Whenever you download a piece of software, you are supplied with an interface that allows you to install that program.

What languages are used to create such a thing, and how do you go about creating one?

In the begining they were nothing but dos autoexec batch files. Today I imagine they are a combo of VB or exec files.

You mean, something like nsis ?
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page

yes, I believe something like that would work- for general purposes.

I am actually not sure what i'm talking about when it comes to this (can you tell?, lol), however, I do also think I was looking at something like this as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWTVNq3A0Y


Here's why I ask: I was interested to know that some people out there develop software free of charge (freeware), and a lot of these guys provide their software for free- so long as you agree to their terms of service upon installation- such terms include something to the affect that, in order to proceed with the installation and use of said software- you agree to install a toolbar, or whatever it is that they supply you to add on your system. And this is where they earn their money back for the development of such wares.

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I was also interested to ask what language(s) you believe were used to create something like this: FriendBlasterPro

Thanks you for your help!

RonR, only?

what other languages may be used to create GUI's?

These are all done with visual editors for the most part...If you still learning to program, stay within GUI languages such as Visual Basic. Once you become a master programmer, then try coding your own language, then writing your own applications based on the language that you created. That's when you know you good. Some of the expert programmers' rely on a language already in existence and say they are good...If you want to be awesome, base your language on machine code, but make it different. Very hard, but not impossible.

Visual Basic: (Beginners)
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/Default.aspx

Machine Code: (experts)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_code

Good luck.

@brian

I'm not an expert on user interfaces, but those that I have created (in Java and C++) were not done using visual editors. Also, I don't see where you are going with the "coding your own language" point. Creating a language is not a simple task and every language in use on a large scale is the product of collaboration between many people and have been developed over years.

Coding in machine code (assembly language) doesn't make you an expert and unless you are very proficient at it, code compiled or interpreted from a higher level language like C++ will out perform anything you write anyways. Creating a compiler (the program that translates your higher level language code to machine code) is not a simple or quick task. If your goal is to create an application, starting by inventing your own language (which most likely involves creating a compiler or interpreter) is not the best idea. Compilers take years of development to mature and this work is done by communities not individuals.

@Lashtal

Most languages can facilitate the programmer in some way when it comes to creating a UI. Pick a language you know or want to learn and chances are you can create a UI with it.

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Originally Posted by Lashtal

an interface that allows you to install that program.

I think you are thinking of InstallShield. An example of an installer designed and made with this software can be seen below.

The easiest GUI to learn these days is HTML. It's easy because the languages are relatively simple (simpler than C++!), and because there are so many toolkits and tutorials to pick from. Use CSS to change its skin!

@Tawfik,

yes, that's true, and you can compile html into an executable file to execute, so the sky is the limit as far as where you start till where you end...Really depends on what you want to develop as you could create a gui w/out an installer with using only html, images, etc..Or using a more elaborate language to do more technical stuff.

Good luck.

VB and C++ are mostly used languages for this purpose.