pointer references

[Ossu Chang]

I have read several books on C,C++. And have done some dev work with C for
Novell NLMs (long ago). The biggest question I have is why are there so many
ways to reference objects in C++. You have the . the -> the *, etc. etc.
Which do I use, when do I use it?


The second question/comment has to do with MFC. I find MFC very hard to learn.
So much so that I have taken to using Borland C++ Builder. At least this
way I am getting my apps started a lot faster.

And finally, What do you think about C#? Other than being another MS standard.
I looks like they made C into an interpretted language. Are they trying to
compete with Java?

Thanks,

Ossu

[Jonathan Morrison]

Ossu,
Good questions! I'll do my best to answer them.

1.) Here's the scoop on the . and -> operators:
The . operator references a local or "by value" copy of an object while the
-> operator references a pointer to an object. That's the only difference!
The * operator denotes that a variable is a pointer to as type when used
in a declaration, and it gets the value from a pointer variable when used
in a statement.

2.) I hate MFC! There I said it. It's too complicated. Use VB for your GUIs
and C++ DLLs for your speed critical stuff.

3.) I think C# is Java++. It looks to be a great language. I think the success
or failure comes down to the implementation of the .NET runtime.

Thanks,
Jonathan
"Ossu Chang" <ossu@netzero.net> wrote:
>
>I have read several books on C,C++. And have done some dev work with C for
>Novell NLMs (long ago). The biggest question I have is why are there so
many
>ways to reference objects in C++. You have the . the -> the *, etc. etc.
>Which do I use, when do I use it?
>
>
>The second question/comment has to do with MFC. I find MFC very hard to
learn.
>So much so that I have taken to using Borland C++ Builder. At least this
>way I am getting my apps started a lot faster.
>
>And finally, What do you think about C#? Other than being another MS standard.
>I looks like they made C into an interpretted language. Are they trying
to
>compete with Java?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ossu