// Copyright (C) 2016 The Qt Company Ltd.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only

/*!
    \page getting-and-building.html
    \title Getting Qt and Qt Creator

    To create and build a \QC plugin, you need a compatible version of Qt,
    and either a \QC package (released or snapshot) or your own \QC build.

    There are several reasons why you might want to do your own build of \QC,
    like using the most current development version and being able to tweak \QC
    at one or the other place. But it is not strictly necessary for creating
    plugins. The \QC packages contain a \uicontrol {Plugin Development}
    component that enables plugin development with the \QC contained in the
    package.

    \section1 Getting Qt

    Prebuilt \QC packages usually use the latest stable release of Qt.
    See the exact Qt version that a \QC package was built with in its
    \uicontrol {About \QC} dialog.

    The minimum requirement for building \QC is stated in the
    \l{https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt-creator/qt-creator.git/about/README.md}
    {README.md} and near the top of the
    \l{https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt-creator/qt-creator.git/tree/cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake}
    {cmake/QtCreatorAPI.cmake} file in the sources.

    You can get prebuilt Qt packages from
    \l{https://download.qt.io}{Qt Downloads}. If you want to use Qt as provided
    by your Linux distribution, you need to make sure that all Qt development
    packages and private header packages are also installed.

    \section1 Getting \QC

    \section2 Installing a Prebuilt Package

    The prebuilt \QC packages contain a \uicontrol {Plugin Development}
    component that contains the CMake files, headers and other files
    that you need to build a plugin. It is not installed by default, so make
    sure to select the component when installing \QC.

    When developing your plugin, point the \c {CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH} to the
    installation location of \QC, or the \QC app on macOS.

    Get prebuilt packages either from
    \l{https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/}
    {\QOI}, or a standalone \QC installer either for a
    \l{https://download.qt.io/official_releases/qtcreator/}
    {released \QC version} or a \l{https://download.qt.io/snapshots/qtcreator/}
    {development snapshot}.

    \section2 Building \QC

    You can get the \QC sources for a specific version either by using one of
    the released source bundles or by cloning the sources from the Git repository
    \l{https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt-creator/qt-creator.git}. If you intend to
    contribute to \QC itself, you should use the repository from our Gerrit
    review tool as described in:
    \l{https://wiki.qt.io/Setting_up_Gerrit}{Setting up Gerrit}.

    Refer to the
    \l{https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt-creator/qt-creator.git/about/README.md}
    {README.md} included in the sources for details on building \QC.

    When developing your plugin, point the \c {CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH} to the
    build location of \QC.
*/