OSDev.org

In another thread, Eero R?nik mentioned a book entitled Managed DirectX 9 Kickstart as a good starting place for Windows game programming.

Perhaps it's simply paranoia on my part, but I'm a bit wary of Managed C++; I don't know much about it, but I gather it diverges from standard C++ in some crucial ways, and it has the feeling of yet another attempt to highjack an existing language to me. That, plus my strong dislike for what I've seen of the .NET Framework in general, has led me to steer clear of it. Is this just prejudice on my part, or is there something to be concerned about here?

It's actually the opposite: Because Managed C++ is entirely backward-compatible with Regular C++, any managed extensions have had to be added as extensions to the C++ language. This has the effect that Managed C++ programs are full of underscores.

IMHO the .NET framework is a great thing, and together with C# makes a powerful library and language combination. However I don't currently see any advantage of Managed C++ over C#.

There's talk of stopping MC++ from being compatible with C++, which should make programming in it more bearable. But for now, its full name (Managed Extensions for C++) is most accurate.