Is there a pdf or video or some media that can inform me on how to program Winforms with C++. Obviously C++ is the most common programming language and I already have some prior knowledge. But when I try to find media about programming in C++, the examples are usually Console applications. I want some media that can teach me how to program Winforms in C++.
Here's a tutorial showing how to write Windows Forms applications in C++/CLI.
Just be aware that most samples tend to be in C#. Many people purposely use C# for the forms, C++ for their logic, and use C++/CLI to expose their logic as .NET assemblies (For easy use by C#/VB.NET). This helps, since the design-time experience is much nicer in C# or VB.NET for Windows Forms.
Bad idea, IMHO. Managed C++ is ugly; it was never meant to be a garbage-collected language. Its strength lies elsewhere. I recommend C# instead - similar syntax, highly marketable skill.
Preemtive snarky comment: all C++ is ugly.
Have you looked at the MSDN articles? I'm not saying I recommend this, but they do at least give a start.
As far as Seva Alekseyev's comment that all C++ is ugly: it's like the old comment about democracy being the worst form of government except for all the others. He's right that all C++ is ugly, but fails to mention that all the alternatives are even worse.
Just create a new C++ .NET project and start programming your C++. And additional syntax applies to .NET is managed pointers and .NET classes. Information about them you can find in MSDN, including lots of useful examples.
Well, there are opinions all over the place on this topic. My motto is always to use the right size hammer for the job-- and, in general, C++ is the wrong size hammer for making winforms. I love C++, but I only use it when there is an absolute necessity for speed of operations.
C# (or VB.Net, if you must) has MUCH better support for UI creation than C++, though I have noticed that Visual Studio 2010 offers some much needed enhancements to make developing Winforms easier in .NET 4.0. If you MUST stick with C++, look into obtaining a beta version of Visual Studio 2010. Otherwise, use C# as your UI, data access, file manipulation, general purpose language and C++ if you have to write a custom physics engine to go with it.
Related
I hope someone can assist, I am a beginner in computer programming and had purchased a book (Visual Basic - Step by Step), I was making good progress until I read an article on the internet about Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) - apparently this the future.
I read up on Xaml and I find the syntax extremely difficult to understand, for instance I have been coding using the following format:
texbox1.text = "Hello World!"
However the guides I read on Xaml show that the coding in the .cs file are as follows:
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="Hello World!" />
</Grid>
I am confused on which 'language' I should be learning!
I hope someone can shed some light into this.
Many thanks
There are many aspects to programming, and it can certainly become overwhelming for a beginner quickly. For starters, let's clear up a few terms:
VB (Visual Basic), C#, and C++ (mentioned in your title) are all high-level programming languages. Assuming that when you say Visual Basic you are referring to VB.NET (which is likely, unless the book you're reading is a decade old...), VB and C# are both languages that can be used with Microsoft's .NET Framework, a set of libraries and tools for building (primarily Windows) applications.
(C++, meanwhile, is a slightly lower-level language not directly connected to .NET. It requires an understanding of certain concepts that the .NET languages hide from you, such as pointers and memory management.)
Now, the programming languages mentioned above are not tied to a specific presentation technology - there are many ways to create interactive programs that display output to users and accept input regardless of the the language you use. The .NET languages, however, are typically used alongside a couple of powerful tools that the .NET Framework provides for creating graphical applications:
Among the simplest user interface methods, you can create a console program which takes typed input and produces text output on the system console. Nothing fancy here.
Windows Forms - originally provided with the pre-.NET versions of Visual Basic, this is a venerable API to the native Windows user interface. It is driven primarily by Form objects that contain Controls and are driven by user Events. Here is a primer.
WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is a newer technology than Windows Forms. It is used alongside an XML-like file format, which you've shown above, called XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language) that lets you build user interfaces by quickly declaring a hierarchy of visual objects. The learning curve for building WPF applications is slightly higher (in my opinion) than that for Windows Forms, but it is a more versatile technology that better supports several good design patterns (that's hand-wavy, I know, but take my word for it for now).
So, to clear up a few points of confusion:
The programming language you use and the framework for building graphical user interfaces are two separate choices.
