Customer Reviews

Dan Appleman's Developing Activex Components With Visual Basic 5.0: A Guide to the Perplexed

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4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Somehow Dan Appleman has managed to explain COM in a clear, consice way that doesn't require you to read it over and over again in order to understand it. After reading this you will have a thorough grounding which will enable you to develop ActiveX controls, but more importantly you will find yourself designing you applications in a more structured, efficient way.

This is a big book, but it's definitely worth slogging through. If you're new to ActiveX, you should go through the examples in the Components Tool Guide manual to learn the mechanics of creating a control. You can do that in a few hours. But to take the step from creating dummy controls to creating controls robust enough to use, you have to know what the heck you're doing. That's where this book comes in. Is it annoying that Appleman doesn't really get down to the nitty-gritty of controls until half-way through the book? Of course. But the first part of the book is really important. More important than the second half of the book, actually. It's in the first part where he tells you what ActiveX is really all about. Any bonehead can create an ActiveX control. But unless you follow Appleman's way of doing things, you're better off not writing an ActiveX control in the first place. That's because there's a lot of pitfalls you can encounter that will cause more lost time than any time you saved by having an ActiveX control. As an example, consider the compiling of an ActiveX component. The VB manual basically says "You know, it's kind of a good idea to have binary compatibility, but if you to break compatibility, that's ok." Appleman basically says "Don't break the compatibility unless you really know what you're doing, because you're going to really regret it". Appleman knows his stuff inside and out, and that allows him to have opinions, allows him to decide what to emphasize. The bottom line - if you're just starting out developing ActiveX controls, you're a damn fool if you don't buy this book.

Good presentation of complex topic. Good source for reference

I liked the book. It clearly explains what MS manuals should have explained. I liked the Stock Ticker as an ActiveX Exe example. My only problem with the book is that it rehashed a lot of material that I already knew. For some reason, I thought there was more to the ActiveX components. But I guess there isn't.

If you have a handle on VB and just want to know how to create ActiveX controls that can be implemented with ASP, this book is definitely not for you.

I wanted a step by step process and I didn't get it.

The author's logical, step-by-step description of how ActiveX really works, coupled with abundant sample code, makes this book a winner. Appleman resists the temptation to re-hash the Microsoft documentation, and instead offers a path to understanding ActiveX that is lucid and interesting. His writing style makes this complex technology understandable for all levels of VB programmers. The sample code offered on the accompanying CD is an education unto itself. It is very informative to see how the heavy-hitters write VB code, and Appleman doesn't disappoint. I learned to approach my own programming a little differently by going over his code.

I only have one problem with this book. The title! It suggests that only programmers interested in developing ActiveX components should read it. This book should in fact be required reading for ANY VB programmer.

This book is written extremely clearly. He makes no assumptions about what you already know. Instead of explaining the mechanics of using ActiveX with VB, he explains WHY you would do so, what the choices are and what is really going on. It's hard to imagine a better presentation.

In the last days I read the "Dan Appleman's Developing Activex Components With Visual Basic 5.0 : A Guide to the Perplexed". Also if it's basically oriented to ActiveX visual component development of its 700 pages about 400 are dedicated to the problems of COM, Instancing, Binding and so on seen from a Visual Basic point of view.

It's greatly recommended (or, at least, its first 400 pages) to all people that want to start developing components using Visual Basic 5, because a good knowledge of COM is required and this book has the best coverage of COM seen from a VB point of view that I've ever read.

Some things I would like to see covered: Use of Implements (it's covered only in a marginal way) and how to use the Visual Modeler (explainable because, at time of writing, it wasn't available).

I believe that a revision of its first 400 pages considering the latest developements of VB (accessories) and changing the remaining 300 from "ActiveX compone! nts" to "MTS Components" could give us the best book about VB and MTS one can dream of (I'm forwarding this message to the author... will see).

Greetings from Italy Massimo

When I realized that the first half of this book covers the history of the technology and saves the technical hands on part for hundreds of pages, I was concerned. Do I need all this background? Well you do and Appleman explains it in an easy to read format with excellent word pictures as examples. He explains how the terminology evolved, how Microsoft marketing confused everyone, then goes on an makes ActiveX development seem like childs play. You do need a solid OOPs background to make the most of the information, but assuming that, this is a book to read and keep as a permanent reference (at least until the next edition).