13.5. Miscellaneous (1/3)
13.5.1. Is MFC Dead?
- I thought this would be a great time to address a VERY WRONG rumor/opinion that MFC is dead that I've been seeing on the newsgroups for the last several months. There have been so many rumors that I thought it would be fun to take a look at the top ten rumors behind MFC's ill reported demise:
They are:
- 10. Microsoft will replace MFC with ATL.
- 9. I read that MFC is in "maintenance mode" in a magazine (it's true that Windows Tech Journal did incorrectly report this. The irony is that Oakley actually "died" and MFC is really alive.)
- 8. VC++ 5.0 didn't have a major release of MFC, so it is dead.
- 7. There are just no more features that could be added to MFC.
- 6. Java will kill C++, thus killing MFC.
- 5. There is nobody on the MFC team anymore - they have all moved to different areas of Microsoft.
- 4. Microsoft stopped the Visual C++ subscription program, so MFC is dead.
- 3. I read a posting on a newsgroup from this guy in Portugal that heard from a friend at Microsoft that MFC is dead.
- 2. Stingray has done such a great job filling the holes in MFC that Microsoft decided they couldn't keep up.
- And finally, the number one reason that people think MFC is dead….
- 1. Aliens have abducted the MFC team and they are now hiding behind a Comet touring the Universe, instead of working on MFC.
The truth of the matter is that MFC is NOT DEAD! Don't believe me? Well maybe you will believe it from the horses mouth, here is an MFC FAQ submission from Mike Blaszczak, who is the current MFC Team Lead, on the subject of MFC's incorrectly rumored demise:
Q: Is MFC dead?
A: No. MFC continues to grow and change as the operating system grows and
changes, and as the needs of our users continue to grow and mature. During the summer of
1997, some MFC team members will provide presentations under strict non-disclosure
agreements that explain some of the planning that's happening for the next version of the
product. But the caveat in the above question still strongly applies: the development of
the product might change directions to fill an unforeseen pressing need, but the product
is by no means dead.
-Mike Blaszczak ([email protected])
So there you have it folks, those of you that were genuinely concerned (like me!) that MFC was in maintenance mode, or never going to see another major revision, you can sleep again. For those of you that continue to spread the incorrect rumor that MFC is dead - stop it! If you see anyone posting to newsgroups that MFC is dead, please help set the record straight and feel free to copy this portion of the MFC FAQ and paste it right into a reply.
I think that this was a big conspiracy by the old Borland OWL team (or maybe JavaSoft) to scare people away from MFC.
Together we can stop the madness! LONG LIVE MFC!!! (Wow - I'm glad I finally was able to get that off my chest <g>)
Another piece of exciting news is that one of the old-time MFC team members is back on the MFC Team! After a tour through one of Microsoft's Java teams, Dean has rejoined the ranks of the MFC Team. FYI, Dean wrote large chunks of the OLE support in MFC, etc.. Rumor also has it that Dean has a girlfriend now, so he probably won't be pulling too many all-nighters, at least on MFC <g>
13.5.2. Does ATL Replace MFC?
No. ATL and MFC are designed to solve two very different problems.
13.5.3. Will the next version of MFC support [some particular feature]?
The MFC Team grows MFC's feature set as time and resource allow.
MFC features are added when the MFC team feels that MFC can provide a clear win for C++ programmers over using some API or some system feature directly. MFC tracks features in the operating system as well as new strategic technologies that Microsoft introduces.
Unfortunately, some people in the industry have irresponsibly begun predicting what MFC will or won't support. If someone not on the MFC Team claims to know whether MFC will or wont support a particular feature, they're wrong: they don't know. If someone who _is_ on the MFC Team says that the team is planning support for a feature, they're probably right--at that particular moment in time. Because software development schedules change and are influenced by all sorts of surprises, the feature may or may not make the final version of the product despite the best efforts of the team members.
13.5.4. Does Microsoft use MFC in their products? Which ones?
There are many Microsoft apps written in MFC. Sometimes its just not obvious... (to name a few: Bookshelf, Bob!, WordArt OLE server, Visual C++ (of course), Win95 paint, Win95 WordPad, some portions of Win95 FAX software, some Win95 games I know of...).
In the future, there are more apps coming out using MFC. I don't have a way to track all of these uses, so there is certainly more that I'm not aware of or can't remember. I don't expect Word or Excel to ever use MFC -- they have way too much legacy code and they don't see any customer benefit to rewriting to MFC. But my point is -- definitely for new code, Microsoft is using MFC. Even some "old" code is taking advantage of MFC in future versions.
Dean McCrory, MSMFC, 6/8/95