Posted by Jaycad on Jun 12, 2022; 9:40am
URL: https://forum.librecad.org/Thinking-of-developing-tp5721791.html

I'm wondering if I'd be able to contribute on the development side.  I'm self-taught in programming and have used VB6, C, C++ and Python.  I've written small GUI and console programs, though my largest was a small company timesheet system with VB6.  My C++ experience is with C++98 and mainly Dev C++.  I have no Qt experience.  I have never been part of an organised development team or used Github etc.  I work daily with CAD so have a good idea of what is useful in tools/functions.

I'm wondering how likely it is that I could quickly master what is necessary to contribute to LibreCad or would exeperienced devs think I may need to play about with C++11 and Qt for a quite a while before plunging in?

On getting the tools, the LibreCad GitHub page says

"LibreCAD is written in C++11 and now requires at least Qt 5.2.1."

and

"Download an appropriate offline installer from http://www.qt.io/download-open-source/ (hint: look for the "view all downloads" link). Windows users will want to get the MinGW version."

The QT download page seems to have changed since the above was written and i couldn't find at "view all downloads" link but did find my way to some offline installers.  However, only 5.12 installers or 5.15 & 6.24+ sources are listed.  Even in the archive, there is no 5.2.1+ package.  Can anyone advise?

Lastly, would I be correct in thinking that I need a Mingw installation(windows user), QT files and Qt Creator?  Thanks for any advice.