

Ask HN:What tool for Windows desktop development? - marcel_d

I want to make a small Windows desktop tool that needs to access the local filesystem (so a webapp won't work).<p>I used to use MS VC++ at the daytime job between 1997 and 2004-ish and also used Delphi (up until Delphi 3) for after-hours projects in the late 90's. I played around with Adobe AIR.<p>At the moment I'm considering Delphi XE2 Starter, VC++ 2010 Express and Adobe AIR. Delphi used to have a vibrant community, but it seems to have disappeared.<p>Pricing is also a concern: the cheaper the better, because I'll have to pay for it myself and might only use it for this small project.<p>Any suggestions? Or any free alternatives?<p>Thanks in advance!
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senko
Visual Studio C# Express is free, and is probably more than you need for a
one-man-band small-ish project.

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dagw
And just to be clear, all the Visual Studio Express components
(C++,VB,SQLServer etc.) are free, not just C#. I use Visual Studio C++ Express
at work and it's great.

There is also Qt and Qt Creator (both free) if you want to stick to C++, but
don't want to tie yourself to Microsoft. And if you don't want to use C++,
there's always python bindings for Qt. And if you don't want to use Qt,
there's always wxWidgets....

