Thread: api or mfc

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    api or mfc

    what is better for windows development? i was thinking about buying programming windows but im not sure if mfc is better or not.

  2. #2
    C++まいる!Cをこわせ!
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    There are free GUI Frameworks out there, so you don't need to buy MFC if you don't want to.
    But I'll agree that a Framework is far better than pure Win32 API.
    Typical good frameworks are wxWidgets or maybe Qt.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

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    Deathray Engineer MacGyver's Avatar
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    They are portable, and in some ways, possibly simplified.

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    You would be surprised of the capabilities of C++, that the API, which is C, cannot even begin to fathom. In essence, a good framework is ALWAYS better than the raw api. Especially for C++.
    MFC is a Framework/wrapper itself and not an API, so...
    MFC is not portable. It's locked to Windows and Microsoft Visual C++.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  5. #5
    Deathray Engineer MacGyver's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lruc View Post
    is mfc portable?
    I suppose in theory it could be if someone implemented it for some other systems, but I don't know offhand of any other use for it other than Windows programming.

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    2 questions
    is mfc really not free?
    and
    is all the api's for windows just in windows.h?

  7. #7
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    MFC is not free (requires Standard+ version of Visual Studio, which is not free).
    All APIs are located in windows.h.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  8. #8
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lruc View Post
    what is better for windows development? i was thinking about buying programming windows but im not sure if mfc is better or not.
    It depends on your application. MFC is better for GUI, API is better for core functionality like multithreading, network connectivity, direct hardware interfaces. If you have no prior programmign experiece I recommend you start with the API, which is much easier to learn. MFC can be a bit obtuse at time.

  9. #9
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    Learning the API itself is not necessary and painstaking. It's better to specialize yourself in the framework you use instead.
    Otherwise you're going to end up learning both, which is usually a waste of time. Win32 API is not user friendly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  10. #10
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    mfc is also $300 mininum and the api seems kind of lower-level code which is what i like, even if its in C

  11. #11
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    MFC is not C.
    It's your choice, ultimately. You can try out several GUIs before deciding. If none of the free ones suits your fancy, then you can try MFC.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  12. #12
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elysia View Post
    Learning the API itself is not necessary and painstaking. It's better to specialize yourself in the framework you use instead.
    Otherwise you're going to end up learning both, which is usually a waste of time. Win32 API is not user friendly.
    ROFLMAO, elysia, the api is simpler and more straight forward than MFC any day of the week. It's about as user friendly as you can get, I have no idea where you get off implying that MFC is in any way shape or form user friendly. Maybe you just can't understand a function description without trying to think of it as a class.

  13. #13
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    Oh really?
    I've had my share of experience with both and I find MFC a thousand times simpler and easier.
    Wow.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  14. #14
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elysia View Post
    Oh really?
    I've had my share of experience with both and I find MFC a thousand times simpler and easier.
    Wow.
    Oh really?
    I've had my share of experience with both and I find the API a thousand times simpler, and faster both in development time and execution time.
    Duh.

  15. #15
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    Oh really?
    Maybe that's the case for YOU, but not necessarily the case for OTHERS. There's a REASON why frameworks were invented and why so many companies use MFC. I wonder why...
    Duh.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

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