A quick look at Microsoft’s QDK (Quantum Development Kit)

November 3, 2020 by Rusty Flint

A quick look at Microsoft's QDK (Quantum Development Kit)

Microsoft has been historically very strong in providing programming tools and also creating frameworks for developers, so it could as no surprise that Microsoft has heavily invested in building quantum tools to aid developers in their quest of building quantum circuits especially with the language Q#.

The most recognizable element of the QDK is Q#, a high level programming language designed for quantum programs

There are lots of open source tools, not just Q# that come with the Microsoft QDK. For example there are tools for quantum chemistry. Simulating problems in chemistry and material science remains perhaps the most evocative application of quantum computing and would researchers to probe chemical reaction mechanisms that were beyond the classical ability to measure or simulate.

Even learning about Quantum computing, there are tools to help programmers understand the Microsoft stack. The Quantum Katas and Tutorials are part of the QDK and provide quantum examples of Q# code and tutorials.

To learn more about the QDK go here.

Rusty Flint

Rusty is a science nerd. He's been into science all his life, but spent his formative years doing less academic things. Now he turns his attention to write about his passion, the quantum realm. He loves all things Physics especially. Rusty likes the more esoteric side of Quantum Computing and the Quantum world. Everything from Quantum Entanglement to Quantum Physics. Rusty thinks that we are in the 1950s quantum equivalent of the classical computing world. While other quantum journalists focus on IBM's latest chip or which startup just raised $50 million, Rusty's over here writing 3,000-word deep dives on whether quantum entanglement might explain why you sometimes think about someone right before they text you. (Spoiler: it doesn't, but the exploration is fascinating.