There are many functions available in Windows API for usage,
is there any book which would act as a comprehensive reference for the APIs available in windows?
I mean the books i have been reading give a basic idea of there usage.
I would need something comprehensive,
like we have The Standard C library by Plauger. I need something like a manual (appropriately) or a book (preferably) which would divide the Windows APIs on basis of its features,etc and give the names of available functions.
Altough a bit old, Programming Windows by Charles Petzold is the bible of the Windows API. The last edition covers up to Windows 98 and NT 4.0. However it's C only.
To program in C++ with the API, you can build up your own framework, use MFC or, as I would recommend, use Qt, where you can mix API and Qt programming freely, depending on what portability to other platforms you want to achieve.
The online reference of the WinAPI is in MSDN, here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee663300(v=VS.85).aspx
That would be one hell of a big book - the Windows API is huge, and the C Standard library is tiny in comparison. Is there some reason that MSDN does not work for you?
Related
As SO returns "4,476 search results for posts containing "win32 gui applications""... I'll have to ask a question that has probably been asked before but is lost in the midst of all those questions.
Currently, what are the options to write GUI applications for Win32, that have a big-enough following so that the environment offers enough and well-supported third-party tools?
I could come up with:
C++
Delphi, and possibly
RealBasic (although the fact that it's originally a Macintosh tool could result in small but noticeable issues in look 'n feel).
Besides their relative lack of well-supported third-party tools, solutions like Python + wxWidgets, or [Power|Pure|Free]Basic aren't good options: The former has too many 1.0 widgets (couldn't find a business-grade grid, for instance), and the latter are procedural languages so requires writing apps like Petzold's book with the lower productivity it entails.
Are there other solutions available?
Thank you.
Edit: Sorry for not having been precise enough: Big tools like .Net and Java are not options. I'm looking for tools that can either build a whole EXE statically (eg. Delphi) or provide a light enough runtime (VBClassic).
If you are new to programming I would suggest C# as well if you are only looking to make this app for the Windows Platform however with tools like Mono it can be ported to OS X and Linux Platforms.
Windows has their own IDE just for this called Visual Studio Express C#
Visual Studio's C#
As well as a version for C++ if you are wanting to say in that programming language.
The Mono project allows you to use C# in Linux and Mac as well as port the apps to iOS and Android
http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
You Can use C++ or You can even use the .net framework to develop your windows applications. .Net framework have lots of opensource contributed modules and paid modules and well as number of resources all over the internet to speed up the development compare to other options you have mentioned.
If you are going for a windows 32 gui application, I would prefer to go with .net framework, C++.
Java Swings also another best options which is platform independent as well.
You can use Lazarus as a free alternative to Delphi. Potentially you will have a very high possibility to check its "write once, compile anywhere" motto if you later decide to port your Win32 application to Linux or MacOS. In ideal case it will just work, but in reality you would probably need some conditional defines sections.
Some articles point to Windows 8 development being HTML-based instead of primarily using native code like C or C++ (as it has been until now) or .NET (as now, or even more so as it would have been in Longhorn, but never was.)
Is this true? Will the core APIs be accessible from Javascript then? What is the primary API / framework for Windows 8?
This is worth asking. When Windows 8 was demonstrated in June, a couple of comments by the presenter scared quite a few developers - or at least turned the Internet into panic mode. I'm surprised this question hasn't been asked here before.
The best article on the topic I have found is Windows 8 for Software Developers on Ars Technica.
The short answer is: it will remain the same.
The long answer is: it will remain the same, but several things will be added. You may want to pursue using those if you're willing to bet on new Microsoft technologies. One particularly interesting one is WinRT, which is a new object-oriented native code API exposed through COM, which is supposed to be a new version of the old flat Win32 API. Details are in the linked article.
It is very, very, very, very unlikely that anything that already exists, especially based on Win32 or .Net, would be removed. That means your existing programs written in .Net or native C++ or Delphi will continue to work fine. It is also unlikely that the primary development platform will be HTML. More likely is that HTML applications will be encourage for specific scenarios - perhaps touchscreen, kiosks and tablets.
I'd encourage you to read the article I linked to above - it covers this in far more detail than any answer here can.
There are three ways to develop for Windows 8, and they all access the same underlying API, the Windows Runtime.
Use C++ and call WinRT functions much like calling Win32 APIs back in the day (you know, yesterday)
Use C# or VB and call what appear to be .NET methods (but aren't)
Use Javascript and call WinRT functions
The UI is built with XAML using a pretty reasonable designer. More details are still coming out: check http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011 for videos with detailed coding demos. http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011/BPS-1005 is not a bad starting point.
There are 3 language/framework combinations that are all equally supported:
C++ and XAML
C#/VB and XAML
JavaScript and CSS/HTML
All are first class ways to write Windows 8 Metro style applications. Windows Runtime provides direct access to each of these languages and so choice of development environment can be based on familiarity or feature set of the language and not on restricted availability.
