Curriculum Block for QT Essentials

Mario84 · wrote on 22 Oct 2012, 15:06

Hi,
I'm taking the QT-Essentials exam in 2 weeks, and I am searching for the curriculum block for about a month now, and I need to start preparing now...
Has anyone a copy of the old page that he can post here? I completely relied on this one page when I scheduled the exam, and a few days later, it was gone.
This would be really helpful... I don't want to cancel the exam just because I don't know what to learn...

AcerExtensa · wrote on 23 Oct 2012, 07:14

Have you at least googled for learning materials? There is also a lot information on this forum!

"Training Materials":http://qt.digia.com/Product/Learning/Education/elearning/online-training/
"Qt in Education Course Materials":http://qt.digia.com/Product/Learning/Education/course-materials/

Mario84 · wrote on 23 Oct 2012, 07:22

If I was too lazy to learn, I wouldn't take the exam and wouldn't ask for the curriculum!

I know the learning materials, that's not the problem. What I need to know, is which topics are relevant for the exam. I just want to know what to learn (and when I scheduled the exam, this list was online at qt-project.org)

mlong · wrote on 23 Oct 2012, 15:01

bq. Or you are too lazy to learn?

This condescending tone is uncalled for. Mr.Universe was asking a very specific and reasonable question, as the old certification curriculum pages that were posted on the qt.nokia.com site are no longer available. I had tried, myself, to search for them to offer up a cached version to him, but had no luck.

mlong · wrote on 23 Oct 2012, 15:17

Mr.Universe: I can't find the official curriculum list, but "this thread":/forums/viewthread/12675 can give some insight into topics and items to be comfortable with.

AcerExtensa · wrote on 23 Oct 2012, 18:31

Sorry, was thinking you are looking for old examples from peoples who has already done this exam. Just for study this pages and got through exam like peoples do with CCNA exams. My bad. Don't be angry to me :)

Mario84 · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 07:18

thanks mlong,
I also tried to get the pages via google cache or archive.org, but couldn't find it.
The thread you posted isn't exactly what I was looking for, but it looks like a suitable alternative...
Can you tell me wether the links posted there by Rahul Das cover all topics that are part of the essentials-exam? (From my memory I'd guess they do)

giesbert · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 07:34

Hi Mr. Universe,

There are even more threads with topics, like "this one":http://qt-project.org/forums/viewthread/20507/

Aditionally, here is the link to the "certification page":http://qt.digia.com/product/learning/certification/ . Currently it only says: we are collecting data and will post it soon....

Mario84 · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 09:24

thanks gerolf, I already knew the thread you posted, but its for the core c++ exam, not for the essentials. But I'll try to contact digia through the certification page, perhaps they can give me a copy...

mlong · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 14:35

Mr.Universe,

Those topics, as I recall, seem to be pretty comprehensive. The most important part, though, is that you're already comfortable with Qt development in general. The purpose of certification is to indicate that you're genuinely knowledgeable in the area, so just make sure that you're comfortable with those general types of topics. If you're comfortable with the given topics in that list, then you've probably done enough development with Qt to handle any other related topics which may or may not be listed there.

Mario84 · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 15:39

Thanks mlong,
I guess you're right. I am working with Qt every day in my job, so I'm sure I can answer most of the questions without problems, but I remember some topics in the curriculum I never came in touch with during my work... But from my memory I think the list in the other thread covers those topics...
I also sent an e-mail to digia, if they can send me a copy of the old page, if they do, I'll post it here, if not, I'll probably pass the exam anyway!

mlong · wrote on 24 Oct 2012, 16:08

Good luck with your exam! Looking forward to seeing a certification badge below your name soon!

broadpeak · wrote on 25 Oct 2012, 08:02

Recommended books and chapters for Essentials:

@
C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4, 1st and 2nd Edition, by Jasmin Blanchette, Mark Summerfield. The 1st Edition is also available online.
Part I Basic Qt
Part II Intermediate Qt
Section 6: Layout Management
Section 7: Event Processing
Section 11: Container Classes
Section 12: Input/Output
Section 16: Providing Online Help
Section 17: Internationalization

Foundations of Qt Development, by Johan Thelin
Part 1: Getting to Know Qt
Part 2: The Qt Building Blocks
Chapter 6: Creating Widgets
Chapter 7: Drawing and Printing (excluding Graphics View)
Chapter 8: Files, Streams, XML (XML in basics only)
Chapter 9: Providing Help
Chapter 10: Internationalization and Localization
Chapter 15: Building Qt Projects, basic use of qmake, cmake is not in scope

An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4, by Alan Ezust, Paul Ezust
Part I: Introduction to C++ and Qt 4
Section 3: Introduction to Qt
Section 4: Lists
Part II: High-Level Programming
Section 9: QObject
Section 10: Generics and Containers
Section 11: Qt GUI Widgets

The Book of Qt 4: The Art of Building Qt Applications by Daniel Molkentin
Chapter 1: Basics, Tools, and First Code
Chapter 2: The Tools Needed to Create Dialogs
Chapter 3: GUI Design Using the Qt Designer
Chapter 4: Developing a GUI Application Based on a Main Window
Chapter 5: Laying Out Widgets (only Basics)
Chapter 6: Dialogs (only Basics)
Chapter 7: Events, Drag and Drop, and the Clipboard (only Events)
Chapter 10: The Graphics Library "Arthur" (only Basics)
Chapter 11 Input/Output Interfaces
@

broadpeak · wrote on 25 Oct 2012, 08:03

Topics:

