using win32 in native applications

Is it necessary to use win32 in full native applications or it's good to use the visual mode of VC++ Express instead.

I want to know about the big 开发者_StackOverflow社区programs like game engines that, are they using win32 to present their set of tools?

Win32 API is basically a set of procedures to work with low level Windows objects like windows, controls, sockets and so on. So, if you say "native" that means that the only way you can do anything is using Win32 API.

Game engines are quite primitive from low level standpoint. Game engines are mostly algorithms, abstractions like polygons (instead of low level triangles), textures and others of that kind. From Windows standpoint, it's just like "create window", "initialize OpenGL" and that's all. All the other stuff is mostly not related to Windows, but quite cross-platform. For instance, OpenGL is not related with any particular platform like Windows, Linux or Mac OS, OpenGL is always the same. The only thing that differs is how you create the Window and initialize OpenGL.

For Windows, "Win32" and "native code" are basically the same thing. If you're using .NET to build your interface, it's not native code. You can, of course, write code that mixes native and .NET components.

Big-budget games are typically written in native code to ease porting, as they will have to run on Windows, Xbox 360, PS3, and possibly Wii or Mac. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'm not aware of any major software that runs on multiple platforms and is written entirely with managed code.