mhorne@hss.pdx.com (Mike Horne) (09/07/90)
I'm planning on writing an application under DOS that is very user-interactive. I'd like to use a windowing interface, so MS Windows 3.0 comes to mind. I have some *very* basic questions that I'm hoping some kind soul can answer: - Is there a decent (commercial) developers package available for Windows 3.0? If so, where can I obtain it and how much is it? - How well does Windows 3.0 perform on, say, a 16 MHz 386? I'm mainly concerned about graphics performance for things like graphing, bitmaps, etc. - What is the maximum amount of memory a Windows 3.0 application can allocate from the system? My application will typically be memory hungry. - I'm looking for a *good* book on programming under Windows 3.0. Is there a bible out yet? If not, what's the next best thing? I know these are really basic questions, but I haven't been monitoring this newsgroup and I haven't had the time to dig around through the rags. Please email all comments so that we don't clutter up the newsgroup. Thanks in advance for any and all information!!! Mike Horne mhorne%hss.pdx.com@uunet.uu.net ...uunet!mhorne%hss.pdx.com (503) 649-8957
spolsky-joel@cs.yale.edu (Joel Spolsky) (09/08/90)
In article <8639@orca.wv.tek.com> mhorne%hss.pdx.com@uunet.uu.net writes: > - Is there a decent (commercial) developers package available for > Windows 3.0? If so, where can I obtain it and how much is it? The Microsoft Software Development Kit is pretty much a must; it is $500 list (about $350 from mail order shops). Make sure you get version 3.0! You will also need Microsoft C. It IS possible to use other C compilers by begging Microsoft for their object file compatability disk. This does not include Turbo C. > - How well does Windows 3.0 perform on, say, a 16 MHz 386? I'm > mainly concerned about graphics performance for things like > graphing, bitmaps, etc. Performance is fine. It will never be as fast as programs that just grab the video screen and do low-level writes, but for most uses performance is just fine. On my 386SX screen writes are very fast, not even sluggish at all. On a 286 stuff is slightly sluggish but very useable. > - What is the maximum amount of memory a Windows 3.0 application > can allocate from the system? My application will typically be > memory hungry. On a 386, about 16 Megabytes, if you have the hard disk space available. On a 286, you are limited to RAM. On an 8088, about 5K. :-) > - I'm looking for a *good* book on programming under Windows 3.0. > Is there a bible out yet? If not, what's the next best thing? The manuals that come with the SDK are the best source out so far. You can buy all the manuals for the SDK at any bookstore that carries Microsoft Press books. Real Soon Now Microsoft Press will also have the 3.0 version of Petzold's "Programming Windows" which was the classic Win/286 windows bible; this promises to be a good buy, especially since Petzold has access to inside info about undocumented but cool functions... Joel Spolsky spolsky@cs.yale.edu Talk Hard.
strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) (09/09/90)
spolsky-joel@cs.yale.edu (Joel Spolsky) writes: >In article <8639@orca.wv.tek.com> mhorne%hss.pdx.com@uunet.uu.net writes: >> - Is there a decent (commercial) developers package available for >> Windows 3.0? If so, where can I obtain it and how much is it? >The Microsoft Software Development Kit is pretty much a must; it is >$500 list (about $350 from mail order shops). Make sure you get >version 3.0! You will also need Microsoft C. It IS possible to use >other C compilers by begging Microsoft for their object file >compatability disk. This does not include Turbo C. I am not quite sure that I understand this. I am using Zortech C++ 2.1 for some time now to create Windows programs which run under Windows 2 and 3, using the 2.1 SDK (the 3.0 SDK hasn't arrived here, yet). I have never heard about an "object file compatibility disk". I simply use the LINK4 from the SDK or some of the OS/2 linkers instead of the BLINK from Zortech and, of course, the SDK libraries. So, please tell me, what is the purpose of this object file compatibility disk? Wolfgang Strobl #include <std.disclaimer.hpp>
spolsky-joel@cs.yale.edu (Joel Spolsky) (09/09/90)
In article <3319@gmdzi.UUCP> strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) writes: > >I have never heard about an "object file compatibility disk". I simply >use the LINK4 from the SDK or some of the OS/2 linkers instead of >the BLINK from Zortech and, of course, the SDK libraries. So, please >tell me, what is the purpose of this object file compatibility disk? > yah, because Zortech has specifically designed their compiler to (1) generate Windows function headers/footers, and (2) generate MSC-compatible OBJ files. The object file compatibility disk is used for more silly compilers that don't do this. I don't really know much more about it so please call your local Microsoft Rep and bug them if you need more details! Joel Spolsky spolsky@cs.yale.edu Talk Hard.