Windows developers: a thorough understanding of the Windows API will enable you to create applications that are elegant, efficient, and powerful.
Comprehensive and detailed-with over 140,000 lines of code included on the accompanying CD-ROM- Win32 Programming is your ultimate resource. Concentrating exclusively on 32-bit programming, it offers an in-depth look at the user interface and graphics aspects of the Windows API and demonstrates how to use the API effectively. In addition, many low-level operating system functions and facilities are covered.
You will find comprehensive information on all aspects of Windows GUI programming, such as:
- Windows Controls, including the common control
- GDI, including new features like transformations and geometric pen
- Printing, including a reusable print engin
- Common dialogs, including customizatio
- Background processing, including synchronization
In addition, the book covers such important advanced topics as creation of Dynamic Link Libraries, storage management, windows subclassing, the Multiple Document Interface (MDI), and threads and their synchronization.
The CD-ROM is a gold mine of useful programs, with a C template you can copy to create your own Windows applications and dozens of programs called "Explorers" written in C++/MFC that demonstrate the Windows API in action. The "Explorers" let you tweak individual parameters of the API functions and immediately see the effects.
More than just an introductory book, Win32 Programming is a reference to many of the more obscure and sometimes incomprehensible advanced features of the user interface and graphics subsystems. It is useful not only for C programmers but also for C++/MFC programmers because the API forms the basis for most MFC methods. The book's extensive and comprehensive index means you will never again have to search through pages of examples to find the example of the API function you want to see. This book is designed both to teach basic Windows programming and to be a useful companion for years to come.
