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I was wondering if anyone knows a good C++ Win32 API Tutorial for someone who knows nothing about gui programming or the windows API.

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Dani AI

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In response to : the pointers from and are good starting points. To turn a tutorial into usable skill, focus on the small set of concepts that make Win32 different from typical event frameworks: the window class, the message loop, the WndProc callback, and WM_PAINT/GDI for drawing. Building one tiny program that opens a window, paints something, and exits will teach most of those ideas.

Start by implementing the minimal loop and a WndProc so the runtime model is clear. A common minimal message loop looks like:

MSG msg;
while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0)) {
    TranslateMessage(&msg);
    DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
return (int)msg.wParam;

After that, add a WM_PAINT handler with BeginPaint/EndPaint, then a button or child control, then a dialog. Move on to input (mouse/keyboard), menus/accelerators, and finally common controls and resources.

Quick troubleshooting checklist (common beginner traps):

  • Always set cbSize for WNDCLASSEX and use RegisterClassEx.
  • Ensure WndProc has the correct signature and call DefWindowProc for unhandled messages.
  • Use SetWindowLongPtr/GetWindowLongPtr on 64-bit systems when storing pointers.
  • Watch ANSI vs Unicode: define UNICODE or call wide-char APIs consistently.
  • GetMessage returns 0 for WM_QUIT and <0 on error — handle that correctly.
  • Linker errors usually mean missing system libs (user32/gdi32/comctl32) or wrong subsystem settings.
  • Use GetLastError, OutputDebugString, and the debugger to diagnose crashes instead of blind edits.

Authoritative references to consult after following tutorials: the official Windows API documentation on Microsoft Docs and the “Old New Thing” blog for design/behavior explanations. Win32 fundamentals haven’t changed much, but consider modern GUI frameworks (Qt, .NET, etc.) for new projects once the basics are understood.

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Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Another excellent tutorial. Its not necessary to use c++ to write win32 api programs and the tutorial in my link doesn't require c++.

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