Windows-GUI-stuff-in-C-tutorial-

Windows GUI-stuff in C++: a tutorial.

Desktop Windows programming starting from the ground up in C++17.

I haven’t decided how far to take this. I’ll add more as I have free time to fill, maybe once a week or two weeks. Free time include those times when I get too bored with other stuff.

TLDR short contents:

• 1. A Windows GUI “Hello, world!”.
• 2. Use resources to provide an icon.
• 3. A Tic-Tac-Toe game in a dialog window.
• 4. UTF-8 as the one and only text encoding.
• 5. GDI graphics: Basics.

Full contents:

• 1. A Windows GUI “Hello, world!”.
  • 1.1. Message boxes.
  • 1.2. About modern C++ syntax.
  • 1.3. Windows subsystems.
  • 1.4. Building for the GUI subsystem.
  • 1.5. Find required libraries and headers.
  • 1.6. Run the program via commands and via mouse clicking.
  • 1.7. Varying behaviors of programs when you run them in Windows 11.
• 2. Use data resources to provide an icon.
  • 2.1. File icons.
  • 2.2. Icon files.
  • 2.3. Package the icon in a linker friendly binary file, via a resource script.
  • 2.4. The C++ side: identify the resource via a pseudo-pointer and a module handle.
  • 2.5 Build the executable with resources embedded.
• 3. A Tic-Tac-Toe game in a dialog window.
  • 3.1. Create and run a general window based on a dialog template.
  • 3.2. Add a window icon and the too longish text by sending window messages.
  • 3.3. Factor out: <windows.h> inclusion; support machinery; window message cracking.
  • 3.4. Fix gross imperfections: standard font; window just on top; modern appearance.
  • 3.5. Add the game logic and user interaction.
• 4. UTF-8 as the one and only text encoding.
  • 4.1. Some background on Unicode in Windows programming.
  • 4.2. Specify UTF-8 as the process’ ANSI code page.
  • 4.3. Specify UTF-8 as the “.rc” resource script code page.
  • 4.4. Adapt the C++ source code to UTF-8.
  • 4.5. Build with UTF-8 encoding throughout.
• 5. GDI graphics: Basics.
  • 5.1. Draw on the screen, via a device context.
  • 5.2 Use “DC colors” to reduce the drawing code.
  • 5.3. Present graphics in a window by handling WM_PAINT.
  • 5.4. Support a dynamic window sized ellipse via WM_SIZE + InvalidateRect.
  • 5.5. Avoid animation flicker by handling WM_ERASEBKGND and using double buffering.

Perhaps a useful link: The tutorial’s Github project.

Also, if you want to report a problem or possible improvement, check out the issues page.