I was just wondering whether it would be useful to learn MFC... I''ve had some experience with straight win API w/c++, but just a little. Only enough so i could get a directx program going. So now that I know some of that, will MFC be a better choice for making non game stuff? Like a level editor, or just other simple apps. Or should I go back to using VB for those types of things? Any advantages/weaknesses would be cool, hehe. Thanks for the help, later -Majix

C++ Builder is good for making editors. RAD is very nice for that sort of stuff.

http://users.50megs.com/crazyvasey/

VB might be worth it, there are rumors that in the next version of visual studio you will be able to use inline c++ in your vb code... and vice versa

I use MFC daily (at work). MFC has these advantages:
- employers look for MFC experience
- it''s C++, which employers also look for
- it''s object-oriented, which employers also look for
- many windows programs are built using MFC, so using it will give you the same "look-and-feel". This helps users get accustomed to your programs more quickly
- it doesn''t add as much overhead as most people think
- if you learn the document/view architecture, that''s almost as good as a Ph.D in computer science, and you''ll astound future employers. It also forces you to use a very clean application design (doc/view, that is)

Minuses of using VB:
- you''ll get confused with script kiddies

Silly Programmer, VB is for kids

Haha.. Some funny replies here.. (Stoffel & Anonymous!)

MFC is a great tool once you understand how it works and what it really is. It may take a little time to get accustomed to, but if you''re going to be writing any kind of real application you''ll find MFC is well worth it. In my opinion, the message maps were enough to convince me.

I''m not very farmiliar with it, but there''s also an object-oriented class library called "WFC" (Windows Foundation Classes) that seems to have Microsoft support; at least partially. It is supposedly a little more light-weight than MFC, but (like I said) I don''t have any working experience with it yet. Maybe someone here can elaborate on the differences between MFC and WFC.

I personally am not a big fan of VB. I use it (when I''m forced to) but find it lacks a lot of things that I''m used to with C++ and MFC. C''est la vie.

// CHRIS

I use and like working with MFC but at times it could be maddening. Learn Win32(if you haven''t already) then MFC, it''s easier to know what the MFC does underneath. How about a private DC in MFC? See my site for that info.

I use MFC for editors, Win32 (hardly ever uses win32 stuff) to write a full screen game, 3D and 2D engine code is in dll libs, MFC or Win32 can use engine dll. Try to separate your data from viewing code early on. Dump data into document class and view related code into view class - this when using document/view architecture. By the way, you don''t have to use it if you can figure out how to do it by hand i.e. w/o the template.

Be prepared for a lot of debugging when using MFC. It''s message handling is pretty complex and goes back and forth many times. Try creating the splitter windows and then see what happens when you move them, fun stuff

Tip: if you screw-up the naming of your document or your file extension while in the template editor and would like to change it later on, see the string table resource and you can change it in the resource viewer.

Jerry


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E-Mail: BlueOrbSoftware@mailcity.com

Thanks for all the input! I guess I''ll go ahead and continue learning all this stuff. I have 2 books on this, Programming Windows by Charles Petzold and Programming Windows w/MFC by Jeff Prosise. So I have a lot of reading to do, =) Just something else to learn while I''m not doing the directx stuff
-Majix