Visual C++ is a powerful development environment that's designed to give you detailed control when you build either native Windows (COM+) applications or .NET Framework managed Windows applications.

It's easy to install, and as long as you know your way around C++, shouldn't give you any problems. The newly designed start page makes finding your way around Visual C++ really simple, while an improved code editor also goes some way to making the process as easy as possible.

Just bear in mind that this is the express version of Visual C++, so some of the features that you may be used to - especially compilers and debugging tools - in the full version won't appear. Even so, it's a clean, crisp version that's perfect for beginners and users for whom C++ is a secondary programming language.

Visual C++ Express is a pared-down but still highly functional toolset for coding in C++.

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wxWidgets is a C++ programming environment which enables the creation of multi-platform applications with and without a graphical user interface. The developer says that he was motivated to design the program after the failure of other similar programs to help create dialogs visually. In particular, it was the limited set of widgets and impossibility to include non-graphical components which wxWidgets skillfully sidesteps. The key to the appeal of wxWidgets that most programmers will appreciate is the fact that it stores information in XML documents which, as the developers point out, eases the modification of both the properties of an object and the generated code without needing to recompile. In this way, the code creates templates which can be used over and over again to create variations on just one widget. If you're not familiar with C++, none of this will mean much but if you're in the know, it's an effective way to create some truly impressive widgets.

Stay away if you don't know C++ but for professional programmers, this is one of the fastest ways to create good looking desktop widgets.

Download wxFormBuilder 3.0.57 in Softonic

Download Active Query Builder VCL Free Edition 1.18.11 in Softonic