Policies/API to Avoid

There are classes and functions that should be avoided in KDE applications, but KDE has no direct control over them (for example, they are part of Qt).

API that has KDE replacements

Qt classes that have their KDE versions

When buliding with kdelibs4

KDE applications should not use Qt classes that have their KDE replacements. Examples include QFileDialog, QDialog, QMainWindow. KDE versions of these classes provide better integration with KDE.

When building with Qt5 and KDE Frameworks

For frameworks, a lot of functionality from K classes has been merged into upstream Q classes. Use of QFileDialog, QDialog, and QMainWindow are ok and even encouraged, while other classes like KLineEdit and KComboBox are only required for utilizing features like completion See Frameworks Porting Notes for more details.

QNetworkAccessManager

By default QNetworkAccessManager does not follow redirects. This is problematic as it prevents compatiblity fallback of server moves.

Use of QNetworkAccessManager MUST include the line

networkAccessManager->setRedirectPolicy(QNetworkRequest::NoLessSafeRedirectPolicy);

QSystemTrayIcon::showMessage()

Use KNotification for better KDE integration.

QHttp

QHttp does not respect desktop settings such as the user's proxy settings or resource restrictions. Always use KIO to access network resources.

API that is considered broken

QWidget::showFullScreen/Maximized/Minimized/Normal()

Try to avoid calls to QWidget::showFullScreen(), QWidget::showMaximized(), QWidget::showMinimized() and QWidget::showNormal(), use them only if you understand what they do and you really want that. These calls do not only change the relevant window state as most people expect, but they also have other effects. For example, showFullScreen() among other things also removes the maximized state (see bug #157941), the same way showNormal() is not an inverse call to showFullScreen().

Either use QWidget::setWindowState() in the following way

widget->setWindowState(widget->windowState() | Qt::WindowFullScreen); // set
widget->setWindowState(widget->windowState() & ~Qt::WindowFullScreen); // reset

or use KDE API - KToggleFullScreenAction has setFullScreen() helper function, and KWindowSystem has calls for changing window state.

Further Links

For further programming tips, please read the article about common programming mistakes.