Beginning Visual C++ 6 [Paperback]

Ivor Horton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

Visual C++ 6 is the latest incarnation of Microsoft's premier development product for C++ developers. It contains the latest version of the MFC&T (Microsoft Foundation Classes & Templates) which has virtually become the Industry-wide library used to write Windows programs. Visual C++ 6 also contains the Active Template Library 3.0 ( ATL ) , which is a framework and collection of Wizards for writing ActiveX & COM controls. This book is a tutorial in use of all the major functions of Visual C++ 6.Proven teaching methods guarantee success to novice C++ programmers with a complete tutorial from 'vanilla' C++ , through to OO programming, Windows and using MFC&T. Each concept is supported by graduated code examples and the reader will be coherent in writing a real Windows program and controls by the end of the book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Windows programming is not difficult," observes well-respected author Ivor Horton in his book Beginning Visual C++ 6. "In fact, Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 makes it remarkably easy." Horton's treatment of Visual C++ continues the expert author's thorough and patient presentation of the best of today's object-oriented computer languages. (Besides C++, the author has written the excellent Beginning Java for Java developers). This massive, yet quite comprehensible, tutorial covers all the essential features of C++ used with Microsoft Visual C++ 6. Horton's book is the ideal choice for programmers who don't want to skimp on their general knowledge of C++. The author covers all the bases here in a title that will certainly compare favorably with any other Visual C++ tutorial on the market today. --Richard Dragan

From the Publisher

What sets this book apart is Ivor's relaxed and informal teaching style, which makes even difficult concepts easy to grasp. It's perfect for Visual Basic, Delphi, Cobol & Unix C Programmers who see the new release of the software as an opportunity to learn the language and understand the professional way to develop Windows applications. Adept newcomers to structured programming will be able to progress in C++ and Window using this book, but they will have to apply themselves to the Exercises and model answers supplied with each Chapter.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1181 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Pr Inc; 1st edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 186100088X
• ISBN-13: 978-1861000880
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

230 of 232 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book for programmers learning C++, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beginning Visual C++ 6 (Paperback)

If you read the remaining reviews of this book, you will probably be surprised and confused by the extreme opinions expressed. To help you decide whether this book is worth your time and money, I offer these observations:

C++ is a very complex programming language written BY advanced programmers FOR advanced programmers. NO AUTHOR CAN MAKE C++ PROGRAMMING EASY. However, it is my opinion that Mr. Horton does an excellent job presenting a well-rounded overview of Visual C++ programming in this book.

Be warned. This book is NOT for you if:

-You have never programmed before

-You have written a few Visual Basic programs that have a couple dozen lines of code in them

-You expect this book to tell you everything that there is to know about Visual C++, MFC, ATL, Windows, COM, DLLs, memory management, enterprise development, etc., etc. (No single book can do all these things.)

However, this book may be a good choice for you if:

-You have written some fairly advanced programs in languages like Visual Basic, and love the challenge of programming

-You have the patience to read a 1200 page book slowly and carefully, and are willing to write sample programs to reinforce your learning

-You need a systematic, thoughtful overview of Visual C++ so you can start down the very long path to proficiency

I use this book when teaching my college-level C++ programming classes, and my students do struggle. But they struggle with the complexities of C++ and MFC, not with the book. I find no fault in the book itself. Please try to distinguish those reviewers who criticize the language from those who criticize the book.

I hope you find my comments useful.

75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to C++, but..., October 26, 1999

By 

Matt Bridges ([e-mail]) (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Visual C++ 6 (Paperback)

As a Windows Programming MCT, I constantly read "Beginner" books to recommend to my students to supplement or provide backgrounders to the Microsoft Official Curriculum.

The book does a pretty good job until you get to Windows programming. Actually I think it's one of the better books to learn the fundamentals of C++ programming.

However, the treatment of structures leaves a little to be desired, with common structures that appear throughout the entire Windows API being glossed over in Chapter 7.

