CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++
Rob Russell
Rob Russell

Reputation: 472

Getting back into Windows programming

I've been out of the Microsoft stack for a while now, been focused on Linux, open source stuff and web development in PHP. I used to do some desktop app development and some DirectX stuff on Windows in Dev Studio (all C and C++).

I'd like to brush up on the MS stuff just to keep up on what's going on. I've installed MSVC++ 2008 Express but I'm looking for a little side-project to play with. Given my background in C/C++ and familiarity with MFC and STL, what would be a good way to jump back in?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 227

Answers (5)

nhaa123
nhaa123

Reputation: 9798

I fancy wxWidgets very much. It portable, effective and easy to learn especially if you've got some experience from MFC.

Upvotes: 0

rpg
rpg

Reputation: 7777

You could check out the VC++2010 beta, which comes with C++0x support and some MFC updates. Since you're experienced with Linux, you might want to check out Qt for Windows too.

Upvotes: 0

TALLBOY
TALLBOY

Reputation: 1077

If you're looking to get back into windows programming C# ASP.NET 3.5 is a fairly common and current language and framework to start with. This is the direction that the masses of C# .NET guys have been migrating as of late and you may be able to find a wealth of communities and bloggers contributing to that scene.

From the sounds of it, however, it looks like you were doing something along the lines of game development (DirectX and C++). Although more niche and slightly dated there are still a great deal of coders using the language. One of my favorite stops is GameDev.net because of the active community and active forums.

Good luck and have fun!

Upvotes: 1

JimDaniel
JimDaniel

Reputation: 12703

If you want to get back into modern Windows programming you should learn C#/WPF.

Upvotes: 2

Alek Davis
Alek Davis

Reputation: 10732

I've been developing on Microsoft stack since 1997, starting with C/C++/MFC/ATL, but all of the recent projects were on .NET platform (C#), so I would recommend learning .NET/C#. C/C++ still has its place, but it loses relevance rather rapidly. If not for legacy projects, we would not even bother with C/C++. Just my 2 cents.

Upvotes: 2

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