GUI Development: Qt vs GTK

Question

I am new to GUI programming. I am mostly C ++ code, and I need my code and GUI to be OS independent, so after some research, I just can't decide between Qt or GTK. I read that GTK is more memory efficient, but some sites say it was before Qt 4. Qt also has an IDt creator, Qt, which I think is a great IDE for C ++. ¿Does anyone know more about the pros and cons of each? Thanks

Answer 1

Yay, another Lib_One vs Lib_Two question. I love to answer them.

Requirements

Firstly, there is no perfect magic toolkit that suits everyone. Your choice should be based on what you are trying to do.

• Do you need a GUI Toolkit? Or do you want to create a complete application development infrastructure with an API for graphics, sound, IO images, etc.?
• Are you targeting a specific platform?
• Do you need extra eye candy?
• What does your client want?
• Do you focus on embedded systems or on a PC?

Gui toolkit

Both GTK + and Qt are significantly mature object-oriented GUI tools. They are open-source, cross-platform and have large active communities. GTK + is used as the standard toolkit for the GNOME, LXDE, and Xfce Desktop environments, while Qt is used for KDE. Both were used to develop professional applications and are time-tested.

Cross platform compatibility

Both tools support almost all major PC platforms.

Supported Platforms:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista li>
• Windows 7
• Mac OS X
• Linux / Unix

In addition, Qt also supports:

• Symbian S60
• Windows CE
• WebOS
• Android
• Ubuntu Phone

Performance

This is seriously controversial. GTK + evangelists point to high Qt application memory usage, while Qt fans mock GTK's launch time. But overall there is not much difference. Both work fast enough on modern PCs.

Native Usage and Language Links

GTK + is licensed by LGPL, so it can be used for proprietary applications. Qt has a triple license for LGPL, GPL and a patented license. If you use LGPL or buy a proprietary license, you can use Qt for proprietary applications.

Both tools have bindings for all popular languages. Notable bindings include GTK #, C # Binding for GTK +, which was approved by Mono Project. And Qt-Jambi, a Qt binding for Java that is being actively updated.

Resources

Both toolkits are widely documented. GTK + has its own documentation (GTK-Doc) and Qt, which are documented by Nokia. However, Qt may have a slight advantage here because it has huge resources and the workforce of a huge corporation behind it (Nokia), while GTK + is only documented by its contributors. Many places on the Internet have tutorials on both of them. I prefer ZetCode .

Conclusion

As you can see, both of them are more or less good. The choice really depends on what I did before: what are your requirements?