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The Win32 API, also known as the Windows API, is the foundational platform for creating native Windows applications in C/C++ that require direct interaction with the operating system and hardware. It offers a premier development experience without th...
Window Messages A GUI application must respond to events from the user and from the operating system. Events from the user include all the ways that someone can interact with your program: mouse clicks, key strokes... Events from the operating syst...
When the user closes a window, that action triggers a sequence of window messages. The user can close an application window by clicking the Close button, or by using a keyboard shortcut such as ALT+F4. Any of these actions causes the window to receiv...
A window procedure is essentially a function called for every message, lacking inherent state. To manage your application's state across calls, one basic method is using global variables. However, for larger applications, this can lead to too many gl...
A menu is a list of items that specify options or groups of options (a submenu) for an application. Clicking a menu item opens a submenu or causes the application to carry out a command. A menu is arranged in a hierarchy. At the top level of the hier...
Resources in Win32 are predefined, application-defined data that the system stores in executable files. These can include various types of data such as icons, bitmaps, strings, menus or dialog box templates. This article will guide you through the pr...