   Windows programming (gui for chat program)
  Hi guys, i'm planning on building a chat program, but i need help. I can do it all in a console program, and i'm familiar with directx. But how do i create a windowed program and out put data to it. E.g. tables and menus, i hope i made myself clear.P.S. i program in c++ and i know how to create a Windows window.Any and all help welcome.JamesCobras   
  Doing this sort of thing with just the Windows API is rather difficult and tedious, and isn't something I could explain in a forum post.  Most applications with non-trivial GUI's will use some sort of framework rather than using the API directly.  In the olden days MFC was popular for this purpose, but has been almost totally superseded by the WinForms functionality in the .NET Framework.  You might want to consider using that, or a C++ based framework like wxWidgets or Qt.   ;  I will second the framework motion. I have recently been working on a chat program as well and I did the interface in wxWidgets. It can be a pain to set up/get working properly but it is fairly easy to use with pretty good documentation.   ;  If you are a beginner that really wants learn windows programming, grab the Charles Petzold book and do it from scratch. It may be tedious as a poster said, but only the first time. Once you create your own win32 framework you will feel powerful.   ;Quote:Original post by hiigaraIf you are a beginner that really wants learn windows programming, grab the Charles Petzold book and do it from scratch. It may be tedious as a poster said, but only the first time. Once you create your own win32 framework you will feel powerful.Which Petzold book? I am looking on Amazon, but he has quite a few.;  I like to use FLTK for small GUI projects   ;Quote:Original post by In_Yack_ModeQuote:Original post by hiigaraIf you are a beginner that really wants learn windows programming, grab the Charles Petzold book and do it from scratch. It may be tedious as a poster said, but only the first time. Once you create your own win32 framework you will feel powerful.Which Petzold book? I am looking on Amazon, but he has quite a few.Programming Windows®, Fifth Edition would probably be the most appropriate if you want to learn the Win32 API as suggested by hiigara.Edit: the first link I gave is apparently to the hardcover edition, here is the paperback version.   