The day has finally come. After spending many long hours, the features are implemented, the code is optimized, the testing is complete: The application is ready to leave your protective care and head out into the real world. This article is the first in a series of three covering deployment of Qt applications on various platforms. This one focuses on Mac OS X.

* Static Linking
* Shared Libraries
* Plugins
* Deploying on Panther and Jaguar
* Conclusion

Mac OS X handles most applications as "bundles". A bundle is a directory structure that groups related files together. Bundles are used for GUI applications, frameworks, and installer packages. These are presented to the user as one file in the Finder. When set up correctly, bundles make for easy deployment. All one needs to do is to archive the application using some preferred method. Users then open the archive and drag the application to wherever they please and are ready to go.

The diagram below shows the directory structure of a bundle. Files are shown in italics; directories are shown in roman.