Reorganised: Qt 5.0 is now ready

A little later than previously anticipated, the developers have completed their work on version 5.0 of the Qt C++ framework. As the first release candidate didn't meet the project's quality requirements, a further RC had to be released last week. For the final major release, the Qt code base has been reorganised and divided into "essential" and add-on modules. Combined with the Qt Platform Abstraction layer, this measure aims to improve Qt 5's cross-platform portability.

Other new features include the use of an OpenGL-based scene graph to accelerate the rendering of graphics in Qt Quick. This module has also been extended to provide various further C++ classes and includes features such as particle and shader effects as well as offline storage.

Demonstration of new features in Qt 5

The developers have also modified the core, adding components such as a set of classes that allow developers to parse and generate JSON documents. Other Qt 5 modifications are designed to simplify working with IPv6: applications that use host names and network layer-transparent protocols can now choose to receive both IPv4 and IPv6 connections or bind to only one of the two connection types. With outgoing HTTP connections that use QNetworkAccessManager, both IPv4 and IPv6 connections are now attempted in parallel, and the one that succeeds first is used.

Among the new version's essential modules is Qt Multimedia, a component that provides access to QML types and C++ classes that support multimedia content and APIs for accessing various features such as camera functionality. Qt Webkit now supports HTML5, and the developers have also generally improved the JavaScript and QML support.

Despite all the changes, Qt 5 is said to be highly compatible with its predecessors, and the team behind the platform promises good Qt 4 application portability.

More information about Qt 5 and an overview of the new features can be found in the project's documentation. In addition to a new version of Qt Creator, the GPLv3 and LGPLv2-licensed source code for Linux (32- and 64-bit), Mac, and Windows is available to download from the project's web site. Commercial versions can be obtained from Digia.

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