Absolute Beginner's Guide to Programming, Third Edition

Distribution Used to Be Easy

Before Windows, the text mode environments of microcomputers made program distribution and installation painless. Many programs were compiled into a single file. At most, the installation routine would create a subdirectory on the user's hard disk and store the program there.

Today's graphical environments make the process much more difficult. A Windows program, for example, is not one file but a series of files that are to be installed in several places. System files (many with the extension .DLL) are often stored in the Windows directory, the program-related files go in their own directory, and several Windows bookkeeping entries must be made, such as modification of the Windows Registry (a repository of installed ...