1. API question
- Posted by jjnick at cvn.com
Apr 30, 2001
Say, what in the world is the Win32 API in the grand scheme of things. Will
it eventually be phased out for something else like MFC?
2. Re: API question
jjnick wrote:
> Say, what in the world is the Win32 API
> in the grand scheme of things.
To some extend, the core of Windows is fairly small. But it's augmented by
lots of dynamic link libraries that extend the core functionality, adding
things like windowing, gui controls, common dialogs, networking,
telephony... the list goes on. For Microsoft to extend Windows, they merely
have to update a DLL, or add a new one.
The Win32 API is mostly hooks into these DLL libraries. As new routines are
added, and old ones fall into disfavor, the API changes. Each version of
Windows adds new features, and extends the API.
Ever notice that the 'solution' to having old DLLs is to install a current
version of IE (Internet Explorer)? That's because the install replaces the
old DLLs on your machine with new ones. There was a DLL floating around that
you could install that would give you a lot of the GUI functionality of
Win98, for example, just by replacing a single DLL.
For example, the 'coolbar/rebar/toolbar band' that most IE and Microsoft
Office applications use is implemented in a DLL. Everyone wanted that look
and feel in their applications, but you had to have the DLL loaded on your
machine to use it. And the only way you could get the DLL was to install IE.
So you would have non-internet applications that had, as part of their
requirements, IE installed on your machine.
> Will it eventually be phased out for
> something else like MFC?
Well, the Win32 API is a sort of haphazard collection of routines - some
mesh well together, others don't. They are sort of loosely organized - for
example, most GUI routines are in the GDL DLL. (There was some shuffling of
routines to random DLLs in response to the Justice Department investigation,
but that's a major digression).
MFC is a 'wrapper' around these raw routines, much like Win32Lib. It tries
to organize the interface, and hide the actual details of the API. But MFC
is written on top of the Win32 API - not as a replacement to it. If you dig
into the MFC code, you'll find that it eventually makes calls to the Win32
API. So it can't phase out the Win32 API.
Did that answer the question?
-- David Cuny
3. Re: API question
- Posted by jjnick at cvn.com
May 01, 2001
Wow, cool . . . didn't know this . . . did not know MFC actually calls the
Win 32 API , makes me feel better . . . not doing all this work for nothing
. . . Personally, I resent learning MFC for the sake of GUI development,
guess I'm just getting too old . . . Seems to be the in thing to know MFC,
oh well . . .
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Cuny" <dcuny at LANSET.COM>
To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
Subject: Re: API question
>
>
> jjnick wrote:
>
> > Say, what in the world is the Win32 API
> > in the grand scheme of things.
>
> To some extend, the core of Windows is fairly small. But it's augmented by
> lots of dynamic link libraries that extend the core functionality, adding
> things like windowing, gui controls, common dialogs, networking,
> telephony... the list goes on. For Microsoft to extend Windows, they
merely
> have to update a DLL, or add a new one.
>
> The Win32 API is mostly hooks into these DLL libraries. As new routines
are
> added, and old ones fall into disfavor, the API changes. Each version of
> Windows adds new features, and extends the API.
>
> Ever notice that the 'solution' to having old DLLs is to install a current
> version of IE (Internet Explorer)? That's because the install replaces the
> old DLLs on your machine with new ones. There was a DLL floating around
that
> you could install that would give you a lot of the GUI functionality of
> Win98, for example, just by replacing a single DLL.
>
> For example, the 'coolbar/rebar/toolbar band' that most IE and Microsoft
> Office applications use is implemented in a DLL. Everyone wanted that look
> and feel in their applications, but you had to have the DLL loaded on your
> machine to use it. And the only way you could get the DLL was to install
IE.
> So you would have non-internet applications that had, as part of their
> requirements, IE installed on your machine.
>
> > Will it eventually be phased out for
> > something else like MFC?
>
> Well, the Win32 API is a sort of haphazard collection of routines - some
> mesh well together, others don't. They are sort of loosely organized - for
> example, most GUI routines are in the GDL DLL. (There was some shuffling
of
> routines to random DLLs in response to the Justice Department
investigation,
> but that's a major digression).
>
> MFC is a 'wrapper' around these raw routines, much like Win32Lib. It tries
> to organize the interface, and hide the actual details of the API. But MFC
> is written on top of the Win32 API - not as a replacement to it. If you
dig
> into the MFC code, you'll find that it eventually makes calls to the Win32
> API. So it can't phase out the Win32 API.
>
> Did that answer the question?
>
> -- David Cuny
>
>
>
>
>
>
