🚀 go-pugleaf

Claus A. Faerber <claus@faerber.muc.de> (07 Feb 96):

> David Byrden <100101.2547@compuserve.com> (02 Feb 96):
>
> > >> It requires every program to have the main() function (which
> > >> implementation is not allowed to supply) with parameters (void) or (int
> > >> argc, int*argv[]). However, Windows programs have another convention:
> > >> prrogram must contain the function  int WinMain
> >
> > I remember reading that you can write a Windows program with a main()
> > function and the usual command line arguments, and then the Microsoft
> > compiler will then generate WinMain somehow....but that the "operating
> > system" does link to WinMain.
>
> No, the operating system doesn't care whether there is a
> WinMain(), a main() or anything else. It just reads a
> pointer  from the exe file and calls it. This is usually the
> C/C++ statup code, which then calls WinMain() or main().
> If there is a main present, the linker makes the startup
> code call it, if not the linker either sets in an own
> main(), which calls WinMain(), or another startup code,
> which calls main().
              ^^^ should be: WinMain()

But at all, there's no problem with Windows programs:

* If you're writing Win32 console apps or using special  
libraries like EasyWin or QuickWin (which allow normal text  
in/out operations in the Windows GUI), you will have a  
standard main()

* If you're programming native Win16/32 GUI apps, you're  
using an extended/modified C/C++-standard (unhosted env.),  
as you don't have stdin/out/error and hundreds(thousands?)  
of functions invading your namespace and: no main(), but Win/ 
LibMain.

Claus

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claus Andre Faerber - claus@faerber.muc.de - http://www.muc.de/~cfaerber
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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