Thread: Visual C++ 6 VS Visual C++ .NET

Hi,
I have learned C++ and create program in DOS environment, and now i would like to create Window application and do window programming.

Last year i bought a book call: "Visual C++ 6 in 24 hours".(I didn't start it yet..) But today, i realize that there are a new version of Visual C++(Visual C++ .NET).

It seem that Visual C++ 6 is using MFC, but Visual C++ .NET use other thing...

So which one i should learn??

If i learn Visual C++, would it help me to learn Visual Basic later??

Is there similarity between Visual C++ and Visual Basic????

The addition C++.NET 7.0 has it that it can also compile into hybrids/full of managed code. That means that its garbage collected, you have access to the .NET Framework and whatever else features. You can mix unmanaged (normal) with managed (.NET) with VC++.NET 7.0. This is rarely ever used. It's mostly used to create wrappers for old code that needs to be used within another .NET language. Other than that and a few more ANSII C++ compatibilites, 6.0 and 7.0 are the same.

BTW, you might want to get Visual C++ .NET 2003, if you're going to buy a compiler, because only 2003 is fully ANSI C++ compliant. The original .NET version (aka .NET 2002) wasn't; there are a few (legal) template operations that refuse to compile. Most templates work fine, but it is possible to break templates using the most advanced (and least used) features that C++ offers.

thanks everyone, since i only have Visual C++ 6, so i think i work on that.....

So, even if i learn windows programming with visual c++ 6, it can help me to familiarise overall window programming skill(GUI programming). And easily switch to visual basic and any other version of visual c++ etc.

Am i right?

You could easily switch to any other version of Visual C++. VB is an entirely different language, with little in common with VC++, so you probably would want to avoid that; once you learn VC++ there's not much reason to do VB.