Help on MFC please!

[Kevin C.]

I know C++ programming pretty well, but I don't know know how to program Windows. I know MFC has something to do with this, but how do I use it?

- Kevin

[Alex Lau]

I think you can pick up a book and learn MFC. I think "Programming Windows 95 with MFC" by Jeff Prosise should be a good starting point. By the way, I think Windows programming is quite different from text-based C++ program. Most of the time, I need to concentrate on the UI rather than the program.

[Arthur]

If you're really into C/C++ you can try the book "Win32 programming", written by Brent E. Rector and others...
If you want to do it the easy way, just buy a book about learning MFC...it's really easy!
Greetz,
Arthur

[Lane Galloway]

Kevin,

Both Alex and Arthur had good suggestions for you. I would respectfully disagree with Arthur's statement that MFC is easy, although it certainly simplifies Windows programming as compared to using the Win32 API. Still, once you know C++, learning to program Windows involves a steep learning curve no matter what programming interface you use.

MFC is a set of class libraries that wrap around the Windows API. It is not necessary to use MFC or any other class libraries in order to program Windows. Since MFC comes to us from Microsoft, and so does Windows, MFC has become a widely-used tool for Windows programming. I don't know the book Arthur recommends; the book I'm familiar with is by Charles Petzold. It's called Programming Windows, and it's very highly regarded. Even if you just get an overview and then jump into MFC, I think you will be a far better Windows programmer than if you start right off with MFC.

Good luck!

--Lane