Wtl for MFC programmersI have been looking for such a class library: it provides object-oriented encapsulation for Windows, flexible message response mechanisms, and relatively complete interface framework solutions, provides concise and practical encapsulation of standard controls, supports new features of the operating system, supports function expansion and secondary development, and provides an Automatic Code Generation wizard mechanism to generate programs that use less system resources, finally, we have complete code support and documentation support. You will say, use MFC! Yes, I have been using MFC, but I am getting tired of it. Outdated class libraries make it unable to support new features of the operating system (the MFC class libraries have not been updated since version 4.21, and in 1998, Windows 95 and Windows NT4 were used ), the bloated message ing mechanism and the code reserved for compatibility make the program inefficient. The comprehensive framework structure makes the generated application large and occupies too much system resources. When a simple program uses more than 200 K Dynamic Links and occupies 3%-4% of system resources, I decided to abandon MFC and look for a new class library with similar functions. I have studied a lot of similar code. It is not too simple. It cannot be used for application development, or it lacks support for code and documentation. There is a class library named "class" in codeproject. I have also studied its code. It has a basic interface framework and a simple encapsulation of controls, but it is not practical, the huge virtual function mechanism makes objects very bloated and cannot reduce resource occupation. I even created a simple class library MiniGUI, modeled on MFC, to form a basic framework solution, but finally gave up. The reason is simple: it cannot be used for application development. The interface framework of an application is complicated. There are too many things to consider. Developers cannot fight between the application and the interface framework. When I was about to despair, I met wtl. Due to work needs, we often develop some COM components. When we need to not use MFC, We Use ATL. ATL provides an object-oriented encapsulation of windows and a simple message ing mechanism. However, ATL is too simple and it is almost impossible to use it to develop applications. Many things need to be done to enable ATL to provide interface framework solutions. Fortunately, wtl has done these things. Wtl is a strange thing. It is maintained by a group of enthusiastic programmers of Microsoft, and has never appeared on Microsoft's official product list, however, you can download the latest wtl from Microsoft's official website. It does not have official documentation support. Only 0 results can be obtained by searching wtl keywords in msdn. However, there are discussion groups and email lists for wtl on development websites all over the world, any questions will be answered enthusiastically. I carefully compared the MFC and wtl, and found that there are many similarities between the two. Almost all the functions of MFC can be implemented in wtl, but the methods are different. I wrote a previously written MFC program using wtl with almost no effort. The wtl program using static links is smaller than the dynamic link MFC program, and the resource usage is only half of the MFC program. However, temporary enthusiasm cannot solve the problem of lack of documentation. Although there are many examples and instructions on the use of wtl on the internet, almost all the odd effects that can be achieved by MFC are achieved, however, they all focus on solving local problems and lack a systematic and comprehensive introduction to wtl articles. At this point, I saw Michael. in the "wtl for MFC programmers" series of articles by Michael Dunn, I feel like I was almost impatient to finish reading msdn when I first saw it in 1995, at the same time, the impulse to translate it into Chinese is also emerging. So I wrote an email to Michael, hoping to get authorization to translate his article into Chinese (in fact, I have translated two chapters before that ). After being confirmed by authorization, I found out how difficult the job was, but it was too late to stick to it. Let's talk about Michael Dun. Mike lives in the sunny Los Angeles and is favored by the weather there, making him willing to stay there all the time. He started programming at Apple/e when he was in grade 4. He graduated from ucia (University of California, Los Angeles) in 1995 and obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics. After graduation, I joined Symantec to become a quality evaluation engineer for the Norton Antivirus team. He almost taught himself windows and MFC programming. In 1999, he designed and compiled a new interface for Norton Antivirus 2000. Mike is now a developer of Pressplay (who soon became Napster. He recently developed an IE Plug-In named ultrabar to easily implement tedious network search functions. He also partnered with others to create a software development company, zabersoft, which has offices in Los Angeles and Odense (Denmark. Mike enjoys playing fl and cycling, and occasionally PlayStation. He has always insisted on learning French, official Chinese and Japanese. In addition, it should be noted that I translated the "wtl for MFC programmers" series of articles not for any benefit, but to provide some new ideas for everyone. If you are a strong defender of MFC, you can stop here. It is a waste of time (I hope you can hold on to the previous paragraphs and do not vomit ). If you are a programmer passionate about alternative things, you can't help but study wtl. It is really a treasure. Finally, I used my friend's comments on my translation articles to end the preface to the Chinese version of "wtl for MFC programmers": the translation level is as bad as the mouse you use! Orbit (inte2000@163.com) August 17, 2003