Both VB.NET and C# can be used to write the underlying logic for Windows Forms or WPF applications
WPF, the graphical subsystem, and XAML, the declarative markup language, are not the same thing, but they are used hand-in-hand with each other.
When creating WPF controls, you will have a file containing XAML (suffixed with .xaml) that is attached to a "code-behind" file containing C# (with a .cs extension) or VB (with a .vb extension), depending on which language you choose.
In general, a .NET programmer (which is an easy example for me to give, as I happen to be one) will use either VB or C# depending on what s/he is most comfortable with (or what's mandated by their team!) From a beginner's perspective especially, the two have different syntaxes but are functionally equivalent. I personally prefer C# for its similarity to the languages (Java and C) in which I learned to program.
Now, whatever the language, a programmer then selects the appropriate user interface technology for the project at hand. For graphical applications running on Windows, I believe that WPF is the tech to beat (especially because it's very similar to Silverlight, which can be used to target the web and Windows Phone).
I hope that at least begins the process of clearing up what is a very complex but navigable topic! I've already linked to it once above, but check out Microsoft's Beginner Developer Center as another resource to get you on your feet. Good luck!
The way you were coding and the xaml markup code does the same thing. The primary reason of XAML existence is to let the UI designers work on the UI using XAML and later programmers would tie up the business functionality using C# or XAML. XAML is primarily used in WPF but languages like C#, VB can be used to do a lot more things. Regarding what languages to learn, it all depends on your interest areas and your job.
djacobson's answer hits 90% of what I was about to write... so this is just a little supplement to that answer giving my personal advice.
If you're just starting out learning programming... it doesn't really matter too much where you start with which 'language' you choose. It looks like you've started out with learning Visual Basic. I write mostly in C#... but for the most part... they can do the same things, and are both good options to start learning about programming.
For your first couple of projects, simply create console applications that don't really have a user interface besides the command prompt (console).
As you move forward and want to start creating applications with a GUI (Graphical User Interface), then you can look into XAML (WPF if you're creating a desktop app, Silverlight if it's a web based app).
You'll still write your business logic code using Visual Basic or C#, the XAML is simply a way to define how your GUI will look and behave using the familiarity of XML rather than an older technology such as Windows Forms.
I'll be the first to say that I absolutely love WPF and XAML, but I truly feel that you're best off learning the basics of the language of your choice first, then work your way into the UI technologies later.
Since from last 2 years I am working on WPF and even I was like blank when it came to WPF. I would prefer C# over C++ and still you can find solutions for every language. But it depends on you what you are comfortable.
I want to do RAD with C, but the only ones I can find only use C++.
Check out Glade, a UI designer for GTK+.
You may have to define what you expect when you use the term RAD. Technically is is a methodology agnostic of language (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_application_development, to understand what I mean).
If you mean "visual development" (which is the context in which it is applied to tools such as Delphi and C++Builder, primarily as marketing buzzwords and because Microsoft had already essentially trademarked "Visual" with respect to development tools), then use of C would require an application framework and tool to support this. There is a reason why such tools are usually implemented with object-oriented languages; it is a much more natural fit for GUI elements. This being the case, a tool vendor would be unlikely to choose C as the basis for such a tool.
Also it may be useful to understand what platform(s) you wish to target.
A judicious bit of Googling threw up a couple of things that may fit your requirements:
Auto-C
MGui
You may use BCX DevSuite Pro. It comes with GUI Designers that produces BCX code. When you compile BCX code, it produces also C code.
Let's suppose you're an IT student with a basic knowledge of C++ and C#. Let's suppose that you want to design apps that:
need to deliver some performance like archivers, cryptographic algorithms, codecs
make use of some system calls
have a gui
and you want to learn an Api that will enable you to write apps like those described earlier and:
is mainstream
is future proof
entitles you to find a decent job
is easy enough - I mean easy like VCL, not easy like winapi
So, making these assumptions, what Api will you choose? MFC, WPF, other? I really like VCL and QT, but they're not mainstream and I think few employers will want you to write apps in QT or Visual C++ Builder...
Thanks for answers.
Note: The following answer was written several years ago with Desktop application development in mind. Today (in 2018), you'd probably just build a web application to end up with something reasonably cross-platform and device-independent. (For example, using ASP.NET Core on the server side, coupled with a UI framework/library such as React, Vue.js, or Angular on the client side).
