VC++/Win32 SDK vs C# for windows programing...

Comments

• AsmGuru62

  October 2005

  : hi i am basically a c/c++ programer. i have to start working on windows programing and need to take a decision. for windows programing i can use win32 SDK or MFC also as basically MFC are the wrapper classes over win32 APIs..fine. recently, i come to know that i can program windows using c# also, can anybody please suggest me which technology is the best to do windows programing, MFC or C#? whats really the difference between these 2 as related to windows programing?
  :
  [blue]C# is based on .NET platform, and it is the future of Windows programming. New Windows 'Vista' (or Longhorn - old name) will be using C# and VB .NET mainly for applications.
  
  Win32 is a little faster and has more control over the system. When I was coding some GUI - I did not find (in C#) a few functions I needed. But, C# and Win32 can be mixed (you can use Win32 API inside C# code), so that was not a huge problem, just an annoyance.
  
  C# is portable (or so Microsoft boasts), so the code compiled on Intel, should run on Mac and vice versa.
  
  Also, if you go with C# - you need to get up to speed on .NET platform - just read MSDN - it has a whole description of all classes and namespaces in .NET and what they needed for.
  
  Now, MFC: one thing - it is old (very old). It is still supported. I just wrote MFC application using VS .NET 2003.
  
  When you write Windows application (not Web app.) in C# - you need to use new approach to programming. Example: I needed to move a window. The .NET class Form provides the window functionality, so I was looking for a function to move a window (MoveWindow in Win32). Did not find it. The way to move a Form is to set Left, Top and Size properties:
  
  [code]
  Form wnd;
  
  wnd.Left = 64;
  wnd.Top = 64;
  wnd.Size = new Size (400, 500);
  
  //wnd.Width = 400;
  //wnd.Height = 500;
  // That ^ is better (not creating a new object)
  [/code]
  
  That code will move a window on screen. Weird!..[/blue]
  
• premartha

  October 2005

  : : hi i am basically a c/c++ programer. i have to start working on windows programing and need to take a decision. for windows programing i can use win32 SDK or MFC also as basically MFC are the wrapper classes over win32 APIs..fine. recently, i come to know that i can program windows using c# also, can anybody please suggest me which technology is the best to do windows programing, MFC or C#? whats really the difference between these 2 as related to windows programing?
  : :
  : [blue]C# is based on .NET platform, and it is the future of Windows programming. New Windows 'Vista' (or Longhorn - old name) will be using C# and VB .NET mainly for applications.
  :
  : Win32 is a little faster and has more control over the system. When I was coding some GUI - I did not find (in C#) a few functions I needed. But, C# and Win32 can be mixed (you can use Win32 API inside C# code), so that was not a huge problem, just an annoyance.
  :
  : C# is portable (or so Microsoft boasts), so the code compiled on Intel, should run on Mac and vice versa.
  :
  : Also, if you go with C# - you need to get up to speed on .NET platform - just read MSDN - it has a whole description of all classes and namespaces in .NET and what they needed for.
  :
  : Now, MFC: one thing - it is old (very old). It is still supported. I just wrote MFC application using VS .NET 2003.
  :
  : When you write Windows application (not Web app.) in C# - you need to use new approach to programming. Example: I needed to move a window. The .NET class Form provides the window functionality, so I was looking for a function to move a window (MoveWindow in Win32). Did not find it. The way to move a Form is to set Left, Top and Size properties:
  :
  : [code]
  : Form wnd;
  :
  : wnd.Left = 64;
  : wnd.Top = 64;
  : wnd.Size = new Size (400, 500);
  :
  : //wnd.Width = 400;
  : //wnd.Height = 500;
  : // That ^ is better (not creating a new object)
  : [/code]
  :
  : That code will move a window on screen. Weird!..[/blue]
  
  thanks AsmGuru62, u gave me the best possible and to the point reply, thank you very much for ur advice. my employer has choice for me to go either for vc++ or c#. as advised by u, certainly i m going to choose c#, one for its the latest n secondly as u told i still can use win32 APIs through it...thanks a bunch n gud luck!!
  
  Also, lastly, could u please suggest me the best book or resources to learn C# which could give me indepth knowledge, at beginers n advanced level, about C#?
  
  
  
• AsmGuru62

  October 2005

  [blue]Here are some code samples - both for starters and more advanced.
  
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/downloads/samples/
  
  or here:
  
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpqstart/html/_NET_Framework_QuickStart_Samples.asp
  
  No idea about the actual book - I learned from samples.
  Also, here are .NET classes:
  
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref/html/cpref_start.asp
  
  If you can learn all classes from above - you will be the King!
  You will need a few years for that... :-)
  [/blue]
  
• deXo-fan

  February 2009

  It's not weird It's called properties. C# has 'em, too.
  
  I program a little of this and a little of that. Well, mostly Win32 but I'm at the very editin a C# console program of mine.
  
  I take it you have experience with C++ or at least C as you are about to start on windows programming. In that case I would choose C#. Programming win32 is like writing code in a whole new language if you have no former experience with it.
  
  bool is no longer bool, it's BOOL... char* is LPSTR, const char* is LPCSTR, TCHAR is either char or wchar_t and so on. Windows will be represented by a HWND struct. Obviously you can get used to it, I'm just saying it may seem confusing in the beginning.
  
  But as I also said, I program both C w/ win32 and C#, so that's definitely also a possibility. Here's one of the reasons why C# is so damn good at windows programming and why the person who stated that C# was the future in programming windows wasn't wrong:
  
  Say I have this window and I want to change it's caption (the text in the bar above the window; if you have any experience with HTML, it's the text that you between the .)
  
  In C w/ win32 you would most likely do this:SetWindowText(myWindow, TEXT("My new caption"));
  
  In C# the same is reduced to this:
  myWindow.Text = "My new caption";
  
  But in reality this is your decision, and you should choose whatever you like most. Maybe take at look at both C# and win32, but stay away from MFC as far as I'm concerned.
  
• Sephiroth Fayetteville, NC, USA

  March 2009

  The best option is C/C++ without MFC. I've been programming Windows since 95A and have never needed MFC. I also despise the .NET framework since it can use up to 50MB of RAM by itself. Your program then sits on top of that! The .NET framework is much slower than plain old C/C++ and it lacks many things that should be taught when learning to program, such as freeing resources. The .NET framework does most of this automatically and some new programmer would then never learn the proper methods of cleanup. Not only that, but with C/C++, you can make programs that compile under Windows, Mac, and Linux. Anything that uses the .NET framework will only work under Windows. You lose marketability if your app only works on one platform!
  
  I'd recommend C++ or if you're not familiar with OO programming, C. The choice is yours though.
  
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