The Qt Group is pushing forward with its plans to develop a proprietary toolkit, Qt/.NET, aimed at facilitating seamless interaction between C++ and Microsoft's popular software development platform, .NET.
Here are some key takeaways regarding the proposed Qt/.NET toolkit:
C++ and .NET Interoperability Advances
The Qt Group has outlined plans to implement a native host for managing assemblies, along with a native-to-managed adapter module providing interoperability services such as instance method invocation, event notification, and object-lifecycle management.
Native Object Encapsulation Enabled
Through the extension of the QDotNETInterface class, C++ objects can become accessible to .NET by implementing C# interfaces. This is achieved through a managed object proxy created by the constructor that contains a list of callbacks provided as interface member implementations.
.NET Extension and Wrapper Classes
Ongoing work in the Qt/.NET project includes the development of code generation for boilerplate native code, enabling .NET types to extend Qt classes. Additionally, Qt classes can be extended in .NET, and properties of .NET objects can be accessed as QObject properties.
Code Generation and Boilerplate Native Code
The Qt Group has demonstrated how Qt/.NET can create QObject-based wrapper classes for managed types, including the conversion of .NET events to QObject signals. This development is part of the ongoing work in the project aimed at enhancing interoperability between C++ and .NET.
Project Advancements
The proposed Qt/.NET toolkit appears to be advancing steadily, with recent blog posts from the Qt Group highlighting key features and capabilities. The development of code generation for boilerplate native code is a notable aspect of this project, as it enables seamless interaction between C++ and .NET.
Conclusion
The Qt Group's efforts to create an interoperability toolkit, Qt/.NET, promise significant benefits for developers seeking to work with both C++ and Microsoft's popular .NET platform. As the project progresses, we can expect to see further enhancements to the toolkit, enabling seamless interaction between these two technologies.