[Programming in Windows]

[Programming in Windows] - Computers

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Programming in Windows
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Posted by: jeelliso

Hello,

I'm a long-time Unix/Linux developer who is looking to try out some Windows development. I took a test-run of Visual C++ Express and noticed that their C++ implementation was a little odd. Then I got to asking around and found out that most people don't develop in C++ for this and other reasons.

So, what does everybody here that develops in Windows use? I've been suggested Basic and C#.

I'll be doing mostly simple programs and definitely no games. I have a lot of experience in programming so I'll probably be doing some network programming.

Thanks,

Posted by: ryno

If you're doing mostly simple programs than C# and .NET is probably the way to go. You can crank out simple applications a lot faster than in c++. There are trade offs though. You aren't able to manage memory directly. You will enjoy the object oriented aspect of C# though.

If you're a C++ programmer I guarantee you will absolutely hate Visual Basic. It's just... it's just not very good.

If you want to learn about GUI programming using C++ then I suggest you read up on the win32 API. It takes a while to learn, but it's well worth it. You can also create GUI applications using C++ and .NET. I have very little experience with this, but it seems pretty easy. The big plus about it is you are able to use elements of both .net and the STL.

Posted by: jeelliso

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what exactly is .NET? Is it its own programming language, a programming interface, neither, or both?

Thanks for the response though, that was exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks,

Posted by: ryno

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework[/url]

That should include the necessary information.

Posted by: forrestcupp

C# and .NET are very easy to use to make GUI programs. C# is similar to C++, but there are some differences, one being that it is very easy to create windows programs. The problem with .NET programming is that the end-user has to install .NET 2.0 to run the programs. The problem with Visual C++ Express is that it doesn't come with MFC, which means programming windows software in straight win32 is a very big pain. I enjoyed programming in C#, but because I wanted native programs, I went to Visual C++ Express with wxWidgets. It's a pretty good framework for making native GUI software, and whatever code you write will be portable to other OS's.