c34
Subj : Re: C Programming HELP...
To   : borland.public.cpp.borlandcpp
From : Andrew Fenton
Date : Fri Jun 25 2004 04:27 pm

"Jeremy Pham" <j_m_pham@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40dc75db$1@newsgroups.borland.com...

> Any comment on Microsoft Visual C++, C#, .NET's?

Again, take my comments with a grain of salt because I have used none of the
items you have mentioned.

If you want to program strictly for current (and probably future) Microsoft
environments, you probably ought to take a look at C# and .NET.  It seems
likely that with the ubiquity of Windows, .NET will be a popular framework
for web applications.  It may even end up being a framework that internet
game apps use, although I cannot name any that use it right now.  Keep in
mind, however, that it is being marketed mainly as a tool for internet
development:  "Visual C# .NET 2003 is the comprehensive tool set for
creating XML Web services and Microsoft .NET-connected applications for
Windows and the Web using the component-oriented C# development language."
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/productinfo/default.aspx)  If you want to
develop games primarily for non-web situations, you might do just as well
with plain-old C++ and the associated APIs I mentioned previously.

Remember, too, that even if you do want to develop exclusively for Microsoft
..NET platforms, there is other software available to accomplish this (like
C# Builder).  I cannot fairly speak to the superiority of Visual C# or C#
Builder.  Perhaps someone else can offer some useful advice on this.

Regarding Visual C++, a little research will show you that you can program
for .NET applications as well as general apps using the Standard edition.
The Professional edition offers this as well as several other programming
options:  Visual Basic, Visual C#, and Visual J# (presumably a .NET version
of Java).  Check this out at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/howtobuy/choosing.aspx.  The general C++
programming aspects of Visual C++ should be portable to other environments.

Visual C++ also offers MFC, Microsoft's Foundation Class, a library of
objects and functions intended to make Windows programming in C and C++
easier.  MFC programming is fairly popular.  You would probably get the MFC
library with the standard edition of VC++ but not with the personal edition
of Borland C++ Builder.  Professional and Enterprise editions of Builder,
however, do offer the MFC library, as well as MFC wizards.

Probably, Borland's answer to MFC is VCL, the Visual Component Library.  VCL
is what sets the Builder series apart from other development software.  As I
have explained, using Builder, you may "draw" your application by
drag-and-dropping application objects onto your forms and then providing
additional functionality to those objects with your coding.  The competitive
advantage of this is called RAD, Rapid Application Development.  Using VCL,
you can even develop your own custom Window's objects, say, for handling
graphics or sound in a manner that no one else has done.

Regards,
Andrew Fenton

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