Win32 Programming
Hey guys, i'm pretty bored of C++ console programming and before starting DX, i want to learn Win32, however i have 2 problems.
1. Cant find a good tutorial online, as i have bought my text books for uni and cant buy anymore books.
2. The tutorial im using at the moment is allright however dives into creating menus in win32 by editing resousce files (.rc) im using dev-c++ and i cant find any rc files associated with any win32 programs i compile and save.
So i'd appreciate it if someone can point me to a good tutorial (C++ win32) and secondly could help me with the .rc problem.
I would advise you to not use Win32:
You may want to look at SDL or Allegro. They are both much easier to use and have the benefit of being cross-platform. And they won't be deprecated in 5 years like everything else Microsoft touches.
- It's unneccesarily complex
- It's tied to Windows
- It's hard to use the Gui without Visual Studio
- It's slated to be replaced by .NET anyway
- In my opinion the code is unelegant and ugly
You may want to look at SDL or Allegro. They are both much easier to use and have the benefit of being cross-platform. And they won't be deprecated in 5 years like everything else Microsoft touches.
With regards to learning Win32 programming: I'd recommend using The Reference. This may not be the easiest way to pick it up, but it does have the advantage of being free. That's how I started out. If you dig around and do a few appropriate searches, you'll come up with sample code and tutorials all over the place. I recommend the Generic sample application as your starting point, which introduces you to creating your own window and the message pump. From there you can branch out into searching the MSDN Library for whatever you want -- like handling user input (more messages in your WndProc function), drawing to the window's client area (the WM_PAINT message), creating toolbars and widgets (the Shell Common Controls), and so forth and so on.
Hope that helps,
Twilight Dragon
Hope that helps,
Twilight Dragon
If not a complete verified fact, it's highly likely. Win32 is outdated, and .NET will reflect the capabilities and functionality of newer versions of Windows (Vista in particular) better than Win32 could.
IMHO, scanning through a bit of Win32 code can never hurt. Never know when it might come in handy... =)
But on the other hand, i second looking into SDL or Allegro. I personally use SDL and i'm very satisfyed with it.
But on the other hand, i second looking into SDL or Allegro. I personally use SDL and i'm very satisfyed with it.
Win32 is not going away. HAHAHA. That's rediculus! .NET is built upon Win32 and if you want to do anything fancy you have to learn Win32. If you want to learn how windows works of course go with Win32. If you just want to write applications, then Win32 is probably not the way to go.
Quote:Original post by krum
Win32 is not going away. HAHAHA. That's rediculus!
Try again. Keeping up with the blogs at MSDN will show you otherwise.
I'd like to know if I can start learning DirectX or SDL (suggestions? which is better?) when I learn C++ and get bored of console applications? Or I need to learn Win32 first?
Thanks,
Rex
Thanks,
Rex
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