Qt Quick

The Qt Quick module is the standard library for writing QML applications. While the Qt Qml module provides the QML engine and language infrastructure, the Qt Quick module provides all the basic types necessary for creating user interfaces with QML. It provides a visual canvas and includes types for creating and animating visual components, receiving user input, creating data models and views and delayed object instantiation.

The Qt Quick module provides both a QML API, which supplies QML types for creating user interfaces with the QML language, and a C++ API for extending QML applications with C++ code.

If you're new to QML and Qt Quick, please see QML Applications for an introduction to writing QML applications.

Using the Module

QML API

The QML types of the module are available through the QtQuick import. To use the types, add the following import statement to your .qml file:

import QtQuick

C++ API

Using a Qt module's C++ API requires linking against the module library, either directly or through other dependencies. Several build tools have dedicated support for this, including CMake and qmake.

Building with CMake

Use the find_package() command to locate the needed module component in the Qt6 package:

find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Quick)
target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::Quick)

For more details, see the Build with CMake overview.

Building with qmake

To configure the module for building with qmake, add the module as a value of the QT variable in the project's .pro file:

QT += quick

Important Concepts in Qt Quick

Qt Quick provides everything you need to create a rich application with a fluid and dynamic user interface. It enables you to build user interfaces around the behavior of user interface components and how they connect with one another, and it provides a visual canvas with its own coordinate system and rendering engine. Animation and transition effects are first class concepts in Qt Quick, and you can add visual effects through specialized components for particle and shader effects.

• The Visual Canvas
• User Input
• Positioning
• States, Transitions And Animations
• Data - Models, Views and Data Storage
• Particles And Graphical Effects
  • MultiEffect
• Convenience Types

When using the Qt Quick module, you will need to know how to write QML applications using the QML language. In particular, QML Basics and QML Essentials from the QML Applications page.

To find out more about using the QML language, see the Qt Qml module documentation.

C++ Extension Points

• C++ Extension Points
  • Creating User-Defined QQuickItem-Derived Types
  • Scene Graph-Related Classes
  • Pixmap and Threaded Image Support

Articles and Guides

• Qt Quick Guidelines
• Qt Quick Tools and Utilities

  Further information for writing QML applications:

  • QML Applications - essential information for application development with QML and Qt Quick
  • Qt Qml - documentation for the Qt QML module, which provides the QML engine and language infrastructure
  • Qt Quick How-tos - shows how to achieve specific tasks in Qt Quick

Examples

• Qt Quick Examples and Tutorials

Reference

• Qt Quick C++ Classes - the C++ API provided by the Qt Quick module
• Qt Quick QML Types - a list of QML types provided by the QtQuick import
  • Effects - provides graphical effects to apply to Qt Quick items
  • Local Storage - a submodule containing a JavaScript interface for an SQLite database
  • Particles - provides a particle system for Qt Quick
  • Layouts - provides layouts for arranging Qt Quick items
  • Tests - contains types for writing unit test for a QML application
  • Shapes - provides types for rendering vector shapes in a Qt Quick scene.
  • Vector Image - provides types for displaying vector image files.
• Qt Quick Android Classes - provides classes for using QML with Java/Kotlin Android APIs.

Qt Academy Courses

• Introduction to Qt Quick

Licenses and Attributions

Qt Quick is available under commercial licenses from The Qt Company. In addition, it is available under free software licenses. Since Qt 5.4, these free software licenses are GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3, or the GNU General Public License, version 2. See Qt Licensing for further details.