What is MFC and why is it "evil"

Could someone please explain just what exactly MFC is and why it is so "evil"?

I no nothing about MFC, so i'd appreciate if the follwoing questions could be answered:

When using the controlbox with the various controls (combobox, radio button), is MFC needed..

Why was MFC created and what are the pros and cons of using it.


Thanks a lot in advance

I hate MFC mostly because as in VB (not quite the same but similar) you don't see what is actually happening. It is a little slower than raw API, and the worst thing is that you need to distribute the MFCxx.DLL file with the app.

And ofcourse that MFC is not necessary when you use combobox, radio button. You can use them in raw API also.

MFC is so fat coz it contains such extra crap that you don't need.

Anything you can do with MFC, you can do with the API. Therefore, why not cut out the middleman? You can make your own classes which are much more efficient. Also, MFC provides a lot of "container"-type classes, which are all in the STL.