Should I learn the Win32 API?

[gaxar77]

I currently am unemployed and need to gain experience in programming so that I can get another, better programming job. I was doing .net SharePoint stuff. I would like to start learning Win32 again for fun but I feel like it would be a waste of time if I could not use it in getting a job.

It seems like nowadays most programmers have left C++ and Win32 to use .NET or Java. Are there still any developers who use C++ and the Win32 API?

[freddie1]

There's me and a handful of others, I think.

[freddie1]

All kidding aside, Win32 definitely isn't the newest kid on the block. I don't know how much longer new people will want to learn it.

It was a hard decision for me 15 years ago if I wanted to continue with it or not. I simply liked it much better than anything new that was coming out and I had an insatiable appetite to continue learning more about it. I'd be tempted to say do it for a hobby and learn the newer stuff for employment possibilities, but that doesn't work for me because I'm no good at multi-tasking. I've got to focus on one thing at a time.

The thing I've found interesting over the past few years is how good support is for 64 bit. That's mostly what I work on now.

[E0p9LyTq]

gaxar77 wrote:

Should I learn the Win32 API?

Until MS removes the Win32 API from easy access in the Windows SDK, as they did with DirectDraw in the DirectX SDK, why not?

Having the knowledge sure won't hurt your prospects of getting a job with a potential employer.