Do i have to use Win32 API if i want to use DirectX11?

Isamu Accel (? ????? · 2014-01-17T08:50:33

I have started learning DirectX11 and i just wanted to ask something. Do i have to use the Win32 API to use DX11 to create games or can i use a alternative such as Qt and Git? Or do i have to deal with the Win32 API? I know how the Win32 API works but i honestly do not like using at all, its a downright mess when i have to program a simple window with all of the unclean and capitalized syntax. This is also why i wanted to work with Open GL first, because it had good Window Context libraries like GLFW and SFML which are plenty time's better than the Win32 API. I mean this the Win32 API code for a simple window: #include <windows.h> #include <windowsx.h> // the WindowProc function prototype LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam); // the entry point for any Windows program int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow) { // the handle for the window, filled by a function HWND hWnd; // this struct holds information for the window class WNDCLASSEX wc; // clear out the window class for use ZeroMemory(&wc, sizeof(WNDCLASSEX)); // fill in the struct with the needed information wc.cbSize = sizeof(WNDCLASSEX); wc.style = CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW; wc.lpfnWndProc = WindowProc; wc.hInstance = hInstance; wc.hCursor = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW); wc.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)COLOR_WINDOW; wc.lpszClassName = L"WindowClass1"; // register the window class RegisterClassEx(&wc); // create the window and use the result as the handle hWnd = CreateWindowEx(NULL, L"WindowClass1", // name of the window class L"Our First Windowed Program", // title of the window WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, // window style 300, // x-position of the window 300, // y-position of the window 500, // width of the window 400, // height of the window NULL, // we have no parent window, NULL NULL, // we aren't using menus, NULL hInstance, // application handle NULL); // used with multiple windows, NULL // display the window on the screen ShowWindow(hWnd, nCmdShow); // enter the main loop: // this struct holds Windows event messages MSG msg; // wait for the next message in the queue, store the result in 'msg' while(GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0)) { // translate keystroke messages into the right format TranslateMessage(&msg); // send the message to the WindowProc function DispatchMessage(&msg); } // return this part of the WM_QUIT message to Windows return msg.wParam; } // this is the main message handler for the program LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) { // sort through and find what code to run for the message given switch(message) { // this message is read when the window is closed case WM_DESTROY: { // close the application entirely PostQuitMessage(0); return 0; } break; } // Handle any messages the switch statement didn't return DefWindowProc (hWnd, message, wParam, lParam); } This is GFLW's code for a simple window: int main(void) { GLFWwindow* window; /* Initialize the library */ if (!glfwInit()) return -1; /* Create a windowed mode window and its OpenGL context */ window = glfwCreateWindow(640, 480, "Hello World", NULL, NULL); if (!window) { glfwTerminate(); return -1; } /* Make the window's context current */ glfwMakeContextCurrent(window); /* Loop until the user closes the window */ while (!glfwWindowShouldClose(window)) { /* Render here */ /* Swap front and back buffers */ glfwSwapBuffers(window); /* Poll for and process events */ glfwPollEvents(); } glfwTerminate(); return 0; } The GLFW code is much better and quicker to get a window and context up and running rather than having to deal with all the stuff in the Win32 API. The DirectX code itself looks much more readable and better than the Win32 Api. Any help would be greatly aprreciated.

Graphics and GPU Programming Programming OpenGL

Started by DragonBooster January 15, 2014 07:39 PM

10 comments, last by SeanMiddleditch 10 years, 3 months ago

DragonBooster

367

Author

January 16, 2014 12:52 PM

I see, thanks for the help it helped me understand better.

SeanMiddleditch

17,596

January 17, 2014 08:50 AM

As followup, since I started doing this to my own personal project in preparation for emscripten support, getting the native handle is quite easy as you just need to use SDL_GetWindowWMInfo():


// extra header needed for SDL_GetWindowWMInfo and SDL_SysWMInfo
#include <SDL_syswm.h> 

int main() {
  // initialize SDL and create window
  SDL_Init(0);
  SDL_Window* window = SDL_CreateWindow("", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0);

  // retrieve native handle info
  SDL_SysWMInfo info;
  SDL_VERSION(&info.version); // required before calling GetWindowWMInfo!
  SDL_GetWindowWMInfo(window, &info);

  // this bit is Win32-specific, but then so is D3D;
  // other OSes have different sub-structs here
  HWND handle = info.info.win.window;

  do_stuff_with_handle(handle);
}

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Do i have to use Win32 API if i want to use DirectX11?

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Do i have to use Win32 API if i want to use DirectX11?

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