New to Windows GUI

[Konochi]

Alright, I have a question...
Is there any significant difference between programming the windows GUI by hand and just using a premade one and we just add to it or change settings later?

I am a beginning programmer jumping from programming console to now using the Windows GUI.
I've already covered data structures (with pointers, blah blah blah) already and I am using C++.

I am currently planning to make an application to build tile-based maps (map editor for an rpg) but first, I need to get myself use to using the GUI.

Thank you.

[plexus]

It's not just the difference between programming a GUI "by hand" or use a "premade".
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "premade" but let's just list the possibilities:

First off: It depends highly on the development tool you use. The Visual*** tools from MS include a GUI designer for most of the GUI libraries MS provides. Most other IDEs don't or are at least restricted to either a specific library or to only a small set of controls.

So if you have a GUI designer you don't have to do much of the tedious GUI design work. You just write the background logic and arrange the controls by Drag-and-Drop.

The easiest way is unfortunately .NET . Unfortunately because it's .NET, which, in the meantime, is as bad as JAVA.

The closest you can get to native Windows GUI programming is by 'Windows Controls' (search for this in the MSDN) it's more or less part of the MFC which is the basic C++ lib for windows programming.

For more advanced graphics stuff I'd try OpenGL or DirectX.
Maybe there is a way to include the GDI+ classes in a MFC app, but I never tried this. I use it only for .NET programs.

I heard Qt is pretty good for GUI development, but I never used it, so I can't say anything about it.