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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
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    Smile C++ GUI Programming Advice

    Hello,

    I'd like to get some advice from others on the forums here about C++ GUI application development.

    Right now I am an amateur game developer by hobby and am concerned about limiting my career opportunities. When it comes to making games, I generally set up a basic skeleton Windows application where I write my own WndProc and handle many Windows messages myself. I use libraries like Direct3D for graphics. When it comes to GUI components I only have very little experience using the WinAPI directly. To make a dialog box in my games, I write my own DlgProc function and call DialogBox().

    I feel like using the Win API to create GUI components is a very dated way of going about this. Not only that, I feel like more and more companies are moving away from C++ and towards C# to create Windows applications.

    I am really interested in C++ since I have been using it for so long and also because it's a language often commonly used in game development. At the same time, I'd like to open myself up to more job opportunities by making a few projects which are just standard Windows applications with a menu, buttons, etc.

    What are the most common ways C++ GUI Windows applications are made today? I've been told to avoid MFC if at all possible. Also, does anyone have a few project ideas for someone who is proficient in C++ and understands the essentials of Windows programming but has little experience with GUI programming?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by nanen View Post
    What are the most common ways C++ GUI Windows applications are made today? I've been told to avoid MFC if at all possible.
    MFC is the most handy way to develop C++ Windows (GUI) applications and still one of most commonly used.
    Ovidiu
    "When in Rome, do as Romans do."
    My latest articles: https://codexpertro.wordpress.com/

  3. #3
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    What are the most common ways C++ GUI Windows applications are made today?
    Common ways, you really think they exist?
    Best regards,
    Igor

  4. #4
    Lindley is offline Elite Member Power Poster
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    If you haven't yet locked yourself into any particular framework, I think it would make sense to learn one of the cross-platform ones like QT or GtkMM rather than a Windows-specific one. For the most part, the principles apply pretty similarly to each though.

  5. #5
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    Qt is a wonderful library as long as your target is obviously to make cross-platform applications.

    However, if say "Qt" say first "Goodbye Windows!".
    Better said, goodbye native windows/controls/menus/messages/etc.

    All after all, goodbye learning Windows programming!
    Ovidiu
    "When in Rome, do as Romans do."
    My latest articles: https://codexpertro.wordpress.com/

  6. #6
    Lindley is offline Elite Member Power Poster
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    And what particular advantages are there to learning the Windows-specific API instead of a cross-platform API that does all the same things?

  7. #7
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    Re: C++ GUI Programming Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Lindley View Post
    And what particular advantages are there to learning the Windows-specific API instead of a cross-platform API that does all the same things?
    By short: not even Chuck Norris can have sex with three or four women in the same time, all of them being satisfied.
    Ovidiu
    "When in Rome, do as Romans do."
    My latest articles: https://codexpertro.wordpress.com/

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