   creating a window
  On www.directxtutorial.com there is a tutorial on win32 basics for creating a window  but then i went onto msdn and it says i can use something in directx called DXUT . whats the difference? Is it like optional you can choose one or the other?   
  The web site is showing you how to "make pancakes from scratch", so to speak.Using DXUT is like using pancake mix instead.They both have the same desired end result, a nice stack of steaming fresh pancakes.  One of them provides the ingredients already mixed in the proper proportions.If you look at the source for DXUT, which is in the SDK, you will find that it does the same stuff as the tutorial: it calls CreateWindow{,Ex}, it has a message pump that handle windows messages, etc.Its probably instructive to go through making it from scratch at least once.  Then when you use a toolkit on top of raw Win32, such as WTL/ATL, MFC, DXUT, etc., you have a feeling for what the toolkit is doing.In Chapter 2. Direct3D of my book, I show a "minimal" Direct3D application, but I wrote all the samples for my book using the "old" framework ("D3DFrame").I personally don't like the DXUT framework that's shipped with the current DirectX SDK, because it feels like a giant step backwards as everything is done with global functions and global variables.  It feels like coding C again :-(.I did extract a simplified version of D3DFrame as its own project wizard that can be installed, but I haven't updated it for VS.NET 2005 yet on my web site.  They also stopped making a VS.NET project wizard with DXUT and instead made an error-prone immitation of a project wizard that just copies files and does some limited name substitution on the project (and this name substitution can introduce compile errors, great).   ;  The "plumbing" of writing your own window management - creating, message loop etc... is a necessary evil to understand. But there are better things to spend your time coding, especially when you can get it as "ready-made pancake mix" [smile]If you plan on integrating D3D into any other "normal" Windows applications then you'll almost certainly be throwing out DXUT and rolling your own. Otherwise DXUT is absolutely fine - I use it for all my code.Quote:does some limited name substitution on the project (and this name substitution can introduce compile errors, great)Care to elaborate? I can see how this might happen, but I've yet to cause the "install project" feature to break the code it 'generates'...Jack   ;Quote:Original post by jollyjeffersQuote:does some limited name substitution on the project (and this name substitution can introduce compile errors, great)Care to elaborate? I can see how this might happen, but I've yet to cause the "install project" feature to break the code it 'generates'...I don't recall the specifics, but its because it does stupid text substitution into a template.  Its another classic case of how they introduce something in the SDK (project wizard) and then later they replace it with something inferior (blind copy of project files with limited string substitution).   