What type of c++ should I use?

[ilPostino]

Hey,

My experience with c++ is limited to ATL and for the past 3 years it's just
been c#. I need to write a UI intensive application that is just too slow in
managed code. So I'm re-doing it in unmanaged c++, what should I use in vc++
7, ATL, MFC or Win32?

thanks
Craig

 

[ququ]

Borland C++ builder is the best C++ tool for GUI
development. You can develop com servers using VisStudio
and call these com servers from Borland developed GUI.

 

[ilPostino]

Good old borland, never thought of them. What makes their product good at
GUI stuff?

Are they actually going to be around for much longer? ;-)

C

 

[ququ]

Borland VCL (Visual Component Library) is the perfect
collection of VB stile GUI components vor C++. Most recent
version Borland C++ builder 6 was released less then year
ego. Check http://www.borland.com

Regards

 

[Tom Serface]

You're probably going to get a variety of answers to this "subjective"
question. in my opinion MFC is a good thing to learn. It is a pretty thin
layer on the Win32 API with lots of helper classes. MSFT has said that they
will continue to support and improve MFC for the forseeable future so the
investment in time to learn it will not be a waste.

My two pesos...

Tom

 

[Michael Weiss]

You may want to consider the WTL, the Windows Template Library. Here one place to start learning about it: http://www.codeproject.com/wtl/
I'm guessing an ATL programmer will feel right at home with it. I'd consider MFC only if you'll need third-part components (like Dundas, Stingray, etc...)

 

[Doug Forster]

Hi,

Our company uses C#, Delphi and occasionally MFC for apps and to be quite
honest I wouldn't have said that there was much perceptible difference
between them as far as UI speed was concerned (except for the slight 'first
time JIT compile' issue with C#). I am a bit curious as to what you might be
doing with C# that makes the UI seem so slow?

Cheers

Doug Forster

 

[Serve Lau]

Borland VCL (Visual Component Library) is the perfect
collection of VB stile GUI components vor C++. Most recent
version Borland C++ builder 6 was released less then year
ego. Check http://www.borland.com

First of all, more than a year ago, second of all there will be no more VCL
updates (they're going to wxwindows). And third, builder is extremely bug
ridden

 

[ququ]

Good lack with UpdateData() crap.

-----Original Message-----


First of all, more than a year ago, second of all there will be no more VCL
updates (they're going to wxwindows). And third, builder is extremely bug
ridden


.

 

[Pent]

I wouldn't go with Borland and vcl. Very outdated stuff.

 

[ilPostino]

Hi,

Well to start have you tried running SharpDevelop? It is written in c# and
is a memory hog and is pretty slow - no offense to the SharpDevelop
developers ;-) me being one of them! The company I work for also has an IDE
for their core product and it is entirely written in c# and is also a memory
hog and pretty much drives a PIV, 512Meg machine into the ground. The
application I'm working on is for my Phd in soft. dev. and I just don't want
to spend years writing it to find its slow ;-) Most people seem to believe
the speed difference between an MFC app and c# isn't worth the extra
development time.

thanks
Craig

 

[ilPostino]

thanks!

Craig

You're probably going to get a variety of answers to this "subjective"
question. in my opinion MFC is a good thing to learn. It is a pretty thin
layer on the Win32 API with lots of helper classes. MSFT has said that they
will continue to support and improve MFC for the forseeable future so the
investment in time to learn it will not be a waste.

My two pesos...

Tom

slow

 

[Sin]

Well to start have you tried running SharpDevelop? It is written in c# and

is a memory hog and is pretty slow - no offense to the SharpDevelop
developers ;-) me being one of them! The company I work for also has an IDE
for their core product and it is entirely written in c# and is also a memory
hog and pretty much drives a PIV, 512Meg machine into the ground. The
application I'm working on is for my Phd in soft. dev. and I just don't want
to spend years writing it to find its slow ;-) Most people seem to believe
the speed difference between an MFC app and c# isn't worth the extra
development time.

If you want speed and lightweight go for a full blown win32 app. It might be
more cryptic than MFC or other similar frameworks, but it's the best tool
for making fast and lightweight applications. All other methods use the API
down under anyways.

Alex.

 

[Bronek Kozicki]

My experience with c++ is limited to ATL and for the past 3 years
it's just been c#. I need to write a UI intensive application that is
just too slow in managed code. So I'm re-doing it in unmanaged c++,

If you know ATL and C++ well (including templates), you will be happy
using WTL. Start here http://www.codeproject.com/wtl/ or here
http://www.idevresource.com/wtl/ . WTL is heavely templated (ie. no
runtime overhead, like MFC) thin object oriented wrapper around Win32
API GUI functions. Most (if not all) of its classes are derived from ATL
classes. I do not know how it fits complex GUI applications (probably it
does, due to elegant design), but it's worth a try.


B.

 

[Hendrik Schober]

[...]
First of all, more than a year ago, second of all there will be no more VCL
updates (they're going to wxwindows). And third, builder is extremely bug
ridden

VCL is a Delphi class library for which
there's a C++ interface. AFAIK, the next
VCL thing in the making is to create a
.NET version of it. IIRC, plans are to
get a new native VCL out afterwards.
While the new C++BuilderX doesn't come
with a visual designer, it does compile
BCB6 applications out of the box. Also,
it's planned to have more RAD support
(including VCL RAD support) in later
versions.
Check out the open letter at
http://bdn.borland.com/article/0,1410,31277,00.html

Schobi

--
(e-mail address removed) is never read
I'm Schobi at suespammers org

"And why should I know better by now/When I'm old enough not to?"
Beth Orton

 

[Hendrik Schober]

I wouldn't go with Borland and vcl. Very outdated stuff.

The VCl was last updated with Delphi 7,
IIRC correctly, that was less than a year
ago.

[...]

Schobi

--
(e-mail address removed) is never read
I'm Schobi at suespammers org

"And why should I know better by now/When I'm old enough not to?"
Beth Orton

 

[codymanix]

You're probably going to get a variety of answers to this "subjective"

question. in my opinion MFC is a good thing to learn. It is a pretty thin
layer on the Win32 API with lots of helper classes. MSFT has said that they
will continue to support and improve MFC for the forseeable future so the
investment in time to learn it will not be a waste.

MFC is (right after DirectX) the most crappy API I've ever seen. It is
neither thin nor easy to learn. I think support for MFC will stop in the
next few years and they will only support and develop on .NET Windows.Forms.
IIRC, in 2004 they will release new GUI components for .NET with a brand new
API.

Maybe third party platform independent GUI classes for C++ are worth a look,
but I've never tried them.

 

[Brandon Bray [MSFT]]

I think support for MFC will stop in the next few years and they will
only support and develop on .NET Windows.Forms.

This is not correct. Microsoft plans on supporting MFC for the foreseeable
future. We are working to make sure that MFC applications are able to take
advantage of new APIs in the .NET frameworks and WinFX.

IIRC, in 2004 they will release new GUI components for .NET with a brand
new API.

Microsoft is introducing a new presentation API to Windows, but this is not
being released in 2004 (it is likely going to be in Beta though). Just as
MFC is an abstraction over the Win32 presentation APIs, it is very likely
that other libraries will be developed to abstract the WinFX APIs.