Desktop Application Development, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 6 – Introduction to Windows Programming

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Why do I need to learn about Windows programming?

Because Windows is the most popular OS and most companies use it for their daily work. So your software must run on Windows in order to help users do their work.

What can I do after finishing learning Windows programming?

You will know how to create Windows applications that are similar to Notepad, or Paint, or Calculator.

You could also create a dictionary application or an application for storing and searching for books.

It sounds interesting! What should I do now?

Windows  programming is a very big topic. You need to master at least 3 specific technologies: Windows API, Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation.

Please read
– this Charles Petzold (1998). Programming Windows. Microsoft Press book, and
– this Jeffrey Richter (1999). Programming Applications for Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Press book to learn about Windows APIs.

Please read this Chris Sells and Michael Weinhardt (2006). Windows Forms 2.0 programming. Addison-Wesley book to learn about Windows Forms.

Please read this Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths (2007). Programming WPF: Building Windows UI with Windows Presentation Foundation. O’Reilly Media book to learn about Windows Presentation Foundation.

Can I learn Java stuff instead of Microsoft stuff for Windows programming?

Yes, you can. However please remember that Microsoft is the one who created and has been developing Windows. Therefore we believe that the good approach for learning programming for Windows is to learn Microsoft technologies.

Can I create a desktop application that can run in Windows, macOS and Linux using one code base?

Yes, you can.  Please consider Electron framework and Tauri toolkit.

Terminology Review:

  • Windows, Menus, Panels, Tabs.
  • Buttons, Text Boxes, Combo Boxes, Images, Trees.
  • Windows API.
  • Windows Forms.
  • Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
  • Graphics Device Interface (GDI).
  • Dynamic-Link Library (DLL).
  • Processes.
  • Threads.
  • Shared Memory.
  • Windows Sockets 2 (Winsock).
  • Windows Services.
  • Office Add-ins.

After finishing the books please click Topic 7 – Introduction to Database Management Systems to continue.

 

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