Discuss on WPF using Managed C++. Review a sample loan amortization program.

Learn the basics of the ultimate language of the .NET platform: C++/CLI.

Read an introduction to generics implementation in C++/CLI in comparison with templates.

Learn about some of the most important changes to the managed extensions for C++, trying to show how it feels to write code with C++/CLI.

Learn about "Avalon," the exciting new presentation subsystem of the upcoming Windows platforms. After an introduction to declarative drawing and XAML, you'll use XAMLPad to get a first taste of Avalon programming.

Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2005 is now available for download for MSDN subscribers. Learn how you can get it too.

For those who don't have the desire or time to become experts on Windows security, follow this demonstration of using various .NET classes to test for a user's inclusion in one or more security groups.

Continuing his series on custom Web control development in Managed C++, Stephen Fraser takes it up a notch by examining the more advanced—and far more powerful—composite custom Web control.

Learn how the StackTrace class makes your debugging life a bit easier by enabling you to retrieve full call stack information.

Tom Archer illustrates the steps necessary to programmatically monitor your system's event log from a Managed C++ application. Monitoring certain event logs—especially the Security log—enables you to keep tabs on such security-related events as failed login attempts and port scans.

Learn how .NET enables you to easily allow your users to create a cropping area of an image with the mouse and then create a new image consisting of only that cropped area.

For years, one of the biggest complaints about MFC was its lack of imaging support. Tom Archer shows how Managed C++, the .NET Image class, and the PictureBox control make loading, displaying, and dynamically sizing an image a snap.

CodeDom hasn't gotten the same level of attention in C++ circles as VB.NET and C# have, but it is just as relevant there. Nick Wienholt demonstrates why by examining CodeDom from a C++ perspective.

Tom Archer illustrates how to locate files matching a specified extension by using a .NET component and various .NET classes.

Learn how to easily measure the height and width needed to display text values using .NET classes.

The .NET Base Class Library defines interfaces that enable you to quickly and easily define your classes. Learn how to write client code that enumerates these interfaces in a type-safe and object-specific manner.

Tom Archer explains how to work around the inherent problems associated with handling .NET events from a mixed mode (MFC/Managed Extensions) application.

Microsoft expands Visual Studio and SQL Server to the non-programmers, hobbyists, and students with simplified, low-cost to no-cost versions.

Examine a C++ macro that changes a file (within a managed project) from managed (/clr) to unmanaged—a task you may need it to perform for performance reasons, creating a mixed executable.

Explore the distributed architecture in .NET and the general concept behind this architecture.

Learn about a macro for use with a class that implements one or more interfaces. When you run the macro, it adds empty function bodies for all the functions in the interface.

Whether you're working with a connected or disconnected data store, the majority of database operations involve NURD work—New, Update, Read, Delete. However, as this section will illustrate, many of the sometimes very tedious database operations are made much easier with the help of the various ADO.NET classes.

A feature under discussion may not be part of Standard C++, but if it's part of Managed C++, why go to C# to have it? If you're willing to target the .NET Framework and write a managed application, why not write in Managed C++?

Learn about basic ADO.NET operations with this excerpt from Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework.