I have done some c and assembly programming many years ago. I am an ok programmer.

I really like the old XMMS written with GTK 1.2. and while Im feeling creative I am considering a port or rewrite to KDE. I intend to maybe borrow some code from the XMMS source. I dont really want to convert it from GTK1 to GTK2. I would prefer a native KDE app.
The source looks too time consuming to rewrite under KDE, so starting from scratch might be better.
Everytime I upgrade my many suse's I have to go through hoops just to get the old xmms to work on the latest kde and suse distro. Same with the old kmix (which incorporates all the functions of my sold soundcards.)

OK, what gui environments are available to write KDE apps. eg Is there a KDE sdk gui from which I can (within this GUI environment) design windows and buttons etc, and then associate my own code with the buttons on the windows etc. That is, what tools do I need to design the basic framework, to be available to write my own code in the background?
Which KDE4 do I write for? Are all KDE4.? versions the same...functions and libraries etc?

What reading or research should I do up front, BTW I dont want to do miles and miles of reading, and test programs just to get on top of KDE development just to write my first "hello world" . I feel Im smart enough to incorporate some fast tracking here. If not , then Ill read.

I mainly use openSuse all the way from 11 up to 12.1.

cheers,
Shane, Brisbane, Au

Moved to Helping hands.

See http://techbase.kde.org/Development to get started with developing KDE Software. I wanted to learn how to use the KDE Platform some time ago and blogged about my experience here: http://hanschen.org/category/the-road-to-kde-devland/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/

You should read this book if you want to do any development for KDE. We're using the term development very broadly to cover anything that can lead to a change in source code. This includes:
Submitting a bug fix
Writing a new application powered by KDE technology
Contributing to an existing project
Adding functionality to KDE development libraries

In this book we'll give you the basics you need to be a productive developer. We'll explain the tools you should install, show you how to read the documentation (and write your own, once you've created new functionality!) and how to get help in other ways. We'll introduce you to the KDE community, which is key to understanding KDE because we are a free, open source project.