TUTORIALS
C, C++
Win32
Java
Visual Basic
MFC
DCOM
Networking
C#
Perl
HTML
XML
ASP
PHP
Javascript
Other

DOWNLOADS
ITCLib
SourceVizor meets the notification, reporting, and admin needs of teams using Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.
Free 30-day trial!

by Marshall Brain

Comment on this article

Most downloads under 500KB

It is possible to use the Visual C++ development environment as a big C compiler. Using it that way you can certainly create GUI applications using the Win32 API. However, you will be wasting a lot of the potential of the environment. Visual C++ contains a variety of visual tools that, once you know how to use them, can tremendously accelerate your software development cycle. These tools, which include the AppWizard, ClassWizard and the resource editors, make full use of the C++ language and the MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes) class hierarchy.

The problem with these tools is that they are fairly complicated, and there is not much introductory material available on how to use them. The purpose of these tutorials is to show you, using extremely clear and easy-to-understand examples, exactly what the AppWizard and ClassWizard are, what they can do, and exactly how to use them. Along the way you will find out why the AppWizard generates 20 files and what all of those files do, what the "document/view paradigm" is and how it makes application development easier, and how to fit the code you develop into an AppWizard framework with a minimum amount of effort on your part. Once you have finished these tutorials you will have a very clear understanding of why these tools exist and how you can use them to create your own applications.

Note: If you do not know C++ these tutorials will be opaque to you. Please run through the C++ tutorials first. If you do not have any knowledge of MFC these tutorials will be fairly muddy. Please look at the introductory MFC tutorials first. Go there also for alternative versions of these tutorials adapted for the newer versions of VC++.

Here is a list of topics discussed in these tutorials:

• Introduction to the AppWizard, ClassWizard and resource editors
• The Document/View Paradigm
• Understanding the AppWizard files
• Creating a drawing editor
• Synchronizing Views
• Understanding Document Templates