Update: I forgot one: C++/Direct3D (for games).
The original quote, in the context of writing a tablet desktop weather gadget application, is that the application uses "our new developer platform, which is, uhh, it's based on HTML5 and JavaScript."
The demonstrator never said a gadget is the preferred type for applications (How many Vista sidebar gadget or Windows 7 desktop gadget have you written in your life? Even when you can write them in simple HTML!), or the platform is the preferred platform for desktop weather gadget applications (How many animation control have you add to your application with video playing requirement? It is THE control used by Windows Explorer to display video!).
Today, after spending a few minutes playing with Windows 8 developer preview, I found that you can use Expression Blend 5 to easily auto-generate metro-styled applications in HTML and Javascript. Also in Visual Studio you can create exactly looking applications in Silverlight. :)
I am very excited!!! Go Windows 8! :)
Are they standard code c or c++ code? what are they?
The original Win32 API is C-based. There are however a substantial number of services within Windows that are COM based. Good examples are the clipboard, drag+drop, the shell, the user mode driver framework, DirectX. While it is technically possible to write COM code in C, it is excruciatingly painful to do so.
Realistically you use C++ there. And a C++ class library to make the original C-based API less painful, especially for GUI code.
They're standard C code, if you're programming against pure Windows API.
A C++ based wrapper called MFC is available.
All of this is being pushed out in favor of .NET framework.
The standard Windows API is a C library. Wrappers exist for other languages (C++, etc).
Just read it on wikipedia.
Windows API is langugage neutral. It is neither C nor C++. Microsoft says that Windows itself is written mainly in C++, but you don't need any classes for vast majority of the API and even classes in API (e.g. in Direct X) can be used in pure C without classes.
Although some C programmers think it is a C library, compiler of a programming language must support proprietary Windows calling model, it is not a classic C calling convention. (Obviously almost each real world C compiler supports it nowadays.)
I'm working on a Project with outdated, very old looking GUI (the used GUI framework is more than 10 years old)
Since the used programming language is Eiffel, there are almost no good libraries for GUI development. Although Wrappers for C libraries exist, it's not that easy to wrap something like Qt with them.
The current GUI framework uses the Windows API to create windows, widgets and so on. But as stated - it's very old.
Now i would like to learn more about how to use the Windows API directly to create state of the art GUI's
Can someone recommend any reading material?
"Windows Programming" by Charles Petzold is an excellent start on Win32 API programming.
It won't show you how to create a WPF-grade interface but it will show you how to create a basic average application.
It doesn't take a lot of surgery to turn on Windows Visual Styles and get an instant new look. If your toolset doesn't allow creating resources then take a look at mt.exe in the Windows SDK.
I'm a long time Mac user, with a fair bit of programming experience and I wanted to try programming for windows. The thing is I don't know where to start, what should I learn first ? .Net, Win32 ?
[Clarification]: My ultimate goal would be to create a more or less complex application using the latest APIs however I like to know the underpinning of what I'm dealling with.
Start with the Bible, Programming Windows 5th Edition. It is still very relevant.
http://www.charlespetzold.com/pw5/
You'll start doing C with Win32. Once you understand that you can also learn .NET. Though some people may tell you to skip Win32 and go straight to .NET. However, doing Win32, you will understand a great deal about how Windows actually works.
I'd be taking a look at getting a copy of one of the Visual Studio Express Editions and start there. It has all the tools you need to build windows / web applications on windows.
You could start at the win32 level however depending on what exactly you want to do, you may find you're able to do everything you need with .net and visual studio.
Once you're finished with the suggested windows programming bible start reading The Old New Thing, Raymond Chen's blog.
There's a lot of interesting insight about inner workings of windows, why it is the way it is etc.
For rapid application development on windows, .NET seems to be the most efficient solution nowadays. But If you crave that extra ounce of performance out of your applications, I'd recommend giving Programming Windows and Windows via C/C++ a thorough read. Although some of the material is dated, a lot of it is still relevant with windows programming today. If you choose the .NET route some books to take a look at include Illustrated C# 2008, Accelerated C# 2008, and of course our own Jon Skeet's C# in Depth.
.Net is easier.
My ultimate goal would be to create a more or less complex application using the latest APIs
The latest APIs are .Net (Win32 is older).
however I like to know the underpinning of what I'm dealling with.
Win32 underpins .Net (although you might barely see Win32 artefacts when you're programming in the .Net environment ... for example the Mono project more-or-less-successfully ports the .Net API to non-windows).
Read the Petzold and see the Advanced Win32 api newsgroup for all undocumented stuff news://comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32 (source code for all Win32 apis...)
I'd recommend starting to program in .NET (C# or any other .NET language) since that's the most modern general application platform for Microsoft. I personally like the Richter books, CLR via C# and Applied Microsoft .NET Programming. Great starting points even though the 2nd book is a bit old and doesn't contain newer .NET features.
To truly learn the Windows platform, I totally agree with Bobby's suggestion to read Petzold's Programming Windows.