Should I learn win32

[MIZ]

Is it good to learn the win32 Api ?
Also is it true most libraries are written on top of win32 Api
And what kind of things can I do in win32 api? I know gui is one what else ?

Also if I use win32 is it still possible to cross platform?

[tath]

Also is it true most libraries are written on top of win32 Api ?

most of frameworks use win32, some use only part of it, for example QT use only GDI to draw its own windows instead of using generic windows classes.

And what kind of things can I do in win32 api?

Anything you hearth desire in windows (literally anything). Downfall is that it will take a lot of learning and try-and-error approach.

I know gui is one what else ?

Win32 is responsible for all operating system layer: networking, devices, gui, multi-threading, etc.

Also if I use win32 is it still possible to cross platform?

No. That's biggest issue here: learning win32 will take a lot of time, which you could use to create backend of your application. Although i myself like win32, i would rather recommend using some cross-platform framework like QT or wxWidgets and use win32 just for learning experience.

[ahcfan]

Some parts of win32 seem to be at the heart of the OS. For example processes, threads, and memory management are part of the KERNEL32 library. GUIs are part of USER32. However there are lots of more useful COM-based APIs and I'm not sure if those are considered 'win32'. I think 'winapi' is a more encompassing term.

Is it good to learn the win32 Api ?

I'm going to say yes. Unless I'm delusional Windows is still the top dog in the OS market. Although it looks like linux is getting a lot more attention these days.

Also is it true most libraries are written on top of win32 Api

Probably, cross-platform libraries will make use of the native Windows APIs.

And what kind of things can I do in win32 api?

If we're also considering those COM-based API's, there is hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics rendering. You can load most image formats, encode/decode images, and read/write image metadata. There is a multimedia API for playing sounds and video in your windows. They even added a compression API finally. Basically, as tath said, anything your heart desires. The only third-party library I've used was one that lets me work with ZIP archives.

[z05DSL3A]

Is it good to learn the win32 Api ?

I'm going to join the crowd and say yes but also learn WinRT (not to be confused with Windows RT.)

Also is it true most libraries are written on top of win32 Api

Windows API^* is how you 'talk' to the operating system

And what kind of things can I do in win32 api? I know gui is one what else ?

Windows API List
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff818516%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

_______________________________________
* I prefer 'Windows API', to cover the complete heritage of the APIs for windows.

[Sanction]

Any good sources/tutorials on learning Windows API?
What would be a good C++ level to start learning Windows API?
Beginning? Intermediate? Advance?

[ahcfan]

There's this:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff381399%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

I haven't read through it so I don't know how thorough it is. There's also the book Programming Windows 5th edition by Charles Petzold. I think there's a 6th edition out now for WinRT.

Though, to be honest, once you understand the structure of a windows application(message queues, window classes, window procedures, etc) all you really need is a handy winapi reference. MSDN has the most extensive winapi reference.

What would be a good C++ level to start learning Windows API?
Beginning? Intermediate? Advance?

I guess beginner-intermediate. I learned C++ and Windows programming at the same time.

[z05DSL3A]

Any good sources/tutorials on learning Windows API?

You could start with Learn to Program for Windows in C++ on MSDN
https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/desktop/ff381399(v=vs.85).aspx
MSDN is a source of good information but can be tricky to navigate.

I also usual recommend Programming Windows (5th edition) by Charles Petzold followed by Windows via C/C++ by Jeffrey Richter. It can be extra work matching what the books say with the current Visual Studio (or other dev environment) but they are good books if you can get the at a reasonable price. Some of Petzold is getting long in the tooth but...

Have a look in the Windows forum here for other resources people recommend.

What would be a good C++ level to start learning Windows API?
Beginning? Intermediate? Advance?

I'm just going to say; when you feel comfortable with C++. Programming Windows is a bit different to the command line stuff you learn when you start and also WinAPI is C based so adds adds another wrinkle if you are still finding your way around C++.