Visual C++(MFC) or Visual C++/CLI

[ashwath1979]

Hi ALL, Which one is easier to develop a GUI.Is it VC++(MFC) or is it VC++/CLI(i.e.VC++.NET).Please advice. Thanks, ashwath.

[CPallini]

I would not use Managed C++ to build a GUI. I would use instead C#. That said, MFC is quite powerful (nothing is really easy when talking about Windows programming). :)

If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]

[Maximilien]

Starting from what level of development skills ? IMO, they are both equivalent, have a look at your requirements and match them to what MFC and .NET (forms) have to offer. M.

This signature was proudly tested on animals.

[Cedric Moonen]

It's also depends a lot on the UI features you want to develop. Could you elaborate a bit on that part ?

Cédric Moonen Software developer
Charting control [v3.0 - Updated] OpenGL game tutorial in C++

[Rajesh R Subramanian]

If you have experience in .NET, you could choose .NET because it's easier. I'd personally choose MFC, because I've been using it to build GUI for a while and I find it convenient for my purposes.

“Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

[CPallini]

Hi expert, I've experience in Paint, should I use it? :-D

If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]

[Rajesh R Subramanian]

Why not? But, I must warn you that it might take longer than expected. :)

“Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

[CODEPC]

I think you should use C# or VC++/CLI, Because MFC is dieing. Fewer and fewer people are using MFC.

modified on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 2:11 PM

[Rajesh R Subramanian]

CODEPC wrote:

Fewer and fewer people are using MFC.

Which puts me into the fewer and fewer category, I guess. Maya just doesn't play along well with .NET and most of our applications are written in C++, so there's no point in writing only the UI with .NET. Some may think I'm "stuck" with native language programming, but I'm doing it because I'm liking it. :)

“Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

[Cedric Moonen]

Well, could always draw in paint the code you want to write, then use OCR to convert it to text and paste it to your compiler, but I'm not so sure that it is the most efficient solution :-D

Cédric Moonen Software developer
Charting control [v3.0 - Updated] OpenGL game tutorial in C++

[CPallini]

COBOL death was ruled many many years ago, before you and possibly I (!?!) were born, anyway there are still job openings for COBOL people. :rolleyes:

If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]

[Joe Woodbury]

Who, besides Nish, is using C++/CLI for an actual shipping program? (C++/CLI is one of the biggest pains in the ass I've ever used.)

[Rolf Kristensen]

I'm for one glad that COBOL is not the standard requirement for new job positions. Awful language when having tried Java or .NET.

[Rolf Kristensen]

Agree that one should not use Managed C++ for building GUI. Managed C++ is mainly for compiling legacy C++ code, where performance is not an issue. Or wrapping native C++ code as standard .NET classes. I would choose Winforms/C# over MFC/C++.

[Rolf Kristensen]

There a lot of old applications that still are implemented in MFC. These will not disappear soon, but yes any new GUI applications are usually implemented either as a web-application or using Winforms/WPF.

[Steve Mayfield]

If MFC is dying, why do new versions keep being released for each new version of VS [^]?

Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am