Future of VC++

[wizman]

Hi wiz community!

The question is whether VC++ is going to remain popular afterall. I have been developing in VC++ for about 3.5 years. I mean I feel like going ahead towards ASP and Java. Future apps look like being intranet or internet. What future does MFC hold in this direction? What do you guys think? As far as making COM components are concerned, in the general MIS applications even with DNA architecture using MTS, I feel VB components are very easy and quick to develop. These components generally do querying of the database so VC looks like an overdrive for these operations. Am I just depressed or is it soon going to be a reality?

[Tom Archer]

>>>
The question is whether VC++ is going to remain popular afterall. I have been developing in VC++ for about 3.5 years. I mean I feel like going ahead towards ASP and Java.
<<<
Make the move!! I can't stress this enough. Our VC++ skills will definitely be needed. However, thin clients using ASP, components and script are going to be a definite plus on your resume.

>>>
Future apps look like being intranet or internet. What future does MFC hold in this direction?
<<<
There are still tons of companies out there that are scared to death of the Internet because of ill-founded security concerns. However, as mentioned above, adding these skills to your resume is only going to make you that much more marketable.

The only thing I"ll add here is that if you are going to learn how to develop server-side COM+ components as well as work with MTS and MSMQ, concentrate on ATL and not MFC. The writing is on the wall regarding MFC which hasn't had a major upgrade in several years. Each of the past couple of VC releases has concentrated on the compiler, ATL support and now COM+ support.

>>>
As far as making COM components are concerned, in the general MIS applications even with DNA architecture using MTS, I feel VB components are very easy and quick to develop. These components generally do querying of the database so VC looks like an overdrive for these operations. Am I just depressed or is it soon going to be a reality?
<<<
Yes. However, most companies are going to use ATL to create the server-side components that deal with things such as database and communications. Don't get me wrong, some companies will use VB to create "rich clients". Therefore, I would at least become familiar enough to know my way around VB and how to use COM components from VB. However, being a VC developer, you're pay is going to be much higher if you concentrate on the COM+, MTS, MSMQ, ADSI side of things.

Cheers,
Tom Archer
Web Master - CodeGuru

[Randy H. Johnson]

Ok, be patient with me, I am new, I am so green that you could mistake me for a leaf. What is ATL?

[Masaaki]

Hi,

ATL means Active Template library and this file has dll extention.
ATL creates ActiveX control, and now Microsoft has two different
ActiveX control like ocx and dll extention.

Since Microsoft develops ActiveX control to target web site, but
ocx is rather huge file than Java applet. So, Microsoft adds dll
extention file by ATL to create light ActiveX control downloading
faster.

ATL is also avaliable for the application by Visual C++ like
the control.

But, writing ATL is a different code to MFC, and Sun Java is more efficient language than MFC and ATL.

Anyway, use the search of CD-ROM by MSDN Library.

Reads.
-Masaaki Onishi-

[theking]

So do you not think that good 'ole fashion programs are not going to be a reality soon?

So what you are predicting is that all apps are oging to be web- oriented or ActiveX oriented etc?

What are your thoughts about BCB (Borland's) I hear it is superior to MFC and VC++. Will your prediction apply to BCB too?

Im not a MFC veteran, but I cant imagine a world with no "software" in the traditional sense...

Tell me if Im wrong ...?

[Tom Archer]

>>>
So do you not think that good 'ole fashion programs are not going to be a reality soon?
<<<
Since I don't know what you mean by "good 'ole fashion [sic]" programs, that's difficult to answer. If you mean Win32 SDK development, then your options are going to be fewer and fewer as the years go by and companies realize that the cost of not using some sort of RAD tool or framework is prohibitively expensive. If you mean VC++/MFC, there are going to be jobs for quite some time for us.

>>>
So what you are predicting is that all apps are oging to be web- oriented or ActiveX oriented etc?
<<<
No. What I'm saying is that if you add those skills to your resume, you are going to make yourself much more marketable and be able to land the better paying gigs more easily.

>>>
What are your thoughts about BCB (Borland's) I hear it is superior to MFC and VC++. Will your prediction apply to BCB too?
<<<
No idea. Never used it. I started programming on PCs with OS/2 and realized three facts very quickly: 1) Microsoft does NOT make the best development tools, 2) Microsoft does make the rules (due to an unreal marketing arm), 3) because of #2, I can make much more money sticking with Microsoft tools.

Concering how difficult MS tools are to use: As a friend once told me, the harder Microsoft makes it, the better I eat. In other words, if it was easy, we wouldn't make as much.

>>>
Im not a MFC veteran, but I cant imagine a world with no "software" in the traditional sense...

Tell me if Im wrong ...?
<<<
I agree with you. VC++/MFC will be around for a very long time. More and more shops will turn to things like ATL, Java-based systems and DNA-based systems, but that will take many years. However, the point is that with Microsoft behind DNA, it WILL BE the standard. The only question is when. Remember a few years ago when people said, "Why should I learn COM/OLE?". Well those that didn't are finding it more difficult to work with a lot of Microsoft tools and features whereas the ones that did are landing the higher paying gigs.

Just my 0.02...


Cheers,
Tom Archer
Web Master - CodeGuru

[theking]

thanks for the keen insight

I am a soon to be electrical engineer, and I always have trouble laerning new tech. (since my degree almost all theory, no real hands-on)

Chose to use BCB, but realised as you said MS was the leader, like it or not.
Just started into the world of MFC and VC++, and now I see that that is old-hat! :)
darn. At a dead-end. Dont know what to learn next.

Excuse me from being the ignorant fool, its just hard to imagine a world of sleek little components, and behind the scenes transactions on the web. its gonna be hard to let go of the traditional "software" concept (install locally etc)

Ill take your advice and try my hand at ATL. Is that essentially what you recommend

thanks again

[Tom Archer]

Yes. If I was helping someone just beginning their career, I'd start them out with ATL/COM/COM+ and then into distributed applications uses MTS, MSMQ. These technologies are still so new that if you learn them well, you can really impress some people on interviews and land the better paying jobs.

Cheers,
Tom Archer
Web Master - CodeGuru

[theking]

thanks again

off to the bookstore for a ATL book! :)

Cheers

[SeattleBound]

Tom,
Through some articles I have read on the advancements of COM+, as well as some books I have scanned, it looks like a lot of things learned in COM change in COM+. COM+ hides some things and deprecates QueryInterface for example. (?)

My memory is foggy, so this may not be the case, but the question is: Is it worthwhile to invest your time in learning the internals of ATL? My guess is that MS will be coming with out another version of ATL which might change what you have learned in the past.
What do you think about the necessity of learning COM, as opposed to reading a specifcally COM+ book?
Your posts are very informative, look forward to your response

[StuTheDog]

Thanks for the input Tom. You rationale for staying strictly with MS makes sense from the POV of a contractor/developer, but what about from the POV of the architect? What are your opinions regarding Java + XML + C++/ISAPI? CORBA? Alternative ORBs to MTS? I agree that if developing in VB MTS is a natural but with the advent of COM+ isn't MTS going by the wayside? Your thoughts please!

Stu