Windows: Installing Qt Creator

Qt Creator is a great cross-platform IDE for open source development of Qt-based applications. The cross-platform Qt framework allows you to create amazing GUI applications for Windows, Linux, Mac, Symbian, etc.

In this post, I'll cover the installations steps of Qt Creator and the Qt libraries.

Get the MinGW compiler collection

First of all, we need a C compiler. The Qt libraries for Windows have been compiled using the MinGW 4.4 compiler collection. So we need to install the very same version, which is available here(ftp.qt.nokia).

After downloading the zip file, extract it under the "C:\" path (or any other place you want).

Unzipping the MinGW compiler collection in the C:/ drive.

Get the Qt libraries

Grab the latest Qt library (the MinGW version one) from here(qt.nokia.com), and execute the installer. When asked for the path to the MinGW folder, use the same path you used in the last step.

Qt-library installation: Selecting the MinGW installation path.

Get Qt creator

Get the latest version of Qt creator from here(qt.nokia.com). Follow the installer's instructions. When done, launch Qt creator and move to the next step.

Qt Creator: Start-up window.

Select a C compiler in Qt creator

Go to Menu > Tools > Options.

Click on the "Build and Run" section and go under the "Tool Chains" tab, then click on the "Add" button and select the MinGW option. Configure the C compiler as in the following example.

Selecting a toolchain.

Select a Qt library in Qt creator

Go to Menu > Tools > Options.

Click on the "Build and Run" section and go under the "Qt Versions" tab, then click on the "Add" button. Browse to the "qmake" binary as in the following example.

Selecting the Qt library.

Enjoy!

That's all. Now, take a look at the various tutorials available on the WWW, and start coding. Or take a look at my Qt-based serial port emulator (qSerialTerm) as an example.

Hello World example in Qt creator.