Editing Windows API (section)

==Program interaction==

The Windows API is a [[C (programming language)|C language]]-based API.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/walkthrough-creating-windows-desktop-applications-cpp|title=Walkthrough: Create a traditional Windows Desktop application (C++)|date=February 23, 2022|website=[[Microsoft Docs]]}}</ref> Functions and data structures are consumable via C syntax by including [[windows.h]], but the API can be consumed via any programming language that can inter-operate with the API data structures and [[calling convention]]s for [[function call]]s and [[callback (computer programming)|callbacks]]. 

Of note, the implementation of API functions has been developed in several languages other than C.{{efn|Both [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] and [[x86 assembly]] were heavily used in earlier versions, before C became dominant. A reminiscence of this is that the API functions still use the [[Pascal calling convention]] to restore the stack from pushed parameters after a call (although they expect parameters pushed from right to left, as most C compilers do, by default).}} 

Despite the fact that C is not an [[object-oriented programming]] (OOP) language, the Windows API is somewhat object-oriented due to its use of handles. Various other technologies from Microsoft and others make this object-oriented aspect more apparent by using an OOP language such as C++ — see [[Microsoft Foundation Class Library]] (MFC), [[Visual Component Library]] (VCL), [[GDI+]]. Of note, [[Windows 8]] provides the Windows API and the [[WinRT]] API, which is implemented in [[C++]]<ref name="rtcpp">{{cite book |title=WinRT Revealed |publisher=Apress |author=Mayberry, Michael |year=2012 |location=New York City |pages=3 |isbn=978-1-4302-4585-8}}</ref> and is object-oriented by design.<ref name="rtcpp"/>

Windows.pas is a [[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]] unit that exposes the features of Windows API {{endash}} the [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] equivalent of [[windows.h]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JzBn4vcUBoC&q=%22windows.pas%22&pg=PA253 |title=Borland Delphi 6 Developer's Guide |publisher=Sams |author=Texeira, Steve and Xavier Pacheco |year=2002 |pages=253 |isbn=0672321157}}</ref>