The Windows Source Code Revealed: Task Manager (E01)

Windows code provided courtesy of Microsoft Corporation; this code is NOT open source and it remains Microsoft copyrighted material, used with permission.

[gothikia]

This is what I love about the internet. I was 9 years old when I got to use Task Manager for the first time in 1995 and here we are, almost 30 years later, watching the esteemed author of an application who came to my aid so many times, walking me through the code of the aforementioned application. Its also reassuring that I also name stuff after me in the code when subclassing.

[deldrinov]

"With Microsoft's permission"
"Windows XP version"
Yeah, we've seen it

[zfloflo]

Wonderful!
Yes, please, keep it coming...
I can't wait to watch the next part.
Thank you for taking the time to show this code.
It's literally like opening a time capsule!
And please pass my thanks to MSFT for allowing you to do it. Greatly appreciated!

[Rinue]

Fantastic review and it's interesting to see behind code :) On another note the cam auto zoom was a bit too aggressive for me and caused some motion sickness.

[TanjoGalbi]

Some people may be a bit confused as to why minimized is referred to as being iconic. This goes back to Windows 3.1 and earlier. In those older versions of Windows there was no task bar. When you minimized a window an icon for the app was placed on the desktop which was not like today's desktop where you can place files, what went on the desktop back then was up to Windows.
They did change flag names to be minimized instead of iconic (for a while before phasing out the old you could use either names for the flag) but some SDK functions retained the old name for backwards compatibility where the old function just called the new function name until the old name was phased out.

[RobertM]

In high school many years ago my computer science teacher told us that if anyone used a global variable in our code, he would put a red F on our printout with such force that the next three printouts below ours would lose credit. I still tremble when I really need a global variable today.

Great video as always.  Thank you so much for this walk through for a program I have needed so many times.

[bluescreenenjoyer]

This is really great, I love to see how core windows stuff works, especially because it seems like talented programmers were able to bake in so many features that needed so little resources. Please keep this series up.

[warmarin]

I wish I was tech-savvy enough to understand what is going on here, but I must salute your ability to explain technical stuff and bring it down to a layman's level. Thanks Dave

[jaygosch]

This is the first walk through of real Windows code I've seen. Excellent tutorial on all the details you need to handle when writing a stable application. I even learned about a few features of Task Manager that I hadn't heard about before. I would definitely watch the next part if you make one. 😊

[LaurenceHartje]

Dave, as a long time viewer/lurker of your channel, a Windows 3.1 MCP and currently working as a software engineer - this is one of my favorite videos that you have done. I've only written a few projects in Windows C (being lucky that I could leverage the benefits of C# for most of my professional career), but this was an amazing walk through the task manager code and I look forward to the follow up videos.

[shannahsantucci]

Small pro-tip: If you click a function (or method) call while pressing “Control” (or “Command” on Mac), you will go to their definition. This will avoid you right-clicking everything.

Amazing video!

[JonC]

The more I try to keep up with the code, the more I realize that for many today, including myself, it would be hard to make so many functions and get so many resources without breaking something or a size requirement. Dave you are and will always be a computer hero!!!!

[antipode]

Had fun with this! In '95, I was a senior in college studying music composition as my major, but programming had always been a hobby for me. Read "Learn Windows Programming in 30 days", but it took me about 6 months. I have fond memories of writing windows programs talking directly to win32.

[NytronX]

I love that he's using MacOS to show Windows source code.

[ignaciosanmartin]

Programmers like you are an inspiration. The fact that you come from a time when programmers had to study and understand complex concepts from books is awesome.

[ercre]

Videos like these are priceless, we get too see how critical programs we all used (and still use) were written and designed and *why* things were done a certain way! Please keep those going!!

[TheMasonX]

Please make a part two! I'm working on improving our system performance logging and display, so it would extra cool to see how you accomplished that back in the day. Keep up the great work man!

[martinclerked]

I just want to say i know little about coding and whatever the heck else its called, but being able to bring up task manager when your computer is totally frozen and not working was a god sent blessing and i miss it very much. Came in clutch for me alot of times in the past. Thank u for your work bro

[boydpukalo]

Really fascinating seeing actual source code of a program I have used for decades and which has brought system back from near death experiences. Looks like straight Win32, no MFC, or newer frameworks so far. I look forward to the next installment.

[ThatOneRei]

This is the type of content I love seeing as a computer science student and that I wish I saw in my classes. Your way of talking and explaining is so easy to digest, thank you.