[Mono-list] Windows.Forms and C++

[Jonathan Pryor]

Multiple answers to multiple questions, both implicit and explicit.

System.Windows.Forms can currently be used with Visual C++ .NET.  You
can use VC.NET to call managed code (e.g. `System::Console::WriteLine
(S"Hello, world!");'); you just do the same thing to create/invoke
System.Windows.Forms classes/functions.

The support they're probably referring to is for the Form designer,
which currently generates C#/Visual Basic.NET code.  I would imagine
that the form designer will have C++ code-generation support in the next
version.

So you could use System.Windows.Forms now, but you'd have to hand-write
all of your code.  Or you can wait for the next version, and use the GUI
Forms designer.

As for Managed Extensions for C++ support under Mono, don't count on it
anytime soon.  It's been discussed (briefly) on mono-list before, and
the short summary is:
  - adding support to GCC won't happen, as getting GCC to support CIL
    opcodes is very difficult
  - writing a CIL backend for LCC was an option, and I didn't see much
    more discussion about that idea
  - Mono has it's proverbial hands full just supporting the CLI runtime
    environment and C#; it's better to keep focusing on those for now.

In the future, these may change, but I have not seen any serious effort
to try and support Manged Extensions for C++.

Personally, I wouldn't support them.  I find them to be ugly, and I'm
hoping that they'll create a cleaner .NET language binding for C++, one
which doesn't have a dozen (-ish) `__keyword' constructs...

- Jon 

On Tue, 2002-11-26 at 13:00, Bob Hamilton wrote:
> I recently saw a write-up that indicated the next release of Visual
> Studio .NET (due out in April 2003) would have support for Windows.Forms
> with Visual C++. Since you are porting Windows.Forms as part of Mono, I
> am wondering if you plan on including support for Visual C++ as well? I
> would like to be able to author Visual C++ GUI applications under mono
> using Windows.Forms.
> 
> --Bob Hamilton
> 
> 
> 
> 
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