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Is there a simple/small framework (Other than .NET) which allows you to create windowed applications with C++ under Win32. Just like a little DLL I can include with my app.

It should have basic functions like creating a window , buttons , text edits and handling them.

Kristina
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6 Answers6

11

WTL is a set of lightweight templates that make writing Win32 windowing code quite easy (to the extend C++/Win32 can be easy).

Franci Penov
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I would recommand Qt. It's an intuitive and user friendly framework. In addition it is cross platform if one day you want to deploy your app anywhere else.

Qt can be used through Visual Studio or through the QtCreator IDE installed with the framework (as well as QtDesigner [GUI editor]).

Patrice Bernassola
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  • Does it really qualify as "simple/small framework"? – Nemanja Trifunovic Dec 16 '09 at 18:51
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    Yes it is simple to use and since it is split into several module you can only use the one you want (in the case of Nick the QtGUI one does the stuff of windowing) – Patrice Bernassola Dec 16 '09 at 19:37
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    That's grossly misleading. Qt is anything but modularized. If you need QtGui, it drags in loads of other modules. A pretty standard application deployment, that doesn't do anyhting useful, weighs in at around 25 MB. This certainly isn't *"small"*. – IInspectable Jul 28 '17 at 10:45
7

Take a look at Win32++

Nemanja Trifunovic
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4

How about MFC? mfc90.dll. Not exactly simple, not small, but comes with huge support from VS wizards and designers.

Remus Rusanu
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    MFC is hell. If you choose this, may the force be with you. – the_drow Dec 16 '09 at 18:49
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    I really like MFC. The code is very complex but VS helps you design your application so it is not that much of a problem. – Kristina Dec 16 '09 at 19:07
  • I found the document/view metaphor and the command dispatch mechanism to be still years ahead of anything the .Net frameworks have produced, 20 years later. – Remus Rusanu Dec 16 '09 at 19:13
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    MFC is a horrible piece of waste. It is mainly an old wrapper over the Windows API, invented back in the says where there was nearly no template support and other nice C++ features. Qt vs MFC is like a Bugatti Veyron vs Renault 4CV. – CMircea Dec 18 '09 at 17:00
  • @CMircea: When it comes to quality, Qt has nothing to offer over MFC. It doesn't even come close. Qt's message processing (for Windows) is broken at the core, unfixable. A Qt application cannot be made to work reliably. It will break, always, sooner or later. Keyboard input is where the breakage becomes most apparent, but it does break in lots of places, constantly. Signals and slots are convenient, but I'd choose MFC for a Windows-only application any day. – IInspectable May 09 '16 at 21:23
  • @IInspectable: Do you have **PRACTICAL** examples of that Qt brokenness, please? – sergiol Jul 22 '17 at 23:06
  • @sergiol: Just take any Qt application and use it with only the keyboard for a while. It usually won't take long for it to drop all input, until you reactivate it with a pointing device. Another example: In case you need to handle a native window message, that happens to have extra info attached, that information is irrevocably lost (under certain conditions) by the time you get to see the message. – IInspectable Jul 22 '17 at 23:33
1

There are some:

  1. MFC
  2. Qt
  3. wxWidgets
IInspectable
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Pablo Santa Cruz
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1

Well, a simple framework is Paul DiLascia's Windows++ (http://www.dilascia.com/wpp.htm), although I think its development has stopped long time ago.

Another method would be using just the Windows API without any framework at all. Just include Windows.h in your sourcefile and there you go!

Marc.2377
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dwo
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