Before You Start

To start using this guide, you need the following:

Experience using Windows and an understanding of the Windows user interface.

Before starting any Windows application development, you should install Windows version 3.1 on your computer and learn how to use it. Be sure to learn the names, purposes, and operation of the various parts of a Windows application (such as windows, dialog boxes, menus, controls, and scroll bars). Because your Windows applications will incorporate these features, it is important for you to understand them so that you can implement them properly.

An understanding of the Windows user-interface style guidelines.

One goal of Microsoft Windows is to provide a common user interface for all applications. This ultimately helps your application's user by reducing the effort required to learn the user interface of a Windows application; it helps you, the programmer, by clarifying the choices you have to make when designing an interface.

Experience writing C-language applications and using the standard C run-time functions.

The C programming language is the preferred development language for Windows applications. (Although you can develop Windows applications in Pascal and assembly language, these languages present additional challenges that you typically bypass when writing applications in the C language.)