Qt for Windows | Qt 5.15
Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version
If you are looking for a powerful, cross-platform, and open-source framework to create stunning graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and applications, you might want to consider Qt. Qt is a popular choice among developers who want to create high-performance, native-looking, and responsive software with minimal code. In this article, we will explain what Qt is, what MinGW and OpenGL are, and how to download and install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version on your computer.
Qt 5.3.2 For Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version
What is Qt and why use it?
Qt is a software development framework that provides a set of libraries, tools, and modules to create GUIs and applications for various platforms, such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, iOS, and more. Qt was originally developed by Trolltech in 1991 as a C++ toolkit for X11, but later expanded to support other languages (such as Python, Java, C#, Ruby, etc.) and other platforms (such as embedded systems, web browsers, etc.). Qt is now maintained by The Qt Company and the Qt Project under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3.
Qt features and benefits
Qt offers many features and benefits that make it a compelling choice for developers who want to create high-quality software with ease. Some of these features and benefits are:
Cross-platform compatibility: Qt allows you to write your code once and deploy it to multiple platforms without changing the source code or compromising the performance or appearance of your software.
Native look and feel: Qt uses the native APIs of each platform to ensure that your software looks and behaves like a native application on each platform.
Modular design: Qt consists of several modules that provide different functionalities, such as core functionality, GUI components, network support, multimedia support, database access, XML processing, etc. You can choose which modules you need for your project and avoid unnecessary dependencies or overhead.
Rich set of widgets: Qt provides a rich set of widgets (such as buttons, menus, dialogs, tables, etc.) that you can use to create your GUIs with ease. You can also customize the appearance and behavior of the widgets using stylesheets or subclassing.
Signals and slots mechanism: Qt uses a signals and slots mechanism to facilitate communication between objects in your application. Signals are emitted by objects when something happens (such as a button being clicked), and slots are functions that are executed when a signal is received. You can connect signals and slots using a simple syntax or a graphical editor.
Meta-object system: Qt uses a meta-object system to extend the C++ language with features such as introspection, reflection, dynamic properties, etc. The meta-object system is implemented by the Meta-Object Compiler (MOC), which generates additional C++ code from your source code.
Integrated development environment (IDE): Qt comes with an IDE called Qt Creator, which provides a comprehensive environment for developing, debugging, testing, and deploying Qt applications. Qt Creator supports code completion, syntax highlighting, refactoring, code analysis, version control, etc. You can also use Qt Designer, a graphical tool for designing and previewing GUIs.
Documentation and support: Qt provides extensive documentation and tutorials for learning and using Qt. You can also find support from the Qt community through forums, mailing lists, blogs, etc.
Qt applications and examples
Qt is used by many companies and organizations to create various types of applications, such as desktop applications, mobile applications, web applications, embedded systems, etc. Some examples of Qt applications are:
KDE: KDE is a free and open-source desktop environment that uses Qt as its main framework. KDE provides a user-friendly and customizable interface, as well as many applications for productivity, entertainment, education, etc.
VLC media player: VLC media player is a free and open-source media player that can play almost any type of media file or stream. VLC media player uses Qt for its GUI and supports various platforms.
Skype: Skype is a popular communication software that allows users to make voice and video calls, send instant messages, share files, etc. Skype uses Qt for its GUI and supports various platforms.
Google Earth: Google Earth is a software that allows users to explore the Earth and other planets using satellite imagery, maps, terrain, etc. Google Earth uses Qt for its GUI and supports various platforms.
Autodesk Maya: Autodesk Maya is a professional software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, etc. Autodesk Maya uses Qt for its GUI and supports various platforms.
What is MinGW and why use it?
MinGW (short for Minimalist GNU for Windows) is a set of tools that allows you to compile and run C and C++ programs on Windows using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). MinGW consists of a port of GCC to Windows, as well as other tools such as GNU Binutils, GNU Debugger (GDB), GNU Make (make), etc. MinGW is free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3.
MinGW features and benefits
MinGW offers many features and benefits that make it a useful tool for developers who want to use GCC on Windows. Some of these features and benefits are:
Compatibility with GCC: MinGW allows you to use the same compiler (GCC) that is widely used on Linux and other Unix-like systems. GCC is known for its high performance, reliability, portability, and compliance with standards.
No need for a POSIX emulation layer: MinGW does not require a POSIX emulation layer (such as Cygwin) to run on Windows. This means that MinGW programs can run faster and more natively on Windows than programs compiled with Cygwin.
