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| | 4 | <TITLE>How to learn wxWindows programming</TITLE> |
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| | 17 | How to learn wxWindows programming |
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| | 22 | |
| | 23 | <P> |
| | 24 | |
| | 25 | The following is a response by Edward Ream to a common question, |
| | 26 | "What's the best way to learn wxWindows [and C++]?".<P> |
| | 27 | |
| | 28 | Date: Sun, 04 Jun 2000 14:37:06 -0500<BR> |
| | 29 | From: "Edward K. Ream" <edream@tds.net> <BR> |
| | 30 | To: wx-users@wxwindows.org<BR> |
| | 31 | Subject: Re: [wx-users] How to learn using wx-windows <BR> |
| | 32 | Reply-To: wx-users@wxwindows.org<P> |
| | 33 | |
| | 34 | > Reading the Linux Journal article on wxpython, and having used wxclips<BR> |
| | 35 | > I got interested in wxwindows as a development interface. However, the<BR> |
| | 36 | > programming experience I got is old, and from a former generation (For-<BR> |
| | 37 | > tran). I'd like to refresh my experience and start in C++. Will<BR> |
| | 38 | > wx-windows be a very high step to take?<P> |
| | 39 | |
| | 40 | I'm new to wxWindows myself, but I'd like to answer this question |
| | 41 | anyway. In the past two years I've learned two similar frameworks |
| | 42 | (Apple's Yellow Box, aka NextStep/OpenStep and Borland's C++ |
| | 43 | Builder/Delphi) and last year I became a C++ enthusiast after 20 years |
| | 44 | of using C.<P> |
| | 45 | |
| | 46 | <B>About C++.</B><P> |
| | 47 | |
| | 48 | The major Aha for me was that the complexity of C++ doesn't matter in |
| | 49 | practice. What _does_ matter is that C++ allows you to do simple things |
| | 50 | simply, more simply than C. With a system like wxWindows you will be |
| | 51 | creating objects and then using those objects to call methods. So don't |
| | 52 | be afraid of C++: you'll only be using the easy tip of the |
| | 53 | iceberg.<P> |
| | 54 | |
| | 55 | Besides the C++ Programming Language, by Bjarne Stroustrup, the |
| | 56 | "official" guide to C++, I highly recommend Inside the C++ Object Model, |
| | 57 | by Stanley B. Lippman. (Lipmann was one of the C++ honchos at Bell |
| | 58 | Labs.) This book will tell you what _not_ to do, as well as why |
| | 59 | everything in C++ is as it is. If you are confused by anything in C++, |
| | 60 | Lippman's book is the cure.<P> |
| | 61 | |
| | 62 | <B>About applications frameworks.</B><P> |
| | 63 | |
| | 64 | Application frameworks such as wxWindows are organized around a set of |
| | 65 | cooperating classes. Take a look at the main application class, wxApp, |
| | 66 | some frame and panel classes, graphics classes, menu classes, control |
| | 67 | classes, etc. In general, to do anything in a framework involves |
| | 68 | creating an object of the specified type, then doing something with that |
| | 69 | object.<P> |
| | 70 | |
| | 71 | For example, suppose you want to create a menu bar. A menu bar is |
| | 72 | composed of a single menu bar object of type(class) wxMenuBar that |
| | 73 | contains menu objects of type wxMenu. Each menu object contains menu |
| | 74 | item objects of type wxMenuItem. So you create the menu bar object, |
| | 75 | then create all the menu objects (creating the menu item objects along |
| | 76 | the way) and finally "attach" the menu objects to the menu bar object |
| | 77 | using a call to the wxMenuBar::Append method.<P> |
| | 78 | |
| | 79 | As an overview I would look at the "Alphabetical class reference" |
| | 80 | section of the reference manual. I find the HTML version to be the |
| | 81 | easiest to use: you can browse very quickly through it. Here's how to |
| | 82 | read this (very large) reference:<P> |
| | 83 | |
| | 84 | <ol> |
| | 85 | <li>Get an overview of the kinds of classes involved. The class names |
| | 86 | will tell you a lot about what each class does. Open some of the |
| | 87 | classes, in particular, wxApp (the main application object), wxFrame, |
| | 88 | wxControl (the base class for all controls) and one or two controls, |
| | 89 | like wxButton. |
| | 90 | |
| | 91 | <li>When scanning a class for the first several times, read the |
| | 92 | introductory remarks and quickly scan the list of methods of the class |
| | 93 | to get a general idea about what kinds of operations can be done to |
| | 94 | objects of the class. You are not looking for detail at this stage, |
| | 95 | just for the big picture. In particular, what classes exist and how do |
| | 96 | they work together. |
| | 97 | |
| | 98 | <li>Pay particular attention to the classes from which a class is |
| | 99 | derived. For example, a button (an object of type wxButton) is derived |
| | 100 | from the wxControl, wxWindow, wxEvtHandler and wxObject classes. What |
| | 101 | does this mean? It means that a button _is_ a control, and a button |
| | 102 | _is_ a window, and a button _is_ an event handler and a button _is_ an |
| | 103 | object. So you must understand the parent classes of an object to |
| | 104 | understand the object itself. |
| | 105 | |
| | 106 | For example, if b is a button you can invoke b.m for any of method m of |
| | 107 | the wxControl, wxWindow, wxEvtHandler or wxObject classes. You are not |
| | 108 | limited to just the methods of wxButton! This is one of the keys of |
| | 109 | object oriented programming. |
| | 110 | </ol> |
| | 111 | |
| | 112 | Some other tips:<P> |
| | 113 | |
| | 114 | Read some sample code. You will find that almost none of the C++ |
| | 115 | language is actually being used; it's just endlessly creating objects |
| | 116 | and then calling methods using those objects.<P> |
| | 117 | |
| | 118 | Learn as much as you can about the String class; after using a good |
| | 119 | String class you'll never want to use C's string functions again. |
| | 120 | wxWindows contains other nifty utilty classes as well.<P> |
| | 121 | |
| | 122 | The application class, wxApp, contains the main event loop. Learn about |
| | 123 | event handling and event tables (reading sample code will help). Almost |
| | 124 | everything in this kind of application framework happens as the result |
| | 125 | of an event and your app is essentially doing nothing but responding to |
| | 126 | events. Having the event loop written for you is a major, major |
| | 127 | benefit.<P> |
| | 128 | |
| | 129 | I hope this helps. Perhaps we can work together in learning about |
| | 130 | wxWindows. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. If |
| | 131 | I've made any blunders in this posting I hope the wxWindows experts will |
| | 132 | correct me gently.<P> |
| | 133 | |
| | 134 | Edward<BR> |
| | 135 | --------------------------------------------------------------------<BR> |
| | 136 | Edward K. Ream email: edream@tds.net<BR> |
| | 137 | Leo: Literate Editor with Outlines<BR> |
| | 138 | Leo: http://personalpages.tds.net/~edream/front.html<BR> |
| | 139 | --------------------------------------------------------------------<P> |
| | 140 | |
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