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Confused on "What Next"
Hey there, I've been searching around for what to read next in terms of building windows programs.
Currently I can build console programs OK since I've read "C++ Beginners guide by Herb Schildt" and almost finished "Ivor Horton's Beginning C++". I also have "The Complete reference by herb Schildt" as well to read but after that I'm not sure what is next.
So really my question is what are some good books to learn the "visual" stuff. To be honest I was searching for awhile and still confused on what I am looking for ("MFC"or "CLI"?)
Thanks guys
Currently I can build console programs OK since I've read "C++ Beginners guide by Herb Schildt" and almost finished "Ivor Horton's Beginning C++". I also have "The Complete reference by herb Schildt" as well to read but after that I'm not sure what is next.
So really my question is what are some good books to learn the "visual" stuff. To be honest I was searching for awhile and still confused on what I am looking for ("MFC"or "CLI"?)
Thanks guys
closed account (z05DSL3A)
Welcome to the confusing world of Windows programming bought to you by Microsoft.
The basic bog standard programming interface for windows is the Windows API. The API is written in C so a C++ program will have no problems with it.
Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) are a set of C++ classes that encapsulate windows API making it easier to do windows programming by providing lots of boiler plate code that you don't have to write. The biggest problems with MFC is that it is only available in Pro and above editions of Visual studio and that there are few if any good books about it.
On top of the basic windows API you have a framework called .net, this is similar in many respects to JavaVM. Programs that run on this use the Common Language Runtime (CLR). One of the languages used to program this is 'C++/CLI' (this is NOT C++).
Other options for Windows programming are cross platform frameworks, such as wxWidgets.
It would depend very much on you aims in programming as to what to recommend, If you are more interested in C++ stay clear of C++/CLI.
The basic bog standard programming interface for windows is the Windows API. The API is written in C so a C++ program will have no problems with it.
Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) are a set of C++ classes that encapsulate windows API making it easier to do windows programming by providing lots of boiler plate code that you don't have to write. The biggest problems with MFC is that it is only available in Pro and above editions of Visual studio and that there are few if any good books about it.
On top of the basic windows API you have a framework called .net, this is similar in many respects to JavaVM. Programs that run on this use the Common Language Runtime (CLR). One of the languages used to program this is 'C++/CLI' (this is NOT C++).
Other options for Windows programming are cross platform frameworks, such as wxWidgets.
It would depend very much on you aims in programming as to what to recommend, If you are more interested in C++ stay clear of C++/CLI.
Thank you for taking the time to explain guys. (and frieddie1 for the link)
My IDE is actually Visual studio 2010 Pro edition (dreamspark.com horray!) so MFC is a possibility.
But I think wxWidgets looks more interesting since it's multi-platform and open-source.
To be honest I don't really know what my aims are (which makes it hard to choose) but I know I am more interested in using the C++ I've learnt over the last month and applying it to a GUI.
Thanks again guys!
My IDE is actually Visual studio 2010 Pro edition (dreamspark.com horray!) so MFC is a possibility.
But I think wxWidgets looks more interesting since it's multi-platform and open-source.
To be honest I don't really know what my aims are (which makes it hard to choose) but I know I am more interested in using the C++ I've learnt over the last month and applying it to a GUI.
Thanks again guys!
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