| It is not necessary to learn the Windows API in order to begin using the
Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library of C++ classes; you do not even
have to know more than a few basic C++ concepts in order to begin. I have
been teaching extension classes through the University of California, Berkeley,
since 1993. My students have ranged from expert to beginning Windows
programmers. As an MFC teacher, I had to design a system that addressed the
“common denominator” in the class, since so many of my students were put
onto MFC projects and expected to “ramp up” in a matter of weeks, despite
whatever their previous experience may have been. With the help of input
from my students, I developed my simple one-idea-at-a-time approach to the
MFC Library. I start with the most fundamental concept that a student needs to
know and show the student how to master that one concept only. Then, I add
the next concept. When exposed to a steady progression of clear ideas and
exercises, my students have been able to truly master the fundamental concepts
of MFC. This approach has worked for them, and I am sure that it will work
for you.
This book works well for the beginning or expert programmer who wishes to
start programming a Windows application using MFC. A working knowledge
of C is required. Because it is helpful to know some C++, Appendix C
illustrates all the C++ concepts that you need to know for the examples in this
book. I recommend that you review this appendix before delving into this
book.
If you are a beginner, you will start at the beginning with a simple program
that creates a window. With each additional chapter, you learn how to add new
features. Small example programs are used for the first half of the book. For
these small example programs, you generate all of the code yourself; you do
not need to use compiler tools, such as AppWizard, to generate starter code. In
later chapters, you migrate to using a compiler tool that generates starter code
and learn how to add your application’s code to the starter code.
If you already have some familiarity with MFC, this book will help you to fill
in “gaps,” such as learning how to code without using a compiler tool to
generate starter code. If you have been coding with the tools, this book will
help you to understand the “bones” of the code, without the extraneous lines of
tool-generated code that can often obscure the logic of a program. Once you
know the bones, you can enjoy a greater understanding and confidence in what
you can add and delete in order to make the application your own. |
