Re: From Console to WIn32 App

NewVisualUser wrote:
> Ok, here's the situation; I've been writing programs for
> quite a while and they have all been written on Borland.
> All my programs are then output (run) on the DOS prompt.
> I recently switched to Visual C++ in hopes of upgrading to
> having my programs run in a normal Window's window so I
> can make use of GUI in my programs.

You can make Windows GUI programs with any compiler/IDE. In
order to write any Windows program (console or GUI) you need
decent C compiler, linker and Platform SDK, which is
distributed by Microsoft free of charge.

Usually, compiler equipped with C Runtime Library (CRT) and
optionally other vendor proprietary libraries (like MFC,
ATL, OWL, etc..).

As Jochen Kalmbach already suggested, you can download
Express Edition of Visual C++ for free.

> I opened a new project of type 'Win32 Application'
> and then I chose 'A typical 'Hello World' application'.
> What I got was a lot of files, most
> of which I have no idea what they mean.

You need Win32 programming tutorial. Classic book for Win32
starters is Charles Petzold's "Programming Windows"
(http://www.charlespetzold.com/pw5/index.html). Do yourself
a favor and get it. It will save you a lot of time and
questions.

Also, you should decide for yourself what kind of Windows
programming you're interested in. Nowadays few people write
Windows programs using Win32 API directly. Because mordern
applications are big, complex and often required to
communicate with other applications. Doing all that in pure
Win32 is tedious and basically is nothing else than
reinventing the wheel. However, Win32 API knowledge is
invaluable.

Most of Windows programs today are written with help of some
library or framework. More and more programs are written
using .NET. So, knowlegde of Win32 API is diminishing though
still important.


.

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