Windows Programming

Question

Hello,
recently, i began to read about windows programming, and i thought i could start with
.NET since it is the "FUTURE"
but as i happen to figure out, it is just like a fancy wrapper around COM, COM+, AUTOMATION
and the rest of MICROSOFT technologies, so i wanna know if it is essential for any microsoft developer to get aquainted with these techs,
i would also appreciate someone mentioning a some good books on the subjects ..
thanx,
AB

Answer 1

Your statement: it is just like a fancy wrapper around COM, COM+, AUTOMATION and the rest of MICROSOFT technologies is incorrect. I would suggest starting with a very beginner book on .NET to get you going in the right direction and learn what it is and why it is. There are lots of books available. If you currently have some technical background, there is likely a book on how to transition to .NET from where ever you are.

Microsoft has a lot of free tools to help: Microsoft Express Home.

Answer 2

.Net is a wrapper around the underlying c API, especially all the drawing stuff is just thinly wrapped GDI calls.

WPF is a totally new generation but seems to be slowly being abandoned, at least in the non-silverlight version

Answer 3

Martin's got the right idea. GUI programming with WPF does seem to be going out the window for the more stylish and customizable Silverlight approach. If you are interested in Microsoft Technologies, I would certainly say that the core language of C# itself is very good to know, and the object oriented paradigm should be well known as well.

TL;DR Your best bet is to learn the core C# language, and then expand upon that, learning the Silverlight API. To be honest, given that WPF and Silverlight were both developed for the same programming language by the same company, you can rest assured that there are vast similarities. If you have the time, you may as well look into WPF as well. I do not know the differences well enough to tell you what to look out for. Good luck!