Persistent data is data saved on a storage device, typically a hard drive, which preserves (persists) changes made to the data between application sessions.
In this chapter, you will learn ways to make your application data and settings persistent. You will learn how to use the MFC CFile class for general file input/output (I/O) operations; how to use the serialization facilities of the MFC framework to save and restore structured application data; and how to save individual data items, such as application settings, in the system registry.
Persistent data can also be stored in a database external to the application. Connections to databases will be covered in Chapter 7.
Before you start this chapter, you should have read Chapters 2 through 5, and completed the exercises in the text.