development question about .net and win32 api

Tony Johansson

Hello!!

When you for example use C++.net environment for develop an GUI application
does this mean that you doesn't use win32 API as much as when you had visual
studio 6.0 because of the large frame work classes that .net consist of?

Does there exist frame work classes that does what the win32 API does.?
I know that the .net frame work are the same for all net language but what
about the win32 API when programming C++ are these different from those that
exist in C#?
//Tony

Nov 17 '05 #1

Carl Daniel [VC++ MVP]

Tony Johansson wrote:

Hello!!

When you for example use C++.net environment for develop an GUI
application does this mean that you doesn't use win32 API as much as
when you had visual studio 6.0 because of the large frame work
classes that .net consist of?
That's up to you. Many people find that the Windows Forms framework doesn't
give them the power to create the kind of compelling GUI that they can
create using MFC and low-level Win32 facilities. To some extent you can mix
and match, albeit with difficulty. In VC++ 2005 (VC8, about to be
released), there's significant new features in MFC to allow you to easily
embed .NET forms and controls within an MFC view making it much easier to
mix and match.
Does there exist frame work classes that does what the win32 API
does.?
Not entirely. Nearly all of the .NET framework classes eventually delegate
down to native code and/or Win32 API functions to get the real job done.
For example, Windows Forms is built on top of GDI+, which is a C++ library
built on top of GDI, which is part of the Win32 API. That said, there are
still vast expanses of Win32 API that are not exposed in the .NET framework
at all.
I know that the .net frame work are the same for all net language but
what about the win32 API when programming C++ are these different
from those that exist in C#?

For those cases when you do need to interact at the Win32 API level, it's
considerably easier in C++ than it is from C# (I'm not sure the extent to
which it's even possible from VB.Net).

-cd

Nov 17 '05 #2

Jochen Kalmbach [MVP]

Hi Tony!

When you for example use C++.net environment for develop an GUI application
does this mean that you doesn't use win32 API as much as when you had visual
studio 6.0 because of the large frame work classes that .net consist of?
It depends on you!

You can either develop a native win32-app or MFC app like VC6
or you can develop an WinForms app which is based on the .NET framework.
Does there exist frame work classes that does what the win32 API does.?
With .NET 1.1 not every field is covered, but with .NET 2.0 most of the
win32-api is covered.
I know that the .net frame work are the same for all net language but what
about the win32 API when programming C++ are these different from those that
exist in C#?

In C#, there is no win32-api! Only .NET-framework.
Of course, you can do Interop (P/Invoke) to access win32-functions (and
COM-Interop to access COM objects).

--
Greetings
Jochen

My blog about Win32 and .NET
http://blog.kalmbachnet.de/

Nov 17 '05 #3