I am currently developing a Windows application (concerning analysis of volumetric data from CT) which is stand-alone, but where I also want to give users the possibility to write plugins which can be loaded at start-up. I do not want to force them to use Qt, since they probably do not all want to release their source code (they can be both academic as commercial users). Also, they do not need too much Qt functionalities since the main purpose of the plugins lies in the underlying mathematical algrotihms. So, basically, I need to provide to them :
- Access to data from my code, which is off course not a problem.
- File I/O and display possiblities, also no problem since they operate on the previous data structures which I provide.
- Progress indication. I already have a QProgressDialog in my main application, so I can give them the possibilities to connect to it through a signal/slot architecture (not Qt).
- Thread support, also not Qt.
- Input of parameters, which I could probably manage by using some generic QDialog.
So basically, I think I could succeed if I would find a different signal/slot and thread implementation. They should be free and not GNU. I have a commercial Qt license, so there are no problems in that regard.
I came across the Boost libraries, but they do seem to be quite heavy-weight. Also, the simpler I can keep things for my users, the better. So any suggestions or experiences in this area are greatly appreciated.
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