Das K Desktop Environment

Kapitel 1. Introduction

As Unix Systems are becoming more and more popular to even beginners working with computer machines due to its advantages in regards of stability and functionality, most are somehow disappointed, because those applications don't have a consistent look and each one behaves different from another. With KDE, developers have an almost perfect way to create first-class applications for Unix desktop systems to get a wider user community by the mere quality their applications have to offer. Therefore, KDE becomes more and more popular as a base for programming design, and developers want to take advantage of the possibilities that the system has to offer.

1.1. What you should know already

For making the best use of this programming handbook, we assume that you already know about the C++ programming language; if not, you should make yourself familiar with that first. Information about C++ is available through various sources either in printed form at your local bookstore or by tutorials found on the Internet. Knowledge about the design of Graphical User Interfaces is not required, as this handbook tries to cover the application design for KDE programs, which also includes an introduction into the Qt toolkit as well as the KDE libraries and the design of User Interfaces. Also, you should have made yourself comfortable with KDevelop by reading The User Manual to KDevelop, which contains a descriptive review of the functionality provided by the IDE.