Re: Sugestions on learning VC++?
"Anthony" wrote:
The reason Iv chosen C++ and not C# is because eventually I
would like to create software for Autodesk AutoCAD.
Do you mean plug-ins for AutoCAD or is it something else? AutoCAD
provides both native and .NET SDK's for development.
Basically, Windows programming can be divided into two major
parts: native programming and everything else (.NET, JVM, scripts,
etc). Native programming is possible with Windows Platform SDK - a
set of import LIB's for system DLL's, C headers, binary tools and
documentation. So, you will need C-compatible compiler to write
native Windows programs. However, it is quite rare nowadays to
program directly against PSDK. Such development will require
tremendous amount of resources and time. And in the end you will
reinvent the wheel [poorly]. That's why almost any commercial
product uses vast range of 3rd party libraries to cover necessary
functionality.
In order to start Windows native programming you will need two
books:
1. Programming Windows, 5th Edition by Charles Petzold
http://www.charlespetzold.com/pw5/index.html
2. Windows via C/C++ by Jeffrey Richter
http://www.wintellect.com/BookInformation.aspx?ASIN=0735624240
Earlier editions of Richter's book will do, too.
These two books are irreplaceable for Windows beginner. When you
grasp basic Windows programming conncepts, then you can start
using libraries, which are built on top of PSDK (like MFC, WTL or
whatever).
Many people like to bash MFC for its "messiness" and such.
Usually, this is a result of poor knowledge of MFC and/or
underlying Windows API. MFC is just more popular than other
libraries, so you will hear about it rather often.
HTH
Alex