I would like to develop GUI Windows Applications (not Console, but Forms and Buttons) with C++ on Windows without using .NET. At the moment I am using “Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 C++ Express” and as you know it contains no “Form Editor” or RAD Tool for forms and buttons. What free tool I would use, which has such options? Assuming I’m having no money for Borland or Books and my knowledge is not very big (just started yet), where I would find free information and free tools to code Windows GUI Applications?
I found Code::Blocks, but it’s for a newbie a very complicated free IDE with possibly some bugs and it contains a compiler which wasn’t even able to start a two-liner example console application without being previously right configured, so I gave up on it (it was said that it can easily build a GUI).
I found wxWidgets, installed it, installed it even with the use of the Windows Installer WxPack, but couldn’t get it working and found no working example codes or instructions to make it work.
I didn’t understand why wxWidgets needs any “Sizers” to design a simple form, I downloaded the wxFormDesigner, but it wouldn’t compile anyway.
I do not need “wxWidgets’s” crossplattform feature, because I plan to code ONLY for windows.
wxWidgets seems to complicated to setup for a beginner and even the design is very unclear to handle, I don’t know what “sizers” this wxWidgets always mourning about.
So I wonder if someone knows something better, something ready to use with C++ – SETUP and GO!
Any IDE with integrated RAD Editor and event handling (C# alike, but not .NET).
I answer now myself (since this topic got anyway closed):
The best commercial C++ RAD Tool with non-buggy Windows Compiler is: Embarcadero C++ RAD Builder.
The best freeware C++ RAD Tool with non-buggy Windows Compiler is: Ultimate++. It compiles
the framework within the C++ executable (no external DLL’s and Setups needed), synthax is
self-explaining, no bugs, fast, small executable size and a RAD editor exists also.
Ultimate++ uses also QT, but it compiles it inside.
As for QT itself: Yes there exists also a very good hidden Setup for Windows, but it has
dependencies and is not easy to use for a beginner.
What for a full new framework QT with dependencies which is not ready to use.
Qt can probably be the choice for you.