Books
Books are great for learning about the breadth of KDE development on one place. See also Books covering KDE and Qt. For your convenience we have also listed a number of C++ books that you might find interesting.
KDE Programming Books
- KDE 2.0 Development
A 540 page book available online and in print. Covers KParts, DCOP, aRts, KDevelop, licensing, introductory programming, and other topics. The support site has the full text in various formats along with community annotation and discussion of KDE development. This book is as close to an Official Book by the KDE Project as possible. All authors and technical editors are KDE developers.
Qt Programming Books
- The Book of Qt 4 - The Art of Building Qt Applications
Daniel Molkentin, author of this book, is a core developer of KDE. He uses practical examples to explain Qt characteristics like the signal slot concept and its event system. He guides the reader through developing applications both with and without Qt's graphical GUI builder "Qt Designer." Topics covered include: tools needed to create dialog boxes; steps to follow when developing a GUI-based application; layout; how to visualize data using Qt's "model-view concept"; the QtSql model; the graphics library; as well as how to work with XML, databases, threads, and debugging. The book also includes lots of useful hints on how to use Qt's own datatypes, containers and algorithms and how to develop user-friendly applications.
Available via: Amazon
- C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4
The only official best-practice guide to Qt 4.1 Programming. Using C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4 you'll discover the most effective Qt 4 programming patterns and techniques as you master key technologies ranging from Qt's model/view architecture to Qt's powerful new 2D paint engine. The authors provide readers with unparalleled insight into Qt's event model and layout system. Then, using realistic examples, they introduce superior techniques for everything from basic GUI development to advanced database and XML integration.
Available via: Amazon
- An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4
Now, with the help of An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4.1, you can master C++ and design patterns together, using the world's #1 open source framework for cross-platform development: Qt 4.1. This complete tutorial and reference assumes no previous knowledge of C, C++, objects, or patterns. You'll walk through every core concept, one step at a time, learning through an extensive collection of Qt 4.1-tested examples and exercises. Learn objects fast: classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and more. Master powerful design patterns, from Iterator and Visitor to Abstract Factory and Facade. Discover efficient high-level programming techniques utilizing libraries, generics, and containers. Build graphical applications using Qt widgets, models, and views.
Available via: Amazon
Available on-line at Suffolk University (free registration required) - C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3
The first official Trolltech guide to Qt 3.2 programming written by Trolltech software engineer Jasmin Blanchette and Trolltech's documentation manager Mark Summerfield, with a foreword by Matthias Ettrich, Trolltech lead developer and founder of the KDE project. The book teaches every facet of Qt 3 programming, ranging from basic user interfaces and layout managers to 2D/3D graphics, drag-and-drop, signaling, networking, XML, database integration, even internationalization and multithreading. The book in PDF format and sources can be downloaded from linked publisher's page.
Available via: Amazon
Available on-line at: Prentice-Hall (free PDF download) - Rapid GUI Development with QtRuby
See how to use the powerful Qt3 library to create cross-platform GUI applications for Linux and OS X in Ruby. Covers installation, basic and advanced programming, event models, and Korundum. A must if you want to develop software with QtRuby/Korundum.
- Open Source Game Development: Qt Games for KDE, PDA's, and Windows
This book provides beginning and intermediate game programmers with a step-by-step resource to desktop game programming. The reader is introdcuded into the development of a desktop game application using Qt3/Qt4/Qtopia/KDE as development platform. Desktop game relevant topics such as pathfinding, AI, sound, 2D and 3D graphics and network programming are introduced in the scope of Qt and KDE. All topics are accompanied by plenty of source code examples in the book and on the companion CD-ROM.
Available via: Amazon
C++ Programming Books
- A Complete Guide to Programming in C++
Suited for both complete novices and advanced users of C++. Takes a clear and logical approach using uncluttered English and purposeful examples. With examples and website content, it represents great value for the money and is highly recommended as both a tutorial for students and newcomers to C++ and a dip-in guide for more advanced practitioners. This book teaches you the C++ STL in a natural way while learning C++, while many others relegate the STL to an appendix.
Available via: Amazon
- Problem Solving, Abstraction, and Design Using C++
This book presents introductory programming material. Only the features of C++ that are appropriate to introductory concepts are introduced. Object-oriented concepts are presented. Abstraction is stressed throughout the book and pointers are presented in a gradual and gentle fashion for easier learning.
Available via: Amazon
- Thinking in C++
The effective presentation, along with dozens of helpful code examples, make this book a standout. The text first sets the stage for using C++ with a tour of what object-oriented programming is all about, as well as the software design life cycle. The author then delves into every aspect of C++, from basic keywords and programming principles to more advanced topics, like function and operator overloading, virtual inheritance, exception handling, namespaces, and templates. C++ is a complex language, and the author covers a lot of ground using today's Standard C++, but without getting bogged down in excessive detail.
- Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example
If you don't have a lot of time, but still want to learn the latest in C++, you don't have to learn C first. You might learn more by digging into current language features and classes from the very beginning. That's the approach that's offered by Accelerated C++, a text that delves into more advanced C++ features like templates and Standard Template Library (STL) collection classes early on. This book arguably can get a motivated beginning programmer into C++ more quickly than other available tutorials.
Available via: Amazon
- Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Design
Highly recommended by KDE core developers! It is not a book on syntax, so this should not be the 1st C++ book that you read -- but it should *definitely* be the 2nd! An absolutely terrific book focusing on basic C++ and object-oriented programming techniques. A crucial book for anyone new to C++ to read.
2nd Edition Available via: Amazon
3rd Edition Available via: Amazon - More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs
From the author of the indispensable Effective C++, here are 35 new ways to improve your programs and designs. Drawing on years of experience, Meyers explains how to write software that is more effective: more efficient, more robust, more consistent, more portable, and more reusable. In short, how to write C++ software that's just plain better. For programmers at the intermediate level and above.
Available via: Amazon
- C++ FAQs
This book answers all the questions one can imagine about C++. The author explains the reasoning and principals behind good OO design in a simple and well informed manner. See also the free online C++ FAQ LITE. If you like the online lite version, you will be ecstatic about the printed book version because it covers much more.
Available via: Amazon
- C++ Annotations
This online book is intended for knowledgeable users of C who would like to make the transition to C++. It is a guide for C++ programming courses given at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. As such, the book is not a complete C++ handbook. Rather, it serves as an addition to other documentation sources.
Available via: Amazon
- The C++ Programming Language
By Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++. This book is not for people who do not have programming experience in C++ already. This is not a ground up tutorial on how to program in C++, and it is not a fast read. What this book is, however, is probably the best reference book on C++ in existance.
Available via: Amazon
- Books on GUI design
Trolltech's recommendations of books about GUI design.
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