Win32 & C++

• Get Started with Win32 and C++¹ This is a well-written introduction to Windows programming using C++. It shows how to create a window, draw inside it using Direct2D and handle input. There is a succinct introduction to COM that is very helpful in disambiguating DirectX code. In following this tutorial, you will end up making a rudimentary Paint application.

  1. Your First Windows Program
  2. Using COM
  3. Windows Graphics
  4. User Input

• Overview of Windows Programming in C++²

• Programming reference for the Win32 API
• Coding Style Conventions⁴ -- Hungarian Notation.
• Acquiring High-resolution Time Stamps⁸
• PE Format⁹
• Windows Headers¹⁰
• Windows and Messages¹¹
  • Windows Classes
  • Messages and Message Queues
• Internationalization for Windows Applications¹²
  • TEXT Macro¹³
  • Unicode and Character Sets¹⁴
  • Windows Data Types for Strings¹⁴
• Opening a File for Reading and Writing¹⁵
• I/O Concepts¹⁵
• Scatter-Gather¹⁵
• SEH¹⁶
• A Crash Course on the Depths of Win32 SEH -- Matt Pietrek
• Object Categories⁸
  • User Objects
  • GDI Objects
  • Kernel Objects
• String and Character Literals¹⁷
• C++/WinRT¹⁸
• What is "managed code"?¹⁹

Microsoft Docs Paths

1. Windows / Apps / Win32 / Get Started / Get Started with Win32 and C++
2. Docs / Microsoft C++, C, and Assembler / Windows / Overview of Windows Programming in C++
3. Windows / Apps / Win32 / API / Windows Desktop Technologies
4. … / Win32 / Desktop Technologies / System Services / Structured Storage
5. Docs / Microsoft C++, C, and Assembler / Microsoft C/C++ / Reference / Libraries Reference
6. … / Microsoft C++, C, and Assembler / C Runtime Library / CRT Reference
7. … / C Runtime Library / Universal C Runtime Routines by Category
8. … / Desktop Technologies / System Services / Windows System Information
9. … Desktop Technologies / Diagnostics / Debugging and Error Handling
10. … / Get Started / Using the Windows Headers
11. … / Desktop Technologies / Desktop APP UI / Windows and Messages
12. … / API / Internationalization
13. … / Internationalization / Winnt.h
14. … / Desktop App UI / Internationalization
15. … Desktop Technologies / Data Access and Storage / Local File Systems
16. … / C++ Language / C++ Language Reference / Exception Handling in C++
17. … / C++ Language Reference / Lexical Conventions
18. Windows / Apps / UWP
19. Docs / .NET / .NET Guide

Specs

• [MS-DTYP]: Windows Data Types¹

¹Open Specifications / Protocols / Windows Protocols / References

Libraries, Tools, Samples and Code

• Windows 10 SDK
• Libraries Reference⁵ -- Standard libraries (CRT, STL, SafeInt, OpenMP) and libraries for Windows applications (MFC/ATL, Parallel Libraries, Data Access Libraries)
• CRT Reference⁶
  • Input and Output⁷
  • Stream I/O
  • Low-level I/O
  • Console and Port I/O

Reading

• Charles Petzold
• Kenny Kerr
  • MSDN Articles
  • 01/2013 The Evolution of Threads and I/O in Windows
  • 2014 Visual C++ 2015 Brings Modern C++ to the Windows API