No need for additional runtime libraries: MinGW programs only depend on the standard Windows libraries (such as kernel32.dll, user32.dll, etc.) and the MinGW runtime library (mingw32.dll). This means that MinGW programs can run on any Windows system without installing additional runtime libraries.
Support for Windows-specific features: MinGW supports some Windows-specific features that are not available in GCC on other platforms. For example, MinGW supports the Windows API (such as Win32), the Microsoft C Runtime Library (MSVCRT), the DirectX API (such as Direct3D), etc.
Integration with other tools: MinGW can be integrated with other tools that are compatible with GCC or Windows. For example, you can use MinGW with IDEs such as Qt Creator or Code::Blocks, debuggers such as GDB or Visual Studio Code, profilers such as gprof or Valgrind, etc.
MinGW installation and usage
To install MinGW on your Windows system, you can follow these steps:
Download the MinGW installer: You can download the MinGW installer from the official website: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/. The installer is an executable file named mingw-get-setup.exe.
Run the MinGW installer: You can run the MinGW installer by double-clicking on it or by using the command prompt. The installer will ask you to choose a directory where to install MinGW ( by default, it is C:\MinGW). The installer will also ask you to choose which components to install. You can select the basic components (such as gcc, g++, binutils, etc.) or the additional components (such as gdb, make, etc.).
Wait for the installation to complete: The installer will download and install the selected components from the Internet. This may take some time depending on your Internet speed and the number of components you selected. You can monitor the progress of the installation on the installer window.
Add MinGW to your PATH environment variable: To use MinGW from the command prompt, you need to add the MinGW bin directory to your PATH environment variable. You can do this by editing the system or user environment variables in the Control Panel, or by using the command prompt. For example, if you installed MinGW in C:\MinGW, you can use this command to append the MinGW bin directory to your PATH:
set PATH=%PATH%;C:\MinGW\bin
You can also create a batch file with this command and run it whenever you want to use MinGW.
To use MinGW to compile and run C and C++ programs on Windows, you can follow these steps:
Create a source code file: You can use any text editor (such as Notepad) or IDE (such as Qt Creator) to create a source code file with the extension .c (for C programs) or .cpp (for C++ programs). For example, you can create a file named hello.c with this content:
#include
int main() printf("Hello, world!\n"); return 0;
Compile the source code file: You can use the gcc or g++ command to compile the source code file and generate an executable file. You can specify various options to control the compilation process, such as optimization level, warning level, output file name, etc. For example, you can use this command to compile the hello.c file with optimization level 2 and output file name hello.exe:
gcc -O2 -o hello.exe hello.c
Run the executable file: You can use the command prompt or Windows Explorer to run the executable file. You should see the output of your program on the console or a new window. For example, you should see this output when you run the hello.exe file:
Hello, world!
What is OpenGL and why use it?
OpenGL (short for Open Graphics Library) is a cross-platform and open-source API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D graphics. OpenGL was originally developed by Silicon Graphics in 1992 as a standard for hardware-accelerated graphics. OpenGL is now maintained by the Khronos Group and supported by various vendors and platforms.
OpenGL features and benefits
OpenGL offers many features and benefits that make it a widely used API for graphics programming. Some of these features and benefits are:
Cross-platform compatibility: OpenGL allows you to write your code once and run it on various platforms that support OpenGL, such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, iOS, etc.
Hardware acceleration: OpenGL uses the graphics card (GPU) of your system to perform complex calculations and rendering operations faster and more efficiently than using the CPU alone.
Low-level control: OpenGL gives you direct access to the low-level functions and data structures of the graphics pipeline, such as vertices, textures, shaders, buffers, etc. This allows you to have more control and flexibility over how your graphics are rendered.
High-level abstraction: OpenGL also provides high-level abstraction layers that simplify some common tasks and operations, such as matrix manipulation, lighting, texture mapping, etc.
Extensibility: OpenGL supports extensions that allow you to use additional features and functionalities that are not part of the core specification. Extensions are provided by vendors or platforms to enhance OpenGL's capabilities.
Documentation and support: OpenGL provides extensive documentation and tutorials for learning and using OpenGL. You can also find support from the OpenGL community through forums, mailing lists, blogs, etc.
OpenGL integration with Qt and MinGW
If you want to use OpenGL with Qt and MinGW on Windows , you need to make sure that you have the following components installed and configured:
Qt with OpenGL support: You need to download and install Qt with OpenGL support, which means that Qt was compiled with the -opengl option. You can check if your Qt installation has OpenGL support by looking for the QtOpenGL module in the Qt bin directory. Alternatively, you can download and install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version, which already includes OpenGL support.
