Well, you have to admit that developing software in today's market is anything but boring. New languages, changes in compiler technology, changes in design philosophy, and other industry trends are making the developer's job more challenging than ever.
However, you've already taken a significant step towards keeping pace with these changes by selecting Borland C++ as your development tool. And we're going to help you make the most of that investment.
Each month we'll tackle the hot topics that you face when you program with Borland C++. Whether you're a beginner moving from Turbo C++, an experienced C programmer making the C++ transition, or a long-time C++ user, we'll show you how to leverage the features of Borland C++ to gain a competitive advantage.
First, we're going to focus on Windows programming. No one argues the popularity of this market, but all developers seem to be struggling with design and implementation issues. Fortunately, the ObjectWindows class library and application framework can help you build on the experience of Borland's Windows programming experts, and we'll show you how to use and extend the ObjectWindows class library.
Second, we're going to cover DOS programming since many of you are still writing DOS applications. For DOS apps, Borland's TurboVision class library is even more valuable than ObjectWindows because it virtually stands alone as a DOS application framework. We'll make sure that if you're writing for DOS, you know how to use and extend TurboVision.
Finally, we'll address language, design, and implementation issues. When necessary, we'll even go "under the hood" to show you why some things happen in C++ the way they do.
Since this is the first issue of Borland C++ Developer's Journal, you need to understand some of our editorial conventions. First, we compile Windows applications from the Windows-hosted Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and DOS applications from the DOS IDE. If a particular topic applies to both IDEs, we use the Windows IDE as a default.
When you need to enter something from the keyboard, we typically
show the text in italics, as in BABY.TXT. However, if you
need to enter an entire line of code or a DOS command, we'll
call it out from the body text, as in
return momboFunction(globalVariable);
Anytime we mention a C or C++ reserved word, or an identifier from an example, we use the same style that we use for the code. For example, return, class, and private are reserved words.
We'll always cover the latest version of Borland C++. Currently this is version 3.1. However, if we need to tell you how to do something with a previous version, we'll always tell you that the article applies specifically to that version of Borland C++.
Most of all, we want to write articles that benefit as many of you as possible. For us to know how to balance our coverage of different versions, we need to hear from you.
We want to know what you think of Borland C++ Developer's Journal. If you like our approach, let us know. If we can do better, let us know how. We want you to be happy with this journal. Finally, if you have a question about using Borland C++, we want to hear it.
Send your letters to
The Editor
Borland C++ Developer's Journal
The Cobb Group
9420 Bunsen Parkway, Suite 300
Louisville, KY 40220
or send us a fax at (502) 491-4200. We'll do our best to answer your questions. Each month, we'll select some letters from our mailbag and answer them in the letters column.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Borland C++ Developer's
Journal. We're looking forward to hearing from you.
Tim Gooch
Editor-in-Chief
Copyright (c) 1996 The Cobb Group, a division of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. The Cobb Group and The Cobb Group logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.