How usable is Qt without its preprocessing step?

Question

I think it's unreasonable for a library to require preprocessing of my source code with a special tool. That said, several people have recommended the Qt library to me for cross platform GUI development.

How usable is Qt without the preprocessing step?

EDIT: Okay people, I'm not meaning this question as a rip on Qt -- too many Qt fanboys are treating it as if it is. I don't want to discuss the merits of the fact that Qt came up with this preprocessing tool. I understand why the tool is there, and I understand why there are large parts of Qt's design that are built upon the idea of preprocessing.

I've never used Qt, ergo I am in no position to rip on it. But I would much rather pay in writing a small amount of boilerplate myself and not depend on ripping apart my entire build process. I won't use Flex and Bison in my current project for the same reason; if I won't use those tools, I'm definitely not going to use another kind of preprocessing.

So, please don't take me as ripping on Qt. I cannot comment on how nice or not nice it is; I have not used it. I just want to know if it is possible to use it without moc.

Answer 1

Qt doesn't require the use of moc just to use it, it requires that usage if you create a subclass of QObject, and to declare signals and slots in your custom classes.

It's not unreasonable, moc provides features that C++ doesn't have, signals/slots, introspection, etc.

So, to do something minimally advanced, you WILL have to use the moc preprocessor. You either love it, or hate it.