The following pages contain documentation about KDE's design and architecture in detail. They do not replace other documentation like API Documentation, tutorials, howtos and standards, see the development portal for further information.
For a better understanding it might help to be familiar with Trolltech's™ excellent Qt 3.3 or Qt 4.2 documentation and their Developer Pages.
Design Documents
- KDE 4 Architecture Overview
- An overview of the KDE 4 architecture, including discussions of common techniques, library classes, and general development issues. This is for KDE 4.0.
- KDE 3 Architecture Overview (Original)
- An overview of the KDE 3 architecture, including discussions of common techniques, library classes, and general development issues. This is for KDE 3.0.
- KDE 2 Architecture Overview
- An overview of the KDE 2 architecture, similar to the above. This is for KDE 2.2.
- DCOP
- Design documents from 1999-2000.
- Binary Compatibility Issues With C++ (Original)
- A quick overview of issues with binary compatibility with C++. Keep this in mind while altering the API of kdelibs.
KDE TechBase 