beginner help on api and MFC

[Shawn]

I just finished my second C++ book and I feel like I am ready to learn
some more. I have read alot so that I hope I don't sound ignorant when
I come here but sometimes all the googling in the world can't make up
for some good old fashion human to human Q/A.

I have been reading up on the windows API and MFC and I am still a
little confused.

1) Is MFC tied to MV C++ or can any compiler use the MFC? I am using
the opensource bloodshed compiler and I don't feel like paying for
MVC++ yet.

2)Would a beginning windows app programmer want to learn the API or
MFC first and why?

3)Can you recommend any good books on MFC or the windows API? I went
to amazon.com and ran a google search and I am not finding much that
isn't over four years old. The one book that I keep running into is
"Programming Windows, Fifth Edition by Charles Petzold" but it is
published in 1998. Would this still be worth getting. Has the windows
API change that much since 1998? In it's description it says that most
of the code is written in C. Would someone like myself that has only
learned C++ have a hard time reading it?

Thank you

[Martijn Lievaart]

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 03:15:30 -0800, Shawn wrote:

I just finished my second C++ book and I feel like I am ready to learn
some more. I have read alot so that I hope I don't sound ignorant when
I come here but sometimes all the googling in the world can't make up
for some good old fashion human to human Q/A.

I have been reading up on the windows API and MFC and I am still a
little confused.
ACtually your questions are off topic for this group, you'll get better
answers in a MSVC, bloodshed or Windows oriented group.
1) Is MFC tied to MV C++ or can any compiler use the MFC? I am using the
opensource bloodshed compiler and I don't feel like paying for MVC++
yet.
[OT] MFC used not be tied to any particular compiler. Nowadays I don't
know. Ask in a bloodshed group.
2)Would a beginning windows app programmer want to learn the API or MFC
first and why?
[OT] I learned the Windows API first (there was no MFC at that time) and
found that immensly helpful learning MFC. OTOH, MFC has progressed so
much, I think it is better to learn MFC first nowadays.
3)Can you recommend any good books on MFC or the windows API? I went to
amazon.com and ran a google search and I am not finding much that isn't
over four years old. The one book that I keep running into is
"Programming Windows, Fifth Edition by Charles Petzold" but it is
published in 1998. Would this still be worth getting. Has the windows
API change that much since 1998? In it's description it says that most
of the code is written in C. Would someone like myself that has only
learned C++ have a hard time reading it?

[OT] Petzold is one of the best on the Windows API. I personally found
"Professional MFC for Visual C++ 6" (wrox) very valuable, but it is dated
by now. Ask in a Windows group for better answers.

HTH,
M4