CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++windowsuser-interfacemfcnative
Javier De Pedro
Javier De Pedro

Reputation: 2239

GUI library for Native C++ applications

I know this question has already been asked but I am in the hope something new has come up.

I work in the UI of a quite big legacy application using MFC as a GUI library. We want to make a whole refresh of the UI and I am looking for GUI libraries to use. I would like to add fancy things like lists/grids in Android where user can scroll in a very natural way.

Is there something new out there??

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1152

Answers (2)

Slauma
Slauma

Reputation: 177163

Not that I would recommend it nor advise against it (because it is just too new as UI technology) but at least it is worth to be mentioned that Windows 8/WinRT/(formerly known as)"Metro"/now "Windows Store apps" is an option:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/br229519.aspx

It allows to use C++ (or better the extended specifically for WinRT designed C++/CX extension) and creates native unmanaged code (in contrast to using C# or VB which creates managed code based on a .NET framework subset for WinRT).

The available UI components of WinRT certainly allow "to add fancy things like lists/grids in Android where user can scroll in a very natural way" for Windows 8 desktop and tablet PCs as well. The WinRT API supports both touch and mouse interaction.

When you use C++ the user interfaces are created using XAML - the same xml markup language like WPF, Silverlight, Windows Phone development is using, with a few differences and independent of the .NET framework.

Limitation: Using WinRT your application will only run under Windows 8/Windows Server 2012 (and later, I hope), but no earlier Windows version.

Warning: This technology is pretty new and possibly not mature enough for your needs or not suited for the kind of application you are building, although it's made by the Microsoft team responsible for Windows with most likely huge development power behind it that is expected to push this new technology forward for some time.

Upvotes: 1

Evert
Evert

Reputation: 593

You should look at Qt and WxWidgets. Both are cross platform! Both have their pro's and cons but are very mature at this moment.

Qt: http://qt-project.org/ . The Design patterns of this framework are pretty sweet and it has a nice, simple signal/slot (callback) mechanism.

WxWidgets: http://www.wxwidgets.org/ . Not really familiar with this one, maybe anyone else can provide some more information about the structure of WxWidgets?

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions