The main advantage of software
and applications is that they can be used offline. You can run more than one software at a time, this is called multitasking.
Some
Examples of Software Applications
There are countless applications and software
but we will study only the basics applications including desktop application software that must be install in every
computer. These applications are
Microsoft
Office
MS Office is a full package of different
applications. It has MS word to create and manage documents, MS Power Point to
create presentations, MS Access to create database and such other applications.
Web
Browsers
Web browsers allow you to connect with
Internet and website hosting required for further processes. Some of these web browsers are pre-installed on your Operating system
like Internet Explorer and others you have to install yourself like Google
Chrome, Opera Mini, Firefox and Safari.
Games
Different 3D and 2D games on your
computer that are either pre-installed or you have to install them at your own.
Games are dependent on your Operating Systems. Games ranges from simple card
games to complex action games. Complex games requires large amount of memory
and processing speed.
Media
Players
Audio and Video players used to play
audio and video files on your computer. VLC media player, Windows Media Player
and Real Player are most commonly used media players.
Gadgets
Simple software that you use on your
desktop for extra work and need like calculator, calendar, news and weather
etc.
Choose
Your Technology
When you are developing software or desktop
application, the first step is deciding the technology. Most commonly used technologies for software and application development are WIN32 and COM API or .NET
Before choosing any technology, let’s
have an overview of both technologies.
NET/XML
Languages:
C#, C++, F#, VB
Features
Offered:
- Runtime productivity and safety
- Cross Platform Technology
- GUI technologies
- Rich collection data types
- Data modelling
- Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
- Date and time library
- Serialization
- Web services
- Security and cryptography
- Parallel programming library
- There are two types of .NET user interface stacks you can select.
- Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
- Windows Form (WF)
WPF
WPF provides a consistent programming
model for desktop applications and separates the user interface from business
logic. WPF has features of controls, data binding, layout, 2-D and 3-D
graphics, animation, styles, templates, documents, media, text, and typography
Windows
Form (WF)
It is an event driven application
supported by .NET framework. It doesn’t use XML so its up to you to decide how to extend your application.
WIN32-C++
Languages:
C++ with COM
Features
Offered:
- Hardware-level optimizations,
- Performance oriented instruction sets
- Efficient programming by using templates.
- Efficient algorithms.
- DirectX
- C++ AMP
WIN32
UI selection
There are 3 types of UI stack you can
use for your win32 application.
- MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class Library)
- Third party application frameworks
-
WIN 32
It’s a C++ class wrapper for Windows
API. It Works with C++ classes.
WIN
32
It’s a handle based API for Windows
applications. It is low level and suitable for apps that have simple interface
required.
Third
Party Applications
Because C++ isn’t platform dependent so
third parties also C++ based interfaces that we can integrated on our windows
application such as wxWidgets or Qt.
.NET and Win32 are also used for Mobile
application development and more services are available, check out this link http://www.solutionsplayer.com/software-development/
