movthread

The QThread class provides a platform-independent way to manage threads.
A QThread object manages one thread of control within the program. QThreads begin executing in run(). By default, run() starts the event loop by calling exec() and runs a Qt event loop inside the thread.
You can use worker objects by moving them to the thread using QObject::moveToThread().

  class Worker : public QObject
  {
      Q_OBJECT

  public slots:
      void doWork(const QString &parameter) {
          QString result;
          /* ... here is the expensive or blocking operation ... */
          emit resultReady(result);
      }

  signals:
      void resultReady(const QString &result);
  };

  class Controller : public QObject
  {
      Q_OBJECT
      QThread workerThread;
  public:
      Controller() {
          Worker *worker = new Worker;
          worker->moveToThread(&workerThread);
          connect(&workerThread, &QThread::finished, worker, &QObject::deleteLater);
          connect(this, &Controller::operate, worker, &Worker::doWork);
          connect(worker, &Worker::resultReady, this, &Controller::handleResults);
          workerThread.start();
      }
      ~Controller() {
          workerThread.quit();
          workerThread.wait();
      }
  public slots:
      void handleResults(const QString &);
  signals:
      void operate(const QString &);
  };

The code inside the Worker's slot would then execute in a separate thread. However, you are free to connect the Worker's slots to any signal, from any object, in any thread. It is safe to connect signals and slots across different threads, thanks to a mechanism called queued connections.
Another way to make code run in a separate thread, is to subclass QThread and reimplement run(). For example:

  class WorkerThread : public QThread
  {
      Q_OBJECT
      void run() Q_DECL_OVERRIDE {
          QString result;
          /* ... here is the expensive or blocking operation ... */
          emit resultReady(result);
      }
  signals:
      void resultReady(const QString &s);
  };

  void MyObject::startWorkInAThread()
  {
      WorkerThread *workerThread = new WorkerThread(this);
      connect(workerThread, &WorkerThread::resultReady, this, &MyObject::handleResults);
      connect(workerThread, &WorkerThread::finished, workerThread, &QObject::deleteLater);
      workerThread->start();