Are online courses in windows progamming useful?

[simpliv]

Has anyone of you tried any online courses on Windows programming? Did you find them useful and relevant? Think of Coursera,Udemy, Khan Academy, Simpliv, et al.

[jonnin]

Ive used a couple of the above for other things, not C++ / windows specific training. They generally have good content for beginners but nothing worth spending money on for a beginner. The advanced courses, check feedback/reviews of the class before buying, as they vary in quality and value.

Personally I prefer to dig around on my own in the free stuff. Microsoft has example programs in their help files for visual studio, and there are tons of how-tos online, eg how to re-create notepad yourself, how to recreate paint yourself, etc. The introductory level free training is very, very good. Once you get past the intro level, if you have a specific need that isn't available online, then you can dig into buying a book or a course depending on what it is.

[Thomas1965]

I rather would invest the money in books.
That's the definite guide to the Win API
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Windows%C2%AE-Microsoft-Charles-Petzold/dp/157231995X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Another interesting tile - more advanced.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Applications-Windows-Microsoft/dp/1572319968/ref=sr_1_28?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543479169&sr=1-28&keywords=Windows++jeffrey+richter

[z05DSL3A]

Petzold is definitely one of those 'should read' books but is long overdue an update (sixth edition doesn't count).

Windows via C/C++
by Jeffrey Richter, Christophe Nasarre

These are old books but you can learn a lot from them.

Windows Internals are good books if you want to delve inside Windows architecture and internals.

Windows documentation is a resourse that I dig around it a lot, there are good getting started guides there.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/

MSDN Magazine can be interesting...
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/msdn-magazine-issues.aspx

[jlb]

Petzold is definitely one of those 'should read' books but is long overdue an update (sixth edition doesn't count).

Well truthfully if you want to start to learn to program Windows today C# might be a better alternative than C++. But for C++ the fifth edition is the one to get, if you decide on C# then the sixth edition is the better choice.

[z05DSL3A]

jlb, as this forum is C++ I went with that. I would love to see an updated Petzold with C++/WinRT for Windows Runtime (WinRT) for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
(and Richter for that mater)

C# is nice but I don't rate the sixth edition of Petzold as a 'should read' for .Net programming.