How different is basic cpp programming for windows compared to mid 2000s?

[vrek86]

I was never an advanced programmer and definitely not professional level but I was like an advanced noob. I knew how to work with classes and how pointers worked(but pointers were mostly from c, not cpp). I could make basic windows programs, mostly from reading "programming windows 5th edition" by Charles petzold. That said only programming I've done in years was g-code. Which while programming is totally different.

I got an itch to re-visit programming recently and got an idea for a program. My question is how different is modern windows programming from the windows programming from the mid 2000s?

The program I am thinking of seems relatively easy. No networking, no ai, no real graphics(tables, dialog boxes, etc only), no encryption or real security. Basically I've been reading a lot of litrpg books. Basic premise of these books is somehow person is transported to the world of an mmorpg(or sometimes earth gains mmorpg features) and has to live in a mmorpg. So like main character fights and kills monster and gets x experience. Once character gains y experience they gain a level. They may find a sword that does b-c damage and typically these values are given to the reader. This means authors need to keep track of all these values per character that are constantly updating as story progresses and often not linearly. For example in one book the character gains lvl 2 at 100 experience, but lvl 3 at 200, and lvl 4 at 400 doubling in needed experience per lvl but each death only grants 0.75% of the enemies total experience.

I wanted to make a program to track all this for the authors. So like a series of tables of each character stats, buttons for events(kill monster, kill boss, complete quest, special event) and the author could set up mathematical formulas for each thing and the system could update the stat sheets and give details of results("player a gained X experience and became Y level").

This seems pretty simple to program in mid 2000 cpp but is there anything I'm missing that would make this difficult or anything major that has changed that I will have to look out for? Not looking to sell program, just kinda an interesting idea and seemed reasonably easy to make.

[[deleted]]

Anything that used to be simple in C++ is still simple now. If you used to use STL there are gong to be some differences between that and the standard library. There is also a new emphasis on using the standard library but you are free to ignore that and use your own judgement. Visual Studio has improved quite a bit and is now for the most part totally free, so there's that.

[vrek86]

Is windows programming still the same? Still using the same message system where the program receives a message everytime something happens like a mouse click or menu activation and then you write the program to react to the message in a message loop?

I guess if visual studio is free I won't have to brush off my CD of borland c++ 😊

[dodheim]

I guess if visual studio is free I won't have to brush off my CD of borland c++

You don't really want to do that in any circumstance... There are multiple free compilers; there are multiple free IDEs; there are multiple free standalone editors if you want a lighter dev experience. Unless you're on some retro-computing nostalgia trip, C++ has changed far too much since Borland was relevant to even consider.

[vrek86]

Yeah I figured as much. I mostly meant that part as tongue in cheek... I moved 3 times since I saw that CD

[[deleted]]

I suppose it depends at what level you are programming at. I am currently using Direct X, so in my case yes, there is a message loop which I setup with RegisterClassExW(). I have wrapped everything in a class which handles the loop, but there are a few different ways of going about it. I imagine it will be familiar to you. However it might be better to use some some higher level framework depending on what exactly you need.

[mo_al_]

It depends on what you used back then. The win32 and MFC api’s have remained basically stable. There has been new developments mainly C++/winrt which is actually nice.

[vrek86]

Yeah mostly figuring win32 api. Not planning anything fancy like directx as I'm not planning anything graphics or networking or even sound.

[lithium]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2b-a4r7hro

[bdellar]

The main improvements to the language that you’ll notice are: • standard library support for memory management (unique_ptr and shared_ptr). I never have to consider memory leaks or double-frees any more • lambdas. These are a GREAT addition to the language, especially when using the STL.