Programming Windows Fifth Edition - Good or bad?

[gwiz]

Hello!

I'm trying to get into GUI and I'm having trouble finding the right resources.

Right now, I'm reading "Programming Windows Fifth Edition" by Charles Petzold.

My question is, how relevant is that book to Windows 7 and more modern c++ programming?

Should I be reading it or is it a waste of my time? The book was made back when Windows 98 was the best operating system from Microsoft, so it has me wondering if I should still follow this book or if I should be trying to find something more modern.

Thanks for the help :)

[webJose]

The book is excellent. You'll just have to read about GDI+ because the book uses good ol' GDI.

[Lamblion]

That book is still indispensable for Windows programming, at least for anyone who is not already an expert. I do Windows programming almost exclusively and a week doesn't go by that I don't refer to it.

[Moschops]

Good.

Petzold's book is an absolute good :)

His book "Code" is also really excellent and well worth reading.

[gwiz]

Excellent :D Awesome! This has me really excited. Thanks a lot guys/gals!

[freddie1]

You don't have to work through it cover to cover. The first couple chapters are the most important for getting started. They'll give you perspective on such things as the overall architecture of message driven programs, special variable types, coding conventions, etc. Petzold is a big authority on GDI. For myself, my lack of interest in graphics related things is near total. So I believe its his chapter 4 or something like that that s really massive and complicated with GDI stuff. I've only ever taken bits and piecies out of that relating to fonts and things I absolutely needed.

Many of his programs are classics in terms of how things are done. After getting through the 1st couple chapters I jumped ahead to child window controls, the common dialog boxes, etc. I particularly liked his programs on scrolling, mouse handling, the common dialogs. His 'Colors' program taught me about subclassing, which is something I've heavily used.

I always fely bad he removed his chapter on COM that was in his Windows 95 book. I have both books, but for anyone getting started that was a good chapter to lose.