Tutorial 23

An Introduction to MS Windows Software Development

Linda R. Jacobson, Jacobson, Myers and Associates, Inc.

Monday, May 8

Objective

Participants will learn (1) basic concepts of Miscrosoft Windows programming, including event-driven programming, user-defined control flow, and screen features (e.g., menus, lists, edit fields, pushbuttons), (2) how to implement the concepts in Windows, (3) classes of tools that make implementing the basic concepts easier, (4) to evaluate the trade-offs involved in choosing an appropriate tool, and (5) the scope of and approach to a Windows project.

Content

This tutorial covers the basic concepts of MS Windows software development. These concepts include event-driven programming, message routing and message handling, and screen management issues. The tutorial provides an overview of the Windows Software Development Kit and how it is used to handle menu selections, paint the screen, and display, update, and read dialog boxes. The tutorial is divided into three sections. The first section discusses issues involved in implementing GUIs and their impacts on designing software. The second section analyzes a sample Windows program. The third section discusses classes of tools: what they are, what they accomplish, and how one selects an appropriate tool. Several scenarios are examined to demonstrate the trade-offs involved.

Audience

This intermediate-level tutorial is intended primarily for C programmers, although a knowledge of C programming is assumed only for section two. In the past, human factors experts with no C programming expertise have found this tutorial worthwhile.

Presentation

Lecture

Instructor

Linda R. Jacobson is president of Jacobson, Myers and Associates, Inc., a company that provides courses and consulting in MS Windows development and Visual C++. She has 20 years of software development experience, the last 5 in MS Windows development.

Keith Instone / instone@acm.org / 95-01-05