mFC

MFC, or the Microsoft Foundation Classes, is a C++ library for Windows application development. It provides a large collection of wrapper classes that encapsulate common Windows API concepts such as windows, menus, dialogs, controls, and device contexts, enabling object‑oriented programming for GUI and related components.

MFC was introduced in the 1990s as part of Visual C++, intended to simplify Windows programming by wrapping the Win32 API in C++ classes. It evolved to include the document/view architecture, printing, OLE, and richer controls, and remains available in modern Visual Studio releases with ongoing but incremental updates.

The library centers on the document/view architecture with classes such as CWinApp, CFrameWnd, CDocument, and CView. It uses message maps for event handling, supports serialization via CArchive, and provides support for GDI drawing, printing, dialogs, and basic database access through ODBC/DAO in legacy modes.

MFC wraps the Windows API with C++ classes and relies on macro-based message maps to route messages to member functions. It targets Windows desktop development and supports both SDI and MDI applications, often helping maintain compatibility with older Windows interfaces.

While newer frameworks such as .NET, WinUI, and Qt have supplanted MFC for many new projects, MFC remains in use for legacy applications and scenarios requiring close Windows integration. It is still supported within Visual Studio, though less central to contemporary development.