The Future of Windows Programming.
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Is it advisable to start coding the '.net' way or remain using the Win32 api / mfc? Will .net objects replace win32 as the native api?
IMO, it would be a huge mistake for someone wanting to be a professional programmer to pin their future on a technology like .net. Web "applications" and other kinds of form based programming are going to continue to evolve into ever simpler methodologies. At the same time, every school in the country is trying their best to produce new generations of "computer literate" kids, which means that ever larger percentages of them are going to have the basic skills needed to put together web pages and "form based" applications (ie. a dialog box populated with some data bound controls) with these ever more simplified technologies. Heck, most of my son's 13 year old friends can already build fairly sophisticated web pages. This trend is only going to continue. Soon, doing that kind of stuff is going to be considered a basic secretarial level skill set. However, no language is ever going to refine away the complexity inherent in a large application. A programmer is going to need to bring extensive knowledgeability of some kind of C/C++ level skills to the table to get a big job done. C# might replace C++ in this role, but I very much doubt it. MFC may evolve away or be replaced by something else, but I think it is going to be around for a long while yet, because dispite all of its flaws, it remains the most practical method of cobbling a large scale application together quickly in a windows environment. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
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Is it advisable to start coding the '.net' way or remain using the Win32 api / mfc? Will .net objects replace win32 as the native api?
UGenn wrote: Will .net objects replace win32 as the native api? Eventually I think they will. Once the .net framework is standard with all copies of Windows, it makes sense for developers to use the higher level objects to write apps. However I will be writing Win32/MFC/ATL apps for quiet a while. It all depends on what my customers want. I know MFC and Win32 very well, changing now would only slow down my development time and introduce new bugs into my systems. I will change eventually but at the moment I've got too much invested in the existing technologies. Michael :-)
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IMO, it would be a huge mistake for someone wanting to be a professional programmer to pin their future on a technology like .net. Web "applications" and other kinds of form based programming are going to continue to evolve into ever simpler methodologies. At the same time, every school in the country is trying their best to produce new generations of "computer literate" kids, which means that ever larger percentages of them are going to have the basic skills needed to put together web pages and "form based" applications (ie. a dialog box populated with some data bound controls) with these ever more simplified technologies. Heck, most of my son's 13 year old friends can already build fairly sophisticated web pages. This trend is only going to continue. Soon, doing that kind of stuff is going to be considered a basic secretarial level skill set. However, no language is ever going to refine away the complexity inherent in a large application. A programmer is going to need to bring extensive knowledgeability of some kind of C/C++ level skills to the table to get a big job done. C# might replace C++ in this role, but I very much doubt it. MFC may evolve away or be replaced by something else, but I think it is going to be around for a long while yet, because dispite all of its flaws, it remains the most practical method of cobbling a large scale application together quickly in a windows environment. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
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you seem to have gone off a different tangent. the original pt is not about c++ but rather the relevance of the win32 api in the future.
Fair enough. I'll try again. I am saying that a basic knowledge of win32 (with C++ or not) will remain important for serious windows programmers. .net is only in its infancy and, if it is successful, will continue to evolve in the direction of making simple programming tasks more quick and efficient. Which is a good thing. But it will not change the fundamental nature of programming. You *will* continue to need a good understanding of what is going on at the lowest levels in order to successfully tackle large scale projects in the future just as you have done in the past. I am also saying that if you commit yourself to a .Net view of the world, than you are going to be forced to compete against an ever growing number of people who are going to possess an ever more significant portion of your skill set. I certainly feel as though that is Microsoft's goal with this technology. Therefore, my point is that .Net is important, but a win32 oriented skill set (or a basic knowledge of any lower level OS api) remains more than relevant, it is essential. If that is not true, then we are all in deep do-do. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"