windows - Visual C++ vs MFC

Question

Before asking this question on this platform, I have googled and read a couple of books.

My Understanding So Far:

I understand that MFC is a framework for the development of GUI applications in Windows. MFC utilizes the Visual C++ library, which can be considered as a wrapper library around Windows APIs.

Confusions

1. If I read a book on MFC, it starts talking about Visual C++ (for example CString class)
2. If I read a book on Visual C++, it starts explaining GUI development without actually explaining the different classes/templates
3. But I do not find a book that explains the classes of Visual C++ separately.

Questions:

• Are Visual C++ and MFC the same thing? If NO, then where can I find the description of Visual C++ classes only (without GUI development text)?
• Are Visual C++ and Visual Studio related?

Answer 1

"Visual C++" is the name of the compiler and IDE. It emerged, before Visual Studio had been invented, incorporating several programming languages into a single product.

MFC ships with Visual C++/Visual Studio, and is a class library that both acts as a framework, as well as a resource wrapper for the flat C-based Windows API.

There's a Hierarchy Chart for most MFC classes on Microsoft's documentation site, as well as a list of MFC Classes. There is no physical or logical separation between GUI classes and non-GUI classes.