Comment by rubymamis
4 months ago
What exactly are your qualms with Qt Quick and QML? I find the separation of UI (QML) and logic (C++) pretty amazing. QML is such a nice language and the framework has grown a lot over the years. I developed a block editor (Notion style) in QML and C++, wrote about it in my blog[1].
For my taste there was already enough separation of UI and logic in a widget-based UI with callbacks or signals/slots. I was using Qt for desktop app development, so didn't see any benefit to Qt Quick and QML which seemed more intended for mobile, and a step away from native desktop feel. Qt Designer also helped separate UI from logic, but although it was great I found it didn't quite hit the mark. I would use it for prototyping, but then reimplement for real.
In general I got into Qt wanting a nice GUI toolkit for C++ on Linux. The cross-platform support was a bonus, but not something that I ever actually used. MOC was already an unwanted step away from pure C++ development, and QML would have been another one. At the same time Qt Quick and QML support seemed to suck all the wind out of further Qt development for desktop use.
I still don't hear any concrete feedback regarding QML and Qt Quick - the stack is very suited to desktop apps as well. My FOSS app (1,500,000 downloads) has a Kanban UI written in QML[1] and people seems to like it. I do think the choice of Javascript as the scripting language for QML is not ideal to say the least (although there were some improvements to type safety like using `required` in model-view, etc).
Also, most QML components are just C++ objects exposing QML api. And I think there are some compile flags to convert QML to C++ (even some JS code).
[1] https://www.notes-foss.com
> I still don't hear any concrete feedback regarding QML and Qt Quick
Well, evidentially you chose/prefer that stack over Qt Widgets, presumably for some considered reason (unless it was just Nokia pushing that as the future, per their own mobile interests).
There was definitely a change of focus when Nokia bought Trolltech. For me it was a negative one.
Not the one you asked, but since I share the exact same feeling, and for what it's worth: I used to reach for Qt when I needed a complex desktop app, the kind of app with a high density of widgets, controls and information, great care for UI but little for aestetic. QML felt to me like it was going in the direction of web development, up to a point where you'd be better off having a separate front-end and back-end, all in the name of more eye candy.
I understand their worries, but it was not my need (and it felt patheticaly hopeless). When I need a web app, I go for a web app