Contrary to several other reviews, the intro to MFC is not that bad, and provides a good background to move on to other texts more devoted to the subject.

ATL should be removed from the text completely. This subject requires a more detailed explanation of COM which is simply not appropriate for a beginers text. My recomendation would be to expand the section on structures in a Windows context.

Also, version 6 of Visual Studio introduced OLE-DB as a solution for Universal Data Access, yet there is no mention of it here. Instead the author has applied a cut and paste from the version 5 of the book to give us ODBC. It would've been more appropriate to mention something about OLE-DB templates, and focus on ADO.

Overall however, this is a book I would recommend for beginners, to continue with Programming Windows with MFC, 2nd Ed by Jeff Proise.

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brevity doesn't mar this spectacular text, February 27, 2001

By 

Charles Worton (edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Visual C++ 6 (Paperback)

This text of nearly 1,200 pages attempts to do it all: take a neophyte with little or no knowledge of programming and 1) teach C++ programming - not just a quick once over, but the whole darned language, right from soup to nuts; and 2)teach Microsoft Windows programming in C++, including full coverage of Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) and ActiveX controls; and 3)oh yeah, just as a side note, also teach the use of the Visual C++ integrated development environment!

This is just not possible to do in 'merely' 1200 pages; 3,000 might be more appropriate, and 4,000 would certainly not be wasted. So it's not surprising that there's a slight sense of brevity in some of the topics covered.

What is truly amazing is just how well Horton manages to pull this off. A combination of skilled writing, careful editing and towering educational skill has resulted in what must truly rate as THE single best text out there on Visual C++ programming. No other book even comes close; no other book is even in the same ball park. This book sets a new standard of excellence that, sadly, most authors will never achieve.

The book starts with a quick 1 chapter 'once over' of the Microsoft Visual C++ Integrated Development Environment (IDE), explaining how to start a simple DOS window application and pointing out various useful features of the editor. At the end of this chapter you won't be an expert in the IDE, but you will be able to get a project created, a file started and start entering code.

From here to about the half way point Horton does a masterful job of teaching the practical basics of programming in C++. He not only teaches the language, syntax, and idiosyncrasies; he also teaches basic programming concepts, covering such topics as decision structures, loops, strings, sorting... basically everything you'd expect to learn in a full college 'programming fundamentals' course.

From the mid way point on through to the end of the book, Horton concentrates on teaching the practical aspects of programming in the Windows environment using Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). He pulls this off just as well as the first half of the text; although occasionally theory is a little bit terse or 'skimpy', the practical usage of MFC is well presented and thoroughly discussed.

Really, the only way to improve this text would be to double or triple it in size, and really let Mr. Horton take off. I considered - briefly - reducing my ranking of this book to 4 stars, simply because it attempts to do so much. But I just couldn't do it; this book is just too good, it achieves so much, it is so clearly written. It's an absolute masterpiece! To give this book less than 5 stars would be somewhat analogous to dismissing the Mona Lisa, simply because it was mounted in a rather indifferent frame.

For readers with absolutely no knowledge of computers at all, who don't know the difference between a bit and a byte and couldn't define either one, I might recommend Mr. Horton's "Beginning C++: The Complete Language". This text is approximately 950 pages of what amounts to DOS - style programming in C++. Because of the concentration on just C++ programming - there's no mention of windows in this text - there's much more room to delve into theory as well as practise. Mr. Horton puts the space to good use, with the result that every concept is extremely clear, and nothing is left unsaid.

I own both texts, and have found it very helpful to be able to cross reference between the two. While the C++ DOS programming covers much the same ground in both texts, it is covered somewhat differently; and this can help to clarify concepts that might have remained muddled otherwise.

If you have even the most basic grounding in programming, the Visual C++ text is probably all you need. With a concentration on practicality, this text starts with first concepts and gives you everything you need to start writing complex, windows based programs in C++ using Visual C++ from Microsