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Would you recommend win32 api over other libraries?
I have been using GUI/Multimedia libraries quiet a bit now and I want to move onto something that is more challenging and very OS related.
Here are my questions,
1.Is win32 api faster than other GUI libraries?
2. Is win32 api hard to learn? could you compare with other libraries?
3. Your general opinions about win32.
By the way i'm not looking for Cross Platform so don't worry about it.
Here are my questions,
1.Is win32 api faster than other GUI libraries?
2. Is win32 api hard to learn? could you compare with other libraries?
3. Your general opinions about win32.
By the way i'm not looking for Cross Platform so don't worry about it.
1. Other GUIs use win32, so there is almost no overhead (unless its virtual machine based, like java).
2. The hard thing about win32 is that it was developed for years with backward compatibility in mind (win16). Because of that it is full of small remarks that can create some of the hardest problems to find.
Other GUI libraries compiled to native code (like QT or wxWidget) are easier to use and as fast as using win32 directly.
3. I learned it because i wanted to know how windows works, and it was fun to use in private projects. But at some point when you spend hours to add DPI awareness which is built-in, in most frameworks i dropped it for crossplatform development.
2. The hard thing about win32 is that it was developed for years with backward compatibility in mind (win16). Because of that it is full of small remarks that can create some of the hardest problems to find.
Other GUI libraries compiled to native code (like QT or wxWidget) are easier to use and as fast as using win32 directly.
3. I learned it because i wanted to know how windows works, and it was fun to use in private projects. But at some point when you spend hours to add DPI awareness which is built-in, in most frameworks i dropped it for crossplatform development.
It is, but unless someone is writing windows drivers or develop for WinCE there is no real reason to code desktop applications in win32. Especially now, when GNU/Linux based systems are becoming more popular.
Last edited on
closed account (z05DSL3A)
| tath wrote: |
|---|
| ... there is no real reason to code desktop applications in win32. Especially now, when GNU/Linux based systems are becoming more popular. |
closed account (E0p9LyTq)
| Would you recommend win32 api over other libraries? |
If you are developing apps for Windows, then using the Win32 API is a necessity. Even if you use a framework such as MFC or .NET you are still using the Win32 API wrapped up.
| It is, but unless someone is writing windows drivers or develop for WinCE there is no real reason to code desktop applications in win32. |
from Charles Petzold, "Programming Windows", Fifth Edition ...
Windows is a complex system; putting a programming layer on top of the API doesn't eliminate the complexity--it mearly hides it. Sooner or later that complexity is going to jump out and bite you in he leg. Knowing the API gives you a better chance at recovery. Any software layer on top of the native Windows API necessarily restricts you to a subset of full functionality.... |
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