| Microsoft DirectX 7 gives you the APIs you need to create cutting-edge Windows 3D games and simulations using C or C++. With helpful tutorials, plenty of illustrations, and a minimum of math, this unique guide shows you how to master these APIs and take your graphics programming to the next level, whether you're an animation beginner or a veteran game developer.
In this book we approach Windows programming at its most basic level, that is, using the Windows
Application Programming Interface (API). We do not use the Microsoft Foundation Class Library
(MFC) or other wrapper functions that are furnished as part of commercial development
environments. Microsoft's MFC is an object-oriented framework that encapsulates many of the
functions in the API. It is intended for use with Developer's Studio App Wizard, which facilitates
creating a program skeleton for a Windows application. But the MFC interface introduces a
processing overhead that slows down execution and limits program functionality. Graphics
programs in general, and 3D applications in particular, cannot afford this overhead. Furthermore,
DirectX provides no special support for MFC; therefore, its use offers no advantages to the
graphics programmer.
Please note that although we do not use the wrapper functions of the MFC, we do rely heavily on
the other tools that are part of the Visual C++ development package. These include resource
editors for creating menus, dialog boxes, icons, bitmaps, and other standard program components.
There are no advantages to hand-coding these program elements. |
