GUI easy and fast without .NET framework?

Question

Is there any way to build graphical interfaces in the same rapid and easy way we could do in Visual Studio, but without .NET Framework? I'm looking to native Windows GUIs, so using Qt with Qt Creator is not an option (and it doesn't need to be cross-platform). Something with the Windows API using C++ would be great (not Delphi).

I mean, applications like WinSCP really have its GUIs written entirely by hand?

Answer 1

Given:

1. You don't want to use Qt
2. You want to use Win API

The natural option is MFC. It's basically quite a thin wrapper around the Win32 UI API, but VS has an MFC UI designer that will save you a lot of work (no need to manually set the co-ordinates of controls etc.).

Answer 2

My vote is still on Qt.

I suspect OP is really confusing "Native" with "deployable in a single binary". You can achieve this also with Qt by statically linking Qt dependencies. Contrary to popular belief, the LGPL does not prohibit this either.

Now if OP is looking for "deployable in a single super small binary" utorrent style, the answer would differ. A discussion around small binaries seems a good place to look. I would say there is a price to pay in increased development time though.

But I can't agree on Qt not being as native as say MFC.