Module 3. Windows Graphics

Module 1 of this series showed how to create a blank window. Module 2 took a slight detour through the Component Object Model (COM), which is the foundation for many of the modern Windows APIs. Now it is time to add graphics to the blank window that we created in Module 1.

This module starts with a high-level overview of the Windows graphics architecture. We then look at Direct2D, a powerful graphics API that was introduced in Windows 7.

In this section

• Overview of the Windows Graphics Architecture
• The Desktop Window Manager
• Retained Mode Versus Immediate Mode
• Your First Direct2D Program
• Render Targets, Devices, and Resources
• Drawing with Direct2D
• DPI and Device-Independent Pixels
• Using Color in Direct2D
• Applying Transforms in Direct2D
• Appendix: Matrix Transforms

Related topics

Learn to Program for Windows in C++