MinGW with OpenGL support: You need to download and install MinGW with OpenGL support, which means that MinGW includes the OpenGL headers and libraries. You can check if your MinGW installation has OpenGL support by looking for the GL directory in the MinGW include directory and the libopengl32.a and libglu32.a files in the MinGW lib directory. Alternatively, you can download and install MinGW 4.8.2, which already includes OpenGL support.
OpenGL drivers: You need to have the appropriate OpenGL drivers for your graphics card installed on your system. You can check if your system supports OpenGL by using a tool such as GLview or GPU Caps Viewer.
To use OpenGL with Qt and MinGW on Windows, you can follow these steps:
Create a Qt project with OpenGL support: You can use Qt Creator to create a new Qt project with OpenGL support. You can choose the Qt Widgets Application template or the Qt Quick Application template, depending on whether you want to use the Qt Widgets or the Qt Quick framework for your GUI. You can also specify the name, location, and settings of your project.
Add the QtOpenGL module to your project: You need to add the QtOpenGL module to your project file (.pro) to use the OpenGL classes and functions provided by Qt. You can do this by adding this line to your project file:
QT += opengl
Include the OpenGL headers in your source code files: You need to include the OpenGL headers in your source code files (.cpp) to use the OpenGL classes and functions provided by Qt or by the native OpenGL API. You can do this by adding these lines to your source code files:
#include
#include
#include
Create and use an OpenGL widget or window in your GUI: You need to create and use an OpenGL widget or window in your GUI to render your graphics using OpenGL. You can do this by using one of the following classes provided by Qt:
QGLWidget: This class inherits from QWidget and provides a widget that can display OpenGL graphics. You can use this class if you want to use the Qt Widgets framework for your GUI.
QGLWindow: This class inherits from QWindow and provides a window that can display OpenGL graphics. You can use this class if you want to use the Qt Quick framework for your GUI.
QOpenGLWidget: This class inherits from QWidget and provides a widget that can display OpenGL graphics using a modern approach. You can use this class if you want to use the Qt Widgets framework for your GUI and you have Qt 5.4 or later.
QQuickView: This class inherits from QWindow and provides a window that can display QML scenes using OpenGL graphics. You can use this class if you want to use the Qt Quick framework for your GUI and you have Qt 5.0 or later.
You can create an instance of one of these classes in your main function or in your main window class, depending on how you structure your application. You can also customize the appearance and behavior of these classes by subclassing them or by using properties and methods.
How to download and install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version
If you want to download and install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version on your computer, you can follow these steps:
Download link and system requirements
You can download Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version from the official website: https://download.qt.io/archive/qt/5.3/5.3.2/qt-opensource-windows-x86-mingw482_opengl-5.3.2.exe. This is an executable file that contains the Qt installer with MinGW and OpenGL support. Before you download and install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version, you need to make sure that your system meets the following requirements: - Operating system: Windows XP SP3 or later (32-bit only) - Processor: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP or later - Memory: 1 GB RAM or more - Disk space: 2 GB free space or more - Graphics card: Any card that supports OpenGL 2.0 or later Installation steps and screenshots
To install Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version on your computer, you can follow these steps:
Run the Qt installer: You can run the Qt installer by double-clicking on it or by using the command prompt. The installer will ask you to accept the license agreement and choose a directory where to install Qt (by default, it is C:\Qt).
Select the components to install: The installer will show you a list of components that you can install, such as Qt libraries, Qt Creator, MinGW, etc. You can select the components that you need for your project and unselect the ones that you don't need. You can also change the installation path for each component if you want.
Wait for the installation to complete: The installer will download and install the selected components from the Internet. This may take some time depending on your Internet speed and the number of components you selected. You can monitor the progress of the installation on the installer window.
Finish the installation: The installer will show you a summary of the installation and ask you to launch Qt Creator or read the documentation. You can choose whether to do so or not. You can also create a desktop shortcut for Qt Creator if you want.
Here are some screenshots of the installation process:
Troubleshooting tips and common errors
If you encounter any problems or errors while installing or using Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version, you can try some of these troubleshooting tips:
Check your system requirements: Make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements for running Qt 5.3.2 for Windows 32-bit (MinGW 4.8.2, OpenGL, 737 MB) Full Version, such as operating system, processor, memory, disk space, graphics card, etc.
Check your Inte