Win32 API -- I'd forget about it, if I were you. Programming a Windows application directly via the Win32 API only makes sense if you're programming in pure C, or if you really need to do a lot of system calls, or if you're concerned about the additional overhead introduced by more "comfortable" platforms or frameworks (such as the ones named below). Programming UIs directly through the Win32 API is tiresome, messy, and you need to deal with lots of details. It's also not platform-independent at all, but you may or may not be concerned about that.
MFC -- Perhaps an option if you're programming in C++ and fixed on the Windows platform. I never understood what's so great about it, other than it makes the Win32 API much more comfortable (AFAIK it's basically a collection of object-oriented wrappers around the Win32 API that take away some of it's complexity / messyness). Also, it's also not very platform-independent.
Qt, wxWidgets -- Fairly widespread UI frameworks. Might be good options where platform independence plays a role. AFAIK both frameworks are targeted at the C++ language.
WinForms (.NET) -- Similar to MFC, this is also based on the Win32 API (USER32 and GDI+). AFAIK the WinForms framework is now being ported to Mono, and therefore somewhat cross-platform. However, it's not exactly the most up-to-date technology. For complex UIs it can also be somewhat sluggish sometimes. If I had to decide today which framework to use, I'd rather choose...:
WPF (.NET) -- More modern than WinForms, with more graphical capabilities and, apparently, faster rendering, as it is no longer based on the Win32 API (GDI). (And it runs on .NET, which I find a great platform to develop for. Programming in C# is so much easier than programming in C++ IMHO, which is also an argument against Win32 API, MFC, Qt, and wxWidgets.) Note that WPF is not cross-platform, it exists only on the Windows platform so far.
Then of course there's Java, including the UI frameworks that come with it. I can't say much about that since I'm not a Java person, but I could imagine that Java would be the best choice for platform independence; and it's the dominant platform (over .NET) in certain industries (e.g. mobile phones, banking, due to the very solid JVM and security considerations).
So my recommendation would be the .NET framework, and WPF for the UI, if you're planning to stay mostly in the Microsoft world. Remember that you can still use the Win32 API (you won't come closer to "system calls" than that) via P/Invoke.
If you enjoy coding in C# and working with the .Net framework I'd recommend that you have a look at WPF. WPF is a great GUI framework where you can do just about anything - and also make it shine! WinForms might be easier to get a grasp on, but I'd say WPF is more "future proof". Another positive thing is that WPF is really similar to Silverlight, so if you handle WPF well you should be able to write Silverlight applications too - if that's of interest. Please don't bother to learn MFC.. I can't believe there are many that is using MFC today for other reasons than that they were using it before, and didn't get an opportunity to change..
There are a lot of good jobs out there for .Net programmers, so being able to handle some GUI framework in addition to C# and general knowledge about the .Net framework will be worthwhile.
When it comes to your points about being able to "deliver some performance like archivers, cryptographic algorithms, codecs" this really shouldn't depend on your choice of GUI framework. This kind of code will be writen in layers outside of the GUI layer, and will typically be bound to the GUI. With WPF you'd write your e.g. cryptographic algorithms in C# in some class independent of the GUI layer, and then the View written in WPF would bind to C# code and get its answer from here. However, if you used WinForms you'd still do the same thing, and the performance relies on the algorithms - not the GUI.
When it comes to getting started with WPF there are a lot of questions on SO helping with this. So you should find good help with a quick search.
Good luck!
i recently saw some videos on F#. it seems it used mainly for Service or Classes only? i see no "F# WPF" app in VS2010 Beta?
F# actually has some very nice constructs for creating event-driven UI applications, such as First Class Events, Object Expressions, calling property setters from a constructor e.g.:
new Form(Text="My Window Title", Width=600, Height=400),
and much else.
However, creating a forms designer in VS reqiures a CodeDom for your language. The current CodeDom architecture works great, as long as your language looks exactly like C# or VB; it does not lend itself well to generation of F# code (this from a webcast or interview that I can't locate right now). It also requires partial classes, which if I recall correctly, are not supported in the language as of Beta 1. Rather than focus on designer support in the first release, the F# team decided to spend their resources on enhancing other parts of the language, such as asynchronous and parallel programming, etc.
