<s>
Microsoft	B-Language
Foundation	I-Language
Class	I-Language
Library	I-Language
(	O
MFC	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
C++	B-Language
object-oriented	B-Language
library	B-Library
for	O
developing	O
desktop	O
applications	O
for	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Microsoft	O
has	O
introduced	O
alternative	O
application	B-Application
frameworks	I-Application
since	O
then	O
,	O
MFC	O
remains	O
widely	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1992	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
C/C	O
++	O
7.0	O
compiler	B-Language
for	O
use	O
with	O
16-bit	B-Device
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
as	O
an	O
extremely	O
thin	O
object-oriented	B-Language
C++	B-Language
wrapper	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
C++	B-Language
was	O
just	O
beginning	O
to	O
replace	O
C	B-Language
for	O
development	O
of	O
commercial	O
application	O
software	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
MFC	O
program	O
,	O
direct	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
calls	O
are	O
rarely	O
needed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
programs	O
create	O
objects	O
from	O
Microsoft	B-Language
Foundation	I-Language
Class	I-Language
classes	O
and	O
call	O
member	O
functions	O
belonging	O
to	O
those	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
those	O
functions	O
share	O
their	O
names	O
with	O
corresponding	O
API	B-General_Concept
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
quirk	O
of	O
MFC	O
is	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
"	O
Afx	O
"	O
as	O
the	O
prefix	O
for	O
many	O
functions	O
,	O
macros	O
and	O
the	O
standard	O
precompiled	B-Language
header	I-Language
name	O
"	O
stdafx.h	B-Language
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
early	O
development	O
,	O
what	O
became	O
MFC	O
was	O
called	O
"	O
Application	B-Language
Framework	I-Language
Extensions	I-Language
"	O
and	O
abbreviated	O
"	O
Afx	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
Microsoft	B-Language
Foundation	I-Language
Classes	I-Language
(	O
MFC	O
)	O
was	O
adopted	O
too	O
late	O
in	O
the	O
release	O
cycle	O
to	O
change	O
these	O
references	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
8.0	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
9.0	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2008	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
7	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
MFC	O
classes	O
as	O
an	O
out-of-band	O
update	O
to	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2008	I-Application
and	O
MFC	O
9	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
was	O
initially	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
commercial	O
versions	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
freeware	O
Visual	O
C++	B-Language
Express	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Community	O
edition	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
2014	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
includes	O
MFC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Object	B-Language
Windows	I-Language
Library	I-Language
(	O
OWL	O
)	O
,	O
designed	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
Borland	O
's	O
Turbo	B-Application
C++	I-Application
compiler	B-Language
,	O
was	O
a	O
competing	O
product	O
introduced	O
by	O
Borland	O
around	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Borland	O
later	O
released	O
Visual	B-Library
Component	I-Library
Library	I-Library
to	O
replace	O
the	O
OWL	O
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
is	O
a	O
library	B-Library
that	O
wraps	B-Library
portions	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
in	O
C++	B-Language
classes	O
,	O
including	O
functionality	O
that	O
enables	O
them	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
default	O
application	B-Application
framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
introduction	O
,	O
MFC	O
provided	O
C++	B-Language
macros	O
for	O
Windows	O
message-handling	O
(	O
via	O
Message	O
Maps	O
)	O
,	O
exceptions	B-General_Concept
,	O
run-time	B-Application
type	I-Application
identification	I-Application
(	O
RTTI	B-Application
)	O
,	O
serialization	B-Application
and	O
dynamic	O
class	O
instantiation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
macros	O
for	O
message-handling	O
aimed	O
to	O
reduce	O
memory	O
consumption	O
by	O
avoiding	O
gratuitous	O
virtual	B-Language
table	I-Language
use	O
and	O
also	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
more	O
concrete	O
structure	O
for	O
various	O
Visual	O
C++	B-Language
-supplied	O
tools	O
to	O
edit	O
and	O
manipulate	O
code	O
without	O
parsing	O
the	O
full	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
message-handling	O
macros	O
replaced	O
the	O
virtual	B-Application
function	I-Application
mechanism	O
provided	O
by	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
macros	O
for	O
serialization	B-Application
,	O
exceptions	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
RTTI	B-Application
predated	O
availability	O
of	O
these	O
features	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
C++	B-Language
by	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
32-bit	O
versions	O
of	O
MFC	O
,	O
for	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
3.1	I-Device
and	O
later	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
used	O
compilers	B-Language
that	O
implemented	O
the	O
language	O
features	O
and	O
updated	O
the	O
macros	O
to	O
simply	O
wrap	O
the	O
language	O
features	O
instead	O
of	O
providing	O
customized	O
implementations	O
,	O
realizing	O
upward	O
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MFC	O
ribbon	O
resource	O
editor	O
allows	O
the	O
developer	O
to	O
design	O
the	O
ribbon	O
graphically	O
instead	O
of	O
having	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
XML-based	O
declarative	O
markup	O
like	O
the	O
RibbonX	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MFC	B-Language
application	I-Language
wizard	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
upgraded	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
new	O
features	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
check-box	O
to	O
select	O
whether	O
the	O
application	O
will	O
use	O
the	O
ribbon	O
or	O
the	O
docking	O
panes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
update	O
is	O
building	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
BCGSoft	O
’s	O
BCGControlBar	O
Library	B-Library
Professional	O
Edition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
a	O
requirement	O
to	O
adhere	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
UI	O
Design	O
Guidelines	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
anti-competition	O
clause	O
prohibiting	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
UI	O
in	O
applications	O
which	O
compete	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFC	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
linking	O
a	O
static	B-Library
library	I-Library
or	O
by	O
adding	O
the	O
MFC	O
DLL	O
.	O
</s>
