Using Qt for mobile development
Published: 2025-11-23T12:05:31Z
Categories:
Software development
Strengths of using Qt
- Can make use of C++ and its ecosystem, including Qt
- Can have separation between back-end logic in C++ and front-end logic in QML/JS with mechanisms to allow communication between the two
- Can make use of JS for UI logic
- Can use LGPL license to learn how to develop mobile applications with Qt and release a MVP on Android, dynamically linking Qt libraries. Provided this is successful, can acquire a commercial license and develop enterprise application for iOS and Android, re-using learnings and own app code, provided the Qt Company approves the switch over.
- Have option to make use of Qt Design Studio for a pure QML design. UI Designers with little development knowledge can use this and end up with tangible code that the developers can use. Can work better as a team.
- Using performant language in C++, pay only for what you use
- It supports internationalization with Qt Linguist
- It's being invested into with continual updates.
- It's cross-platform for both Android OS and iOS
- It's mature although less mature for mobile development
- It's modular
- It's big with a lot of what's needed built-in
- It provides most of the essential low-level building blocks
- It's well-documented (for the most part)
- It's utilizing standard languages like C++, CMake, and JavaScript. If familiar with these technologies, have a head start.
- The C++ code compiles to native code
- With QML, can have custom UI components and extend upon them with new properties without having to declare a new component.
Neutrals of using Qt
- Have learning curve associated with picking up Qt and QML. This is not unique to Qt as other cross-platform frameworks like Flutter also require learning new technologies.
Drawbacks of using Qt
There's a higher cost associated with using Qt
- Can be less developers that know C++ and Qt well in region and learning these technologies is a huge demand. Size of C++20 standard is quite big even if a lot of it isn't used.
- Can be higher costs for expertise
- Can discontinue development on offerings of theirs (e.g. Qt Digital Advertising)
- Must purchase additional license to make use of Squish for GUI testing and Coco for code coverage, Axivion Suite for static code analysis, and Qt Insight for product usage analysis.
- Must use the commercial license for an iOS release and to incorporate a couple of useful modules for mobile development into project.
- Qt Graphs (Data visualizations)
- Qt Network Authorization (OAuth)
- Subject to longer development times
- Lacking built-in hot-reload, slowing UI iteration
- Higher barrier to entry to learning everything
- Qt Community is smaller so there's less answers to questions online
- Smaller ecosystem compared to native ecosystems, meaning some mobile-specific features need native code in Objective-C or Java. Then have to figure out how to bridge or wrap platform-specific features.
- The QML linter throws a lot of false positives
- With version updates, Qt documentation can become outdated
- Upgrading from one Qt version to another can result in new problems to solve
Areas Qt plans to improve in
Seek to target more of C++ developer market as well as broader software development market
- Greater support for Rust, Python, .NET, Swift, and Kotlin/Java
- Improvements to Qt AI Assistant
References
https://www.qt.io/qt-bridges
https://www.qt.io/press/qt-group-unveils-expansion-plans-for-technology-agnostic-qt-ecosystem?hsLang=en
https://www.qt.io/hubfs/Investors/Qt_Group_SEB_presentation.pdf?hsLang=en
Internship at Novita Services through the 20-week work integrated learning (WIL) program at Flinders University for engineers (ENGR3700)
Published: 2025-08-22T12:00:02Z
Categories:
University education
What experience I had with Novita
- During my internship at Novita Services in Semester 2, 2025, I had the opportunity to work on a technically challenging, coding-intensive health and disability services and financial technology (FinTech) project as well as an interactive organizational chart, which strengthened my skills as a software engineer and allowed me to contribute meaningfully to the organization. The projects I led reached a point where end-users wanted to use what I had built.
- During the internship, I experienced and saw how other interns had to wait for access to resources needed for their assigned projects. When these requests were acted upon, this enabled interns to contribute more effectively. The more bureaucratic and risk-averse the environment is and the more divided responsibilities are amongst different people from different departments, the more common this would be. This experience taught me that I thrive in fast-paced environments where I have technical autonomy and receive the necessary support to work efficiently and deliver results.
