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++ // Copyright (C) 2016 The Qt Company Ltd.
++ // SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only
++
++ /*!
++ \page deployment.html
++ \title Deploying Qt Applications
++
++ Deploying an Qt application does not require any C++
++ programming. All you need to do is to build Qt and your
++ application in release mode, following the procedures described in
++ this documentation.
++
++ \section1 Static vs. Shared Libraries
++
++ There are two ways of deploying an application:
++
++ \list
++ \li Static Linking
++ \li Shared Libraries (Frameworks on Mac)
++ \endlist
++
++ Static linking results in a stand-alone executable. The advantage
++ is that you will only have a few files to deploy. The
++ disadvantages are that the executables are large and with no
++ flexibility (i.e a new version of the application, or of Qt, will
++ require that the deployment process is repeated), and that you
++ cannot deploy plugins.
++
++ To deploy plugin-based applications, you can use the shared
++ library approach. Shared libraries also provide smaller, more
++ flexible executables. For example, using the shared library
++ approach, the user is able to independently upgrade the Qt library
++ used by the application.
++
++ Another reason why you might want to use the shared library
++ approach, is if you want to use the same Qt libraries for a family
++ of applications. In fact, if you download the binary installation
++ of Qt, you get Qt as a shared library.
++
++ The disadvantage with the shared library approach is that you
++ will get more files to deploy. For more information, see
++ \l{Creating Shared Libraries}.
++
++ \section1 Deploying Qt's Libraries
++
++ Unless Qt is part of the system libraries it must be redistributed
++ with your application. The minimum is to redistribute the run-time
++ of the libraries used by the application. However, with static linking,
++ the Qt run-times can be compiled into the executable.
++
++ In general, you should deploy all plugins that your Qt build uses,
++ excluding those that you have identified as unnecessary for your
++ application and its users.
++
++ For instance, you may need to deploy plugins for JPEG support and
++ SQL drivers, but you should also deploy plugins that your users may
++ require, including those for accessibility.
++ For more information about plugins, see \l{How to Create Qt Plugins}.
++
++ Applications using \l{Qt Qml} also need to ship the
++ \l{All QML Modules}{QML modules} they use.
++
++ While deploying an application using the shared library approach,
++ you must ensure that the Qt libraries use the correct path to
++ find the Qt plugins, documentation, translation, and so on. To do this, you
++ can use a \c qt.conf file. For more information, see \l {Using
++ qt.conf}.
++
++ Depending on configuration, compiler-specific libraries must be
++ redistributed as well. For more information, see the
++ platform-specific application dependencies for
++ \l{Qt for Linux - Deployment#Application Dependencies}{Linux},
++ \l{Qt for Windows - Deployment#Application Dependencies}{Windows},
++ and \l{Qt for macOS}{\macos}.
++
++ \section1 Licensing
++
++ Some of Qt's libraries are based on third party libraries that are
++ not licensed using the same dual-license model as Qt. As a result,
++ care must be taken when deploying applications that use these
++ libraries, particularly when the application is statically linked
++ to them.
++ For more information, see \l{Third-Party Code Used in Qt}.
++
++ Some configurations of QtNetwork use OpenSSL at run-time. Deployment
++ of OpenSSL libraries is subject to both licensing and export restrictions.
++ For more information, see \l{Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Classes}.
++
++ \section1 Platform-Specific Notes
++
++ The procedure of deploying Qt applications is different for the
++ various platforms:
++
++ \list
++ \li \l{Qt for Linux - Deployment}{Qt for Linux}
++ \li \l{Qt for Windows - Deployment}{Qt for Windows}
++ \li \l{Qt for macOS#Deploying Applications on macOS}{Qt for macOS}
++ \li \l{Deploying an Application on Android}{Qt for Android}
++ \li \l{Building and Deploying Qt Applications for HarmonyOS}{Qt for HarmonyOS}
++ \endlist
++
++ \sa {Deploy Translations}
++ */