Customer Reviews

Applying COM+ (Landmark (New Riders))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Humorous and lightly written, Brill's book provides (to my knowledge) on of the most definitive accounts of COM+ out there. The first five chapters, focus solely on COM, and in themselves they provide a great introduction to those unfamiliar with this topic. Chapters 6 thru 12 then address the major COM+ topics: transactions, security, queued components, while the appendices cover some of the more esoteric ones (object pooling, application proxies etc). Many of the chapters include practical "provisos" one must watch out for when implementing COM+. Mr. Brill has definitely done his homework here. A must buy for anyone wanting to write enterprise COM+ applications.

I disagree with the previous reviewer. I have a strong background in COM/MTS architecture and wanted to understand what was different in the COM+ arena. The book provided me a well-organized overview of the COM+ architecture. New (and old) features were accurately described. Discussions of when and how to implement various aspects of COM+ were well-reasoned. I have not found any inaccuracies. Building enterprise-class COM applications involves more than understanding how to build a COM object -- you have to know how to install and administer those objects within the COM+ architecture. Brill's book targets that need.

Brill's book should really be called "COM and COM+", because the first section of the book is dedicated entirely to explaining Microsoft's Component Object Model. With his intuitive analogies and witty style, Brill articulates some of the more complex COM concepts (Marshalling, Threading etc), although the understanding of some of these concepts is probably not central to those who will be utilizing COM+. The coverage of COM+ is outstanding - far more definitive and lucid then anything I have from Microsoft. Much empirical experimentation is evident from reading the text. This not another COM+ book which simply retreads existing MSDN documentation, but a work that transcends it.

I like this book, it really gets down to the root level. The author's approach to the topic is very methodical, which is good.

I think that this book is good for people who are advanced VB programmers, and any C++ programmers wanting to leverage COM+ in their applications. Anybody who is truly an advanced VB programmer should be able to read IDL and C++ code and see what is generally going on.

I really liked the level of detail that the author went into about COM+, and I liked how the author got under the hood.

I consider this book as a good COM+ reference book.

I too, bought this book based on the recommendation of the strong reviews below. I was not as disappointed as the previous reviewer however. Admittedly some of the source code examples are somewhat esoteric, but they are illustrative nonetheless. There may exist better reference books on this topic, but on the whole I found the conceptual explanations of COM+ to be precise and well articulated. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Gregory Brill's Applying COM+ is an invaluable resource to help application designers, programmers and managers conceptualize the new functionality of COM+ and how it can be utilized within their enterprise systems. Applying COM+ goes deeper to provide much-needed insight into coding techniques for both VB and C++ developers, and when and how to make use of specific COM+ services. Unlike other books which assume little programming expertise from their readers, Applying COM+ also offers intermediate and advanced level users new tips and insights. 504pp.

I have several books on COM+ but this is the best one. Author introduced COM+ in an appropriate manner and order and users are easily able to understand this technology. I really recommend this book to whom is eager to know COM+.

Finally a book that goes deeper than just showing you how to do something, this book actually exposes the guts of COM/COM+. This book does not give extensive examples, but it does show enough for the reader to digest and understand. The bulk of the code in this book is written in visual c++. If you can stand reading a book of theory, this is a must read.

I bought this book relying on the good reviews you have on your website. I was dissapointed.The book lucks of thorough explanations of COM+, the sample codes can't be applyed to the real world. It seems like either the previous reviewers work for Mr.Brill or the reviews were written by his friends.

Don't waste your time reading this book. The author has little if no understanding of COM.The entire book leaves an impression that Mr.Brill heard something about COM but does not know what to do with it.