Qt Essentials Curriculum Block

Version 1.1

Fundamentals of Qt programming

UI and cross-platform libraries

Learn the difference between a native APIs and cross platform APIs
Know the difference between toolkits and frameworks
Understanding the reasoning for portable software

First development steps

Learn how to write a simple Qt application
Understand the need for layout management
Be able to find answers to questions about Qt
Learn how to use qmake

QObject basics

Understand the fundamentals of QObject
Be able to use Qt properties and other core features provided by the Qt's meta-type system

Memory management

Understand where and when Qt deletes objects
Know when a developer is responsible for providing code deleting allocated objects
Understand when heap and stack allocation are used in Qt

Edit and build

Be able to create and manage a Qt project via *.pro files
Know key facts about the Qt build process and the tools used (qmake, moc, Makefiles)
Learn how to use Qt with Qt Creator and supported IDEs

Signals and slots

Learn the advantages of signals/slots
Understand the concept of signal/slots
Learn how to connect signals to slots
Be able to use and define your own signals/slots

Overview of modules and classes

Be able to list major Qt modules
Understand the concept and functionality of a Qt module
Understand the major APIs provided by different Qt modules

Some thoughts about portability

Understand the advantages of portable software
Know the concepts of making software more portable
Know the limitations of Qt's portability
Understand how to make your project portable

Developing an application

Events

Understand the concept of events
Understand the difference between events and signal/slots
Be able to implement event handling
Understand the role of events in painting
Understand the role of event filters and be able to use them
Understand the concept of event propagation
Learn how to post/send events
Be able to create/send/handle custom events

Basic drawing

Learn how to draw on widgets
Understand the difference between QPixmap, QImage and QPicture
Be able to load an image from a file

Main windows and actions

Know how to use QMainWindow
Know how to implement a menu
Be able to use tool bars and status bars
Understand the concept of Actions
Know how to use QVariant to store data in Actions
Understand the usage of scrolled areas

Settings

Know how to store application settings in different formats with the help of QSettings
Be aware of and be able to control the storage location of settings on different platforms

Qt debugging aids

Be able to write debug messages
Understand the usage of asserts
Be able to use GDB with Qt
Understand why event filters can be helpful for debugging

Writing your own widgets

Know when it is better to write a custom widget
Be able to re-implement event handler methods
Understand when to use signals
Be able to decide which internal variables should be made accessible
Understand the importance of clean constructors

broadpeak · wrote on 25 Oct 2012, 08:03

Topics continued:

Using dialogs and handling UI Layout

Geometry management

Learn how to manipulate the geometry of a widget
Understand the concepts behind a layout manager in Qt
Know and understand the various layout managers
Learn how to use widgets with layout a managers
Be able to develop own dialog with layouts

Standard dialogs

Know the various standard dialog types
Understand the usage of standard dialogs
Be able to use these dialogs
Understand how processing of events works with QProgressDialog
Understand the structure of wizards
Be able to create your own wizards with pages

Creating your own (custom) dialogs

Learn how to subclass a QDialog
Understand the usage of buttons in a dialog
Be able to launch dialogs (not-) modal
Know the deletion options for dialogs
Be able to create your own dialogs with user interactions

Using Qt Designer and Qt Creator for UI development

Understand how designer can help in creating widgets
Understand the concept of designer files
Be able to load designer code inside your code
Be able to connect designer elements with business functions
Know how to manage custom widgets in designer
Be able to load designer files in runtime
Be able to write a dialog using the designer tool

Strings, Resources and Help

Strings, URLs and regular expressions

Learn how to create strings with QString
Know how to extract data from strings
Know how to test strings
Know useful utility functions in QString
Know the basics about Qt support of translation of strings into other languages
Understand QUrl and the components of an URL
Learn how to use QRegExp for regular expression and shell globing

Validating Input

Be able to set input masks on line edits
Understand the format for input masks
Know that QCompleter offer pop-up completion

Resources

Understand the advantage of resource files over ordinary files
Learn how to add resource files to a project
Know the resource XML file structure
Be able to access resources from the application
Know that resource files can be localized
Learn how to load a resource file dynamically

Help system

Know the different possibilities to provide help
Understand the concept of the system tray icon
Learn how to support dynamic help

Container and other non-GUI classes

Container classes

Understand the concept of containers
Know the difference between Java and STL styled APIs
Know the different container types
Be able to identify the best suited container type for your needs
Know the requirements for a type to be storable in a container
Be able to iterate of containers
Know the difference standard and mutable iterators
Be able to use the for each keyword on containers
Know the utility container algorithms offered by Qt
Understand the concept of implicit shared classes

QVariant

Understand the central role of QVariant for many other container classes
Know which types are supported by default and be able to store new data types

QSignalMapper

Understand the concept of signal mapper
Be able to use QSignalMapper

QTimer

Understand the concept of QTimer
Be able to use QTimer
Understand the different operation modes of timers

Generic IO, files and printing

Understand the usage of QFile
Be able to identify the difference between QDataStream and QTextStream
Know the related classes for file and directory access
Be able to read/write from/to files using Qt
Understand the issue of text encoding and files
Understand when better to use QDataStream instead of QTextStream
Be able to print a widget or text document in PDF format using QPrinter

mlong · wrote on 25 Oct 2012, 15:08

Thanks for the info, broadpeak! I touched up the formatting a bit in your posts. Hope you don't mind.

Macro · wrote on 4 Nov 2012, 06:47

Thanks for the Info broadpeak & mlong... :)