What is the purpose of the *.pro file?
c++, qmake, qt
Solution
It's a multiplatform project file which `qmake` turns into platform-specific makefiles. The main reason for its existence is easier configuration and compilation of multiplatform projects. Compare e.g. to autotools-generated `configure` scripts and makefiles commonly seen in unixland.
Problem
I just started using Qt and noticed that in each example code folder there is a `.pro` file (and there is also a makefile created too... why?). What is the purpose of the `.pro` file?