What this means is that you have at least 4 choices for creating UI in F#:
Write all UI code by hand, which is fine for simple apps;
Create your F# code as a library to handle the "hard parts," like asynchronous and parallel code, or computation centric code, and call it from C#/VB;
Create your UI code as a C#/VB library, and both drive it from F# and delegate event handling to F#; or
Use a DSL or Computation Expression (monad) to simplify building the UI by hand (just discovered this while looking for other links in this answer).
Of these, calling a C# UI library from F# may be the most flexible while still retaining a familiar paradigm. But, using computation expressions for quickly building UI by hand is certainly worth looking at.
You can certainly create GUIs in F# - it's just another .NET language, after all.
Tomas Petricek's book, Functional Programming for the Real World (which I've helped out with a little bit) has various GUI examples. The source code is available to download if you want to see examples.
Admittedly some aspects of GUI programming don't map terribly well to a functional style, as there's a lot of mutation involved, but there are ways and means around that :)
With F# 3.0 and the XAML type provider it's possible to create a WPF designer for F# in Visual Studio 11. See http://www.navision-blog.de/2012/03/22/wpf-designer-for-f/
We sell a commercial library called F# for Visualization that is written in 100% F# code and uses WPF to provide interactive graphics with typeset mathematics from your F# code:
(source: ffconsultancy.com)
So it is certainly possible to write GUI apps in F# using WPF.
It is a .NET language, so it can use the .NET class library. Which means Winforms, WPF or anything else you might use in C#.
Updated according to the link by James Hugard
For now F# will not be used much for GUIs because it is not the most important use case for it. From Don Syme's blog:
In this first supported release, our aim has to be to focus on the core strengths of F# for exploratory programming with F# Interactive, programming with data and implementing parallel and asynchronous components.
Although you can theoretically use F# and the standard GUI libraries if you need a GUI you should use VB or C#:
F# users should use the Visual Studio designer tools to generate C# or Visual Basic code and incorporate those components into their F# applications.
In the longer term "presentation-oriented designer tools that generate F# code" are, according to Syme, "definitely feasible".
Of course you can use all the WPF classes from F#, too. You can create Windows, controls and everything else from F# and I also sometimes use it from the F# console.
It's not as tightly integrated into Visual Studio as C# or VB yet, but as you can see in the comments, designer support in the future is feasible. I guess we'll have to wait until then (or use other tools).
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I'm very new to programming, and I'd like to write a Windows Application. So far I've read Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours, what should I do (tutorial to read) next to accomplish my goal? Thanks
When I first started developing applications for Windows (about 15 years ago) I recall reading some very useful stuff by Charles Petzold. His more recent books are about C#, but his older books are still relevant because the Win32 API has not changed that much when it comes to the basics.
Hello, World!
Write the famous "Hello, World" program (Google it if unsure):
To output text to the console.
To output text to a dialog window.
To make the dialog appear after selecting a menu item.
Then, if you are still keen:
Write a program that allows a person to type in text into a text field. Display that text in a dialog window after clicking a button.
Save the text to a file.
Write a program to read the file and display its contents in a window.
That should get you started learning the fundamentals of what is happening when writing a Windows application.
Also, read all the links that people recommend you read, in this thread and others.
Old vs. New
Advice for learning .NET, C#, and C++ is great. Those technologies hide a lot of the boring "grunt" work for you. I still feel it is good to have an understanding of what is happening at a lower level for various reasons, including:
Learning C is applicable to more than Windows-based applications (some would argue .NET and C# are portable, which is true in theory, whereas ANSI C and Java are portable in practice).
Understanding what is hidden will allow you to avoid technical blunders and diagnose deep technical issues.
At this point it really depends on your goals. If all you want to do is write a Windows application, then use modern technologies that are better suited to such a task. If you want to write a Windows application with an understanding of how to write applications in general (not necessarily just for Windows), then keep pursuing the C path for now, and branch into other technologies as you expand your knowledge.
