hi all...
i want to start programming windows apps in C++ but I am unsure what to learn to do this...should I learn Win32 first then .NET or skip straight to .NET?
also, if Win32 is the way to go, what books can I get to learn from? and is a book on Win32 published in 2001 out of date, or would it be ok to learn from?
thankses!
For games, my advice would be don't touch .NET - you're always going to want speed, and currently using C++ is the sweet spot on the ease-of-use/performance curve - it used to be assembly, it'll probably move away from C++ in 5-10 years, but the pragmatic choice is currently C++ - no pun intended [;)] I'd also suggest that you avoid MFC for games if at all possible too.
There's very little platform dependent (ie win32 specific) code required to write a game, typically it's just open a window, set up whatever 3D API you're using, and grab messages from the OS.
A book published in 2001 should be fine - you might also like to install the M$ Platform SDK from:
http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/
It has a very extensive reference library.