Member Avatar for u8sand

Hey guys,
I've been programming in consoles/visual C++. But i've been wanting to learn WindowsAPI programming WITHOUT the stupid visual interface for a while now. Could someone provide me some pointers on a good place i can learn this?
Right now I'm using http://www.winprog.org/tutorial/start.html

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 119 Views
  • 8 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by u8sand

Dani AI

Generated

Good call wanting to learn raw Win32. — the tutorial you started is a practical, hands‑on beginning. As suggested, pair tutorials with a solid reference and some deeper reading. Below is a compact, practical roadmap and a few modern resources that fill common gaps beginner guides leave out.

Start small and iterate:

  • Build one minimal window by hand: register a class, create the window, run a message loop, handle WM_PAINT and WM_DESTROY.
  • Add controls and dialogs next; learn resource scripts (.rc) and how modal vs modeless dialogs behave.
  • Learn basic GDI (device contexts, pens, brushes) and always release GDI objects you create.
  • Move on to threads, synchronization, and IPC; then explore COM if you need component-level APIs.
  • Keep Unicode and 64‑bit differences in mind: prefer the wide (W) APIs, define UNICODE, and use size-aware types (LONG_PTR, SIZE_T).

Useful, up‑to‑date references:

Quick troubleshooting tips: always check GetLastError and format the message, use OutputDebugString and the Visual Studio debugger, and use Spy++ (or similar) to observe messages. Watch for GDI/handle leaks and pointer-size bugs when moving to x64. Build tiny, testable examples and expand features only after each piece is well understood.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for u8sand

I know that, I always find that books are better... Anyone know a good book on WindowsAPI ?

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.