Strict C Win GUI programming

Question

Good day folks, I'm in a need of a bit of guidance.

Basically, I'm a webdev who knows some C from the past, but I've only developed somewhat simple console apps for *nix.

Shortly, I want to develop a simple Win program with a GUI and not get my hands into any of the following technologies:

.NET C# Java C++ (especially this one)

Because I have nor the time nor the need for it currently.

1). Can I use wxWidgets without resorting to cpp (if not, what other native looking and lightweight widget toolkit would you suggest?) 2). Can I use OpenCV with strict C? (no templates, inline functions, etc) 3). Should I look for other options for a compiler besides MinGW? Is Intel one worth investigating? (AFAIK, it has a restrictive license). 4). What IDE of the following would you suggest for windows / c programming

• Dev-C++
• Eclipse with appropriate plugins (can't remember the exact one)
• Any text editor + *.bat for compiling??

Thanks!

Answer 1

If you're interested in learning C-based Windows programming directly, and not using other intermediate tools:

There's a really good reference book by Charles Petzold called Programming Windows. It's definitely the way to get started. Absolutely everything is crystal clear, and you never need C++.

The Windows API, as a whole, is built for C programmers. All the fancy stuff like an actual application window is passed back as "HANDLE"s, which are more-or-less just pointers into the OS's object table. You as a programmer never have to deal with objects, just their HANDLEs.

Also, this particular book does a good job describing the Windows event-loop. If you're unfamiliar with it, it is described in generous detail.

Good luck!