Re: GUI programming, MFC and C#

Thanks Nick, that really helped.

Nick Malik [Microsoft] wrote:
> Hello Siddharth,
>
> Not sure how the history will help you.
> Xerox PARC came up with the fundamental ideas of the overlapping window.
> Apple lept on the idea with the LISA and then the Mac, creating a great deal
> of interest. A number of systems appeared for the DOS platform that
> provided window-style views, which led to Microsoft developing a number of
> iterations of a product called Windows that didn't take off until Windows
> 3.0 came out.
>
> At that point, C was the language of choice and there were only a few
> "controls" that were native to the system.
> (I wrote one or two C apps to use the first windows interface... it wasn't
> easy).
>
> As Microsoft made the transition to C++, some other folks suggested that the
> way to open up GUI development was to provide visual designers. The first
> successful one was Visual Basic. So, around the time that C++ and MFC were
> getting up steam, VB presented millions of folks with a way to develop GUI
> apps without writing in either C or C++. Delphi, Powerbuilder, and others
> took this direction to new heights, and many pre-existing languages like
> FoxPro added GUI capabilities and took them in new directions.
>
> Microsoft added visual designers to C++ through Visual Studio using MFC.
> Microsoft also pursued the COM architecture and made it trivial to create
> COM apps in Visual Basic. (It took a bit more work to do COM in C++).
>
> Then the Internet came along. Microsoft jumped in with both feet, but it
> took the invention of Java to really shake things up. Java understood the
> web inherently, and was small and fast to download. Microsoft came out
> first with ATL, and then jumped on the Java bandwagon. At one time,
> Microsoft's JVM was the fastest one available.
>
> Microsoft saw the advantages and disadvantages of Java and hired some of the
> current "bright lights" of programming language development to come to
> Redmond. They began working on Microsoft's next generation of languages
> based on the strengths of Java but closer to C++ in style. Then SUN sued,
> and put Microsoft out of the Java business.
>
> Around the same time, Microsoft's efforts came to fruit, and MS put out the
> .Net framework along with C# and VB.Net and partners that delivered dozens
> of additional languages. Java is still strong. My personal opinion is that
> C# is quite strong as well. SUN created a fierce competitor when it decided
> to kick MS out of the Java game. Only time will tell which will ultimately
> become a de-facto standard.
>
> Now, on to your real problem: None of that matters. You have an app that
> uses MFC. MFC has no descendents. There is no easy transition from MFC to
> anything.
>
> Depending on the size of your app, you could go one of two ways (a1-a4) or
> (b):
>
> a1) become or hire an MFC and COM expert.
> a2) Seperate your existing app so that the business logic is different from
> the GUI code.
> a3) Put the Business object into COM components that your GUI code calls.
> a4) Then write a new GUI in C# to call the former systems' business logic.
>
> b) start over in C#.
>
> The size and complexity of your app will dictate the direction you should
> take. You may want to outsource (a1-a3) (see RentACoder.Com) and see what
> comes back. That would give you the ability to do (a4) yourself. You will
> still need to know COM and MFC to add any new business functionality, but it
> is a lot easier than starting over and you are less likely to introduce
> defects. Regression testing is easier as well because, at some point, you
> can have a C# app and a C++ app side by side and you can see, for yourself,
> if your new GUI does the exact same things as the old GUI does.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> --
> --- Nick Malik [Microsoft]
> MCSD, CFPS, Certified Scrummaster
> http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik
>
> Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this forum are my own, and not
> representative of my employer.
> I do not answer questions on behalf of my employer. I'm just a
> programmer helping programmers.
> --
> "Siddharth Jain" <siddharth_jain_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1117195189.915999.18340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Hello,
> >
> > Could someone please tell me the history of GUI programming for
> > windows. In the early days, we had to write 100s of lines of code to
> > make a simple dialog box. Then along came MFC to simplify things. And
> > now, finally we have visual C#.NET.
> > Is that right? Is there anything else to it? Can someone please guide
> > me to some link form where I can get to know how things evolved from
> > pre-MFC to MFC to where we are now.
> >
> >
> > Now...here is my problem....I have an application which was made years
> > back. Its GUI has been written using MFC. Now I need to make some
> > changes and make a newer verison of it. But for that I will have to
> > teach myself MFC (I am familiar with C#). The only advantage of using
> > MFC is that MUCH of the earlier code will be reused. Is there any way
> > to get around this? I really wish I could write the GUI in C# and still
> > reuse the code of the precious stuff.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Siddharth
> >

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