[.net] WIN 32 API DEAD
Author
Hi Guys,
I'm curious to know if the win 32 api is dead considering how everything is going towards .net?
No, it isn't dead. Some people still use it, and are likely to continue doing so for at least a few years.
It will be around for quite some time actually. Since pretty much everything needs it that was written over 2 years or so ago. A lot of that is valid software still and will be for awhile.
I am choosing to develop our tools in Win32 instead of learning a whole new language that, at this time, I have no interest in. Yes I know C++ and it would likely come to me fairly quickly, but I still lack the interest so for now, Win32 it is. Plus I have a wrapper I made myself that lets me get programs up and running fast.
I am choosing to develop our tools in Win32 instead of learning a whole new language that, at this time, I have no interest in. Yes I know C++ and it would likely come to me fairly quickly, but I still lack the interest so for now, Win32 it is. Plus I have a wrapper I made myself that lets me get programs up and running fast.
APIs never die. They just stop getting used as much.
If you plan on creating a large GUI app, I would avoid Win32, unless you're targetting a pre-.NET OS like Win95 or Win NT 4.0. You will get work done much quicker in .NET.
As for games, I would still lean towards C# w/ Managed DirectX (or Python w/ PyOpenGL), but C++ w/ Win32 and Unmanaged DirectX is still heavily used (edit: until Vista comes out, anyways), and probably will be for quite some time.
- Mike
If you plan on creating a large GUI app, I would avoid Win32, unless you're targetting a pre-.NET OS like Win95 or Win NT 4.0. You will get work done much quicker in .NET.
As for games, I would still lean towards C# w/ Managed DirectX (or Python w/ PyOpenGL), but C++ w/ Win32 and Unmanaged DirectX is still heavily used (edit: until Vista comes out, anyways), and probably will be for quite some time.
- Mike
The last few comments = silly semantic commentary
Ok, fine, it is "depreciated" and "not used very often" but for all intensive purposes... and to irritate some people, this basically means it is dead. By this reasoning it has been "dead" for quite a while now (nobody ever liked microsoft's API anyway -- it was too evil :-))
Ok, fine, it is "depreciated" and "not used very often" but for all intensive purposes... and to irritate some people, this basically means it is dead. By this reasoning it has been "dead" for quite a while now (nobody ever liked microsoft's API anyway -- it was too evil :-))
Actually a friend and I raced my Win32 wrapper vs his .Net skills (think he was using 2.0) and I whooped his butt when making a small editor (coded from the same design doc)(he also makes apps for a living via .Net so wasn't a hobbiest). If you're having to code it up in raw Win32, yeah slower deal. But I'm targeting 98+ (whatever DirectX version is supported). If you want flat out speed, C++ is still faster, if you can spare 10-15% (according to others I've not tested it nor care I'm happy where I am) .Net could be the way to go for you.
Right now, for me C++/Win32 is much faster then the time taken to learn .Net/Forms for making an editor honestly. Then again I barely see Win32 code... *shrugs* I think .Net for commerical games development is quite a ways off (1-3 years or so before any major games are started with it as the core language).
I'm honestly one of those people who believes "best language for you, to do the job". Right now that is C++, I'll learn .Net after this project in my spare time and go from there.
@hplus0603: Exactly. In a very simplistic way .Net forms are just a wrapper around the Win32 implementation. I just prefer to use mine (made it so I know it).
Right now, for me C++/Win32 is much faster then the time taken to learn .Net/Forms for making an editor honestly. Then again I barely see Win32 code... *shrugs* I think .Net for commerical games development is quite a ways off (1-3 years or so before any major games are started with it as the core language).
I'm honestly one of those people who believes "best language for you, to do the job". Right now that is C++, I'll learn .Net after this project in my spare time and go from there.
@hplus0603: Exactly. In a very simplistic way .Net forms are just a wrapper around the Win32 implementation. I just prefer to use mine (made it so I know it).
Quote:Original post by medevilenemy
for all intensive purposes
I always love it when people think that's how it's spelled.
Quote:this basically means it is dead.
Not really. The fact is, not everyone is doing native-GUI document-oriented application development. If all you need is a WinMain and a WndProc (which is commonly the case if you are, say, a GAME DEVELOPER), the Win32 API is fine precisely because it doesn't get in your way. No, people probably aren't doing much GUI stuff with bare Win32 anymore. But that hardly indicates the death of the API as a whole.
"Dead" is a fairly subjective term when used this way. Its an API that will be supported for a long time to come, thanks to all the software that has been written to it. But, many newer programs are being targeted at .NET, and so it isn't being used directly quite as often as it used to be. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft started officially deprecating parts of the API in the next two years. Especially since the new APIs that Windows Vista is coming out with pretty much obsolete most of whats in the win 32 API. And, the new APIs like WinFX are not being written on top of existing APIs. They sit directly on top of the kernel, unlike most of the original .NET Framework libraries.
Edit- also, Microsoft probably isn't going to be adding much new to the win 32 API, since all the goodies are being put into the .NET. So, as far as new innovation goes, you could say the API is "dead", if you want to call it that.
Edit- also, Microsoft probably isn't going to be adding much new to the win 32 API, since all the goodies are being put into the .NET. So, as far as new innovation goes, you could say the API is "dead", if you want to call it that.
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