Home > Articles

Writing a Simple C++ .NET Program

This chapter is from the book

Hour 3: Writing a Simple C++ .NET Program

Inevitably every programming book and programming course has you create as your first application—a simple "Hello World" program. Therefore, this hour's lesson is dedicated to writing your first simple application with Visual C++ .NET.

The difference is, this lesson already assumes you know how to create a simple application and are at least somewhat experienced with the previous version of Visual C++. With that assumption, the lesson will take you through creating two applications: one with MFC and one using the .NET Framework. This allows you to compare the two methods of programming Windows applications with Visual C++ .NET.

In this hour you will learn:

  • How to build a simple application with MFC

  • How to build a managed application with the .NET Framework

  • How to study and understand the differences between the two types of applications

Building an MFC Application

Building an MFC application with Visual Studio .NET is very similar to the way it was done with previous versions of Visual Studio. The Application Wizard is available to allow you to customize your settings, although it has a different look.

As usual with Visual Studio, first select the New, Project menu option to display the New Project dialog, as shown in Figure 3.1. Select the MFC application type and name the application HelloMFC.

Figure 3.1 New Project Window in Visual Studio .NET for an MFC application.

Pressing the OK button in the New Project dialog brings up the MFC Application Wizard, shown in Figure 3.2. This wizard is no longer a linear process; you can now select the different sections on the left side of the wizard page and directly access the settings you want to change. The differences between this and the Application Wizard for MFC applications in the previous version of Visual Studio are mainly visual and navigational.

Select the Application Type section in the wizard and change the settings to match those shown in Figure 3.3. These selections will result in creating a dialog-based application when you click the Finish button.

The first thing you will see after dismissing the settings dialog is the dialog editor. If your dialog requires any controls, you can easily select them from the toolbox displayed on the left. For this project, however, we are just going to change the controls that are already present.

Figure 3.2 The MFC Application Wizard.

Figure 3.3 Dialog-based application settings for the HelloMFC application.

First of all, select the button labeled OK. On the right side of the IDE, you should see a window titled Properties. This is a departure from the old way of doing things in Visual C++, which required editing properties through small tool windows. Properties are now categorized and always displayed without having to select a menu item or click a toolbar button. Change the property value labeled Caption to Message by typing the new value in and pressing Enter. You should see the text on the button change as you do this.

Now you need to change the control ID of the static text control. Select the static text control located in the middle of the dialog in the dialog editor and change the ID property to the value IDC_MESSAGE.

Figure 3.4 HelloMFC dialog template.

Assign a member variable to the static text control by right-clicking the control and selecting Add Variable from the context menu. The Add Member Variable Wizard, shown in Figure 3.5, is displayed. Edit the member variable properties, as shown, and finish the wizard.

Figure 3.5 The Add Member Variable Wizard for the MFC application.

One final step in the dialog editor is to double-click the Message button to add a handler for when the button is clicked. This is a nice new feature added to Visual Studio .NET. When you double-click objects within the dialog editor and other form editors, the most appropriate message map entry and method definition is added to your application. In this case, the ON_BN_CLICKED message map entry and the CHelloMFCDlg::OnBnClickedOK() method are added. Because this button is the OK button, you could have overridden the OnOK() method to handle the selection; however, this method works for all buttons and other control types.

Change the OnBnClickedOK() method to what is shown in the following code to set the message text to a message:

void CHelloMFCDlg::OnBnClickedOk()
{
  m_MessageST.SetWindowText("Hello from the world of MFC.");
}

Compile and run the HelloMFC application by selecting the Debug, Start menu item from the menu bar or by pressing the F5 key. Clicking the Message button within the application displays your message, as shown in Figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6 Executing the HelloMFC application.

If you are already familiar with building MFC applications in previous versions of Visual Studio, the HelloMFC application should have been simple for you to create within Visual Studio .NET. What you've created, however, is an unmanaged C++ project. This application has nothing to do with .NET and, as such, does not run within the .NET runtime. Any memory allocation, versioning issues, and other things that benefit .NET applications will have to be done manually using this type of project. To run in the .NET runtime, you need a managed C++ application.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020