Depends on the application. But what you need now is to familiarize yourself with an API. APIs are basically premade functions that you use as tools to do... whatever it is the API was designed to help you do. You're looking for a graphical user interface API. Windows has its own but I recommend you use something crossplatform so your application will work on multiple platforms.
Look these up on wikipedia:
GTK+
Trolltech's QT4
They can pretty much do anything the windows API can do with the added benefit of working on multiple platforms like windows, linux, mac, etc.
http://winprog.org/tutorial/
These are pretty good for learning Win32. Charles Petzold is good resource if you can get your hands on a copy but The Forger's are free and you can have them in your hot little hands right now.
In general though you should spend some time just writting C/C++ apps that use the standard libraries first. Opening files, writing output, writing files, reading/writing stdio and get a good handle on the basics of the language first.
Looking up books on data structures, and analysis of algorithms are fundemental to any type of programming you want to do as well.
Read this.
Are you suggesting that you'd like to write a Windows desktop app in C? That's reaching back a long way. You're back in 2002, according to this.
Most people writing on Windows are using .NET, which means C++ or C#.
If you need some GUI or complex features,
You need some oriented object programming skills...
You can read some of this book serie : Head first... from O'Reilly
Head first Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
Head First Software Development
Head first C# or Java (It doesn't matter which language...)
Trolltech Qt4, it's a must, too ! Thanks CptAJ
They are very nice books for beginners... and advanced programmers too ;-)
Nice reading !
I disagree with a lot of the answers here... learning from the ground up is not a bad thing.
I wouldn't go out and make a whole app in C, but certainly making a little app in C is a good way to both learn the language and to appreciate (or more likely, detest) the win32 API.
Besides, you can't really appreciate what the newer languages/frameworks do for you if you don't experience the old painful way of doing things.
That said, recognize that there are newer languages and frameworks out there and learn them as well; particularly if you're trying to land a job.
I highly recommend theForger's Win32 API Programming Tutorial. It's very concise and easy to follow, and it's free.
While I won't say you've wasted your time learning some C, I'm guessing it's not where you're going to end up either.
If you really want to get rolling, without too much trouble, I'd highly suggest getting:
Visual Studio C# Express (it's free, and it's a great development environment)
A book on C#...Petzold is great, so a book like Programming Microsoft Windows with C# is perfect.
This should get you pretty much exactly what you want. You'll have everything you need, and Petzold starts you out very simply, and ramps you up to making interesting apps without losing you.
(You may wonder why I, and many other people are directing you to C# or other languages after you specifically said that you've already read and learned about C. This is because programming in windows using the old Win32 API is much more tedious. It is easy to quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of extra chaff that has to go into it.)
At Microsoft, we have been working hard to come up with some great resources for simply creating Windows applications. Our page, Start Programming with Windows 7, will be sourced with tons of new resources for intermediate and advanced programmers.
There are two really important new learning series that we have been working on:
The Hilo Project: An application built from the ground up to show how you can develop programs that are specifically taylored to Windows 7 features using the most modern programming and application design methodologies.
The Learn to Program for Windows Module: An introduction to Windows programming written by a developer education expert at Microsoft. This module sounds more like what you are looking for, I recommend you check it out.
We're working on ways to surface learning resources as best we can on the Windows Developer Center - a collection of developer learning resources for people new to developing Windows or new to developing using the latest Windows features.
Additional guidance is coming through the new Home and Hub resources for client / Desktop applications on the MSDN homepage.
Try Ramp Up's Developer Basics, a microsoft learning road that shows stpe by stpe how to start windows programming. You can use the Visual C# Express version of Visual Studio as a development enviroment.
Read this book, Learn to Program with C#.
Then, make small projects in WPF; the best WPF book is Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed; try that after reading the C# / beginning-programming book.
C#, the .NET Framework and WPF were created to move beyond the C Win32 API, to make it easier to create Windows applications.
If you want to make a standard Windows application, follow that path.
I would suggest using VB rather than C#. The syntax is a little friendlier, and it has all equivalent features and performance.
Why not follow the MSDN tutorials? If you don't like them try googling "VB tutorial".
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/hewcw458.aspx
Either VB or C# has a zillion examples of everything that can be googled. I would stick to either of these languages, if only for the "google support" alone.