What value this experience had
- I had the chance to contribute value to the host organization who's mission I was on board with in the form of ideas and tangible work.
- Novita has the mission of “partnering with and supporting people with disability, their families, and communities to participate to their full potential and live the lives they choose”
- I developed soft skills such as adaptability and patience, hard skills such as web development, and had the opportunity to apply these skills to meet workplace expectations and navigate workplace challenges.
- I in independently acting as a professional engineer, gained industry experience, performed role-specific activities, solved industry problems, and worked on industry projects. All of this helps with transitioning to full-time work in one's field after completing my studies.
- The ENGR3700 WIL program is in students penultimate year (before Honours year).
How Flinders University could improve the WIL experience for students
- Either increasing the value of WIL or lowering the cost of WIL.
- Speaking about the cost of WIL
- The WIL program is 13.5 units and as cost is based on units, this comes to ~ 3,500 AUD for domestic students and ~ 17,000 AUD for international students. The amount of work for uni staff is not 3 x that of a regular course. There's some administration work but no teaching and little help with the placement itself.
- There's opportunity cost in lost wages (if it's an unpaid placement) and the loss of 3 courses (as each course is worth 4.5 units).
- Students are at risk of financial strain if they must balance full-time placement hours with part-time work in order to meet living costs. While this can also occur during full-time study, university schedules are often more flexible as there might be days with no classes.
- Even if a student outperforms another in terms of academic records and qualities, it might not be possible for them to secure a paid placement position due to the limited time window and luck involved in this.
- Speaking about increasing the value of WIL so it's worth the equivalent of if not more than its current tuition cost.
- Could have a minimum amount of hours of mentoring such as 50 hours from degree-qualified engineers in the same discipline as the student to help students become an industry professional as is the case for other professions such as psychology.
- The host organization gains a return on their investment into the student through better work contributions from the student as a result of this.
- Could have students engage with professionals from other disciplines and learn from them.
- Could have students work on the same project as senior engineers to help students learn best practices and more advanced knowledge.
- Could require a WIL work plan prior to commencing placement so that it's possible for all parties - student, university, and host organization to be on the same page and on board with this plan. This would enable the student to start working on tasks as soon as possible, contributing and learning a lot sooner.
- Could have oversight in place to ensure that the WIL work plan is stuck to and provides a valuable learning experience.
Some of these things (e.g. cross-team engagement), I had a taste of during one's time at Novita, which added to the value of this experience.
References for this post
Li, J & Randhawa, S 2018, "Work Integrated Learning for Engineering Students at Flinders University", viewed August 2025, <Work Integrated Learning for Engineering Students at Flinders University>.
Engineers Australia 2025, "Providing work experience to engineering students", viewed August 2025, <https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-04/Internships-guide-for-employers-2025.pdf?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Organic%20&utm_campaign=EAEA24>.
Novita 2024, “2024-2028 Strategic Plan”, Novita, viewed August 2025, <https://www.novita.org.au/content/uploads/2024/11/Strategic-Plan-2024-2028.pdf>.
Psychology Board of Australia 2016, "Fact sheet for the 5+1 internship program", viewed August 2025, <https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD16%2F19782&dbid=AP&chksum=Wh%2FvlrO%2BaojXjq7S7eh%2FaA%3D%3D>
Business name renewal
Published: 2025-06-05T13:52:49Z
Categories:
Business administration
Where to register name
If don't have an ABN, https://register.business.gov.au/
If have an ABN, https://asicconnect.asic.gov.au/
Who not to register name with
Private service providers:
- Online Business Registration
- Registry Pty Ltd
- Registration Pty Ltd
Such businesses can mail registration letters before official ASIC one arrives
Reasons not to use the services of such businesses:
- Charge extra fee on top of normal business name renewal cost (e.g. 55 AUD more/1 year and 79 AUD more/3 years) as of 2025
