A Lack of Understanding...

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    • A Lack of Understanding...

      Well i wasn't really sure of where to post this, but this is the place i thought fit best, so here it goes.

      I've been programming with C++ for a little while now, and i've just recently started to mess around with the Windows API. I've run into a few problems, i've been able to fix most using msdn.microsoft.com/... The problem is that I don't know what it is that I don't know, so i'm only able to look up a few things. is their either a good website to use? book? some little demo? i'm trying to just get familiar with the Windows API before i sart messing around with DirectX.
      Should i be going about this a different way?
      Wort wort wort.

    • RE: A Lack of Understanding...

      Nobody covers the API completely, its too dang big
      Get Programming Windows by Petzold (not the C# .NET book) and work it a while.

      get a custom to msdn searches and Google
      search by task don't try to guess at function name

      naming is only consistant in related sections of the API

    • Petzold's book is heralded as the Win32 API Bible. It's actually quite good, and I would recommend it for a desktop reference.

      Searching MSDN for Win32 API info used to be much easier, IMO, a couple years back. Now it seems like they've tucked away a lot of the information in sporadic places. Anyways, a while back I made a post on Gamedev.net that included a list of links to various pages on MSDN that concerned Win32. I'm reposting the list here. Maybe it'll help you out a bit:

      Windows API (jumping off point for other parts of Win32 API)
      Windows User Interfaces - Windowing (here you'll find a lot on window messages, window creation, etc.)
      Windows GDI
      Windows User Interfaces - Resources
      Windows User Interfaces - User Input (keyboard and mouse)
      Windows Sockets 2 (network programming, probably won't need this for a while, but nice link to have)

      Another awesome feature on Google that I've found real helpful is the Google Groups feature. There I can type in a question like a regular person would (be it about programming, home audio, etc.) and it'll usually link me with a thread or two quickly that gives me the answer I'm looking for. Just click on the Groups link at the top of the Google homepage and it'll send you to the Groups search area.

    • RE: A Lack of Understanding...

      the MSDN is great, espeically on CD, but there is a LOT of non-C++ stuff and nothing is clearly labelled. Its greatest use is for function definitions and the like.

      I found a few tutorials, but I don't have the links here. I will post them when I get home. Keep in mind though, that they are tutorials and not references, but I think that is what you want, no?
      -Larrik Jaerico

      www.LarrikJ.com

    • Petzold is King - and he does a good job covering lots of Win32 stuff, not just the GDI (user interface for things like dialog boxes and buttons and such).
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot

    • Winprog's not a bad starting place. I know it helped clear a few things for me when I started out with Win32. I think there were a couple quirks in some of the later tutorials, but if you run into problems with any of them, I'm pretty sure you can ask any of us and we'd be able to help you out.