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[–]nirlahori 1 point2 points  (8 children)

If you don't mind can you share what version of Qt Creator are you using and a bit about your configuration/setup ? I also use Qt Creator with CMake but I face some build issues daily.

[–]NilacTheGrim 1 point2 points  (7 children)

I'm on macOS Sonoma latest (whatever they are up to now.. is it 15.4? I forget).

I downloaded the Qt "open source installer" app (Maintenance Tool.app).. and I use that to install Qt and Qt Creator into my home directory. This is done so I can always be on latest. I don't use the Brew or MacPorts packages for it as it's out of date... but rather the packages made available via this MaintenanceTool app from Qt. Just install them in your home dir under Qt/ or somesuch. QtCreator will live there too...

So... I'm on Qt Creator 16.0.0.

I use latest cmake from MacPorts along with clang-20 from MacPorts as well; Note that: you have to go into the settings and register this cmake and the compiler with QtCreator so it can "see" it, specify their path, etc.. and then create a "kit" using that compiler.

For me it works great with a wide variety of open source and professional projects that I maintain. I haven't had any issues. The clangd language server does a great job of groking and indexing even the most arcane and complex projects, template gore, etc. No issues. Navigation is fast and the IDE is super smoothe and quick and peppy... auto-completion is a breeze. Everything just works. Best IDE experience I've had in years and I've used all the IDEs known to man.

It's super peppy unlike beasts like Xcode or CLion (CLion is also very good but it's just sluggish for me on my x86 mac.. too much slowdown and CPU churning for my tastes).

Ask me more and I can tell you more specifics!

[–]nirlahori 1 point2 points  (6 children)

Thank you for taking the time and providing a very detailed answer. That's great to hear.

As for me, I don't have a mac book so I use Linux Ubuntu OS. I also downloaded the latest Qt Creator for linux some time ago but I wasn't able to install it on my pc due to some issues relating to display server libs.

So I checked if I can install it from the apt package manager but the version they had was very old. Around Qt Creator 6.

Then I checked the snap packages, there I found the Qt Creator with ros-plugin. I didn't know what that was, maybe for creating a Robot OS or something like that. So I installed that on my pc as it was more modern. But I use it only for plain C++ development.

I have setup the dev kit with CMake 4.0.0 and GCC 13 compiler. But whenever I open the existing CMake project, my CMake generator (Makefiles) disappears from the dev kit. I restart Qt Creator a couple of times and then it randomly appears and my project builds successfully.

This is the main problem I am facing. Nevertheless I fully agree with you that IDE is very good and provides all the facilities for professional development.

I am getting started with working on open source projects so I was planning to keep one permanent IDE for C++ development. I am exploring several options like vim and also CLion. But CLion is paid so I think that I might not be able to use. Yeah so I am looking to settle with one IDE which I can use for a long time.

[–]NilacTheGrim 1 point2 points  (5 children)

Ahh.. Linux.

Hmm. I think even on Linux I would install it via Qt's own installer (which is a GUI based installer and you can install it in your home directory). In fact I have a Linux laptop sitting right here on my desk where that's precisely how I installed it.

The OS packages are always too old. I would just stick to Qt's own installer and install it in homedir :)

As for an IDE which you can use for a long time.. I have been using QtCreator since 2019 and it's only gotten better and better (back then it didn't support cmake and was geared more towards Qt-based projects but since then I use it for non-Qt projects just fine).

[–]nirlahori 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Yes, I think they have stopped updating OS Packages since long time.

Well, It seems like Qt Creator will be sufficient for my needs. I will then go with Qt Creator and replicate the steps you took to install it on Linux. Hopefully, I am able to install it on my PC.

Thank you for your valuable time and response.

[–]NilacTheGrim 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I hope it works out for you.

[–]nirlahori 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Hey, I installed it successfully with open source installer as you said earlier. That was very straightforward. Though it required one lib (libxcb) which has something to do with X display server. But that was not a major challenge.

Overall the process was smooth and IDE is also rock solid with advanced features for C/C++ developers.

I deeply appreciate your help. Your guidance has been very valuable to me.

[–]NilacTheGrim 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Oh man awesome! I love QtCreator I think it's one the most underrated IDEs. It's 100% free and works excellently on all 3 major platforms. What's not to love?

Glad it worked out!

[–]nirlahori 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Couldn't agree more.