendering. Whether at the Window, the Widget, or Quick Item level, the underlying rendering system can be accessed in ways that make it safe to integrate such 3rd party renderers. This remains true in the Qt 6 timeline, although the underlying rendering system has changed and OpenGL has been replaced by RHI.

In this course, we look at how the graphic stack is structured in Qt 6 and how third-party renderers can be integrated on the various platforms supported by Qt.

We then focus on the specific case of integrating Vulkan-based renderers. Vulkan is the successor to OpenGL; it's much more powerful but harder to learn. To facilitate the initial use of Vulkan, we introduce KDGpu, a library that encapsulates Vulkan while preserving the underlying concepts of pipeline objects, buffer handling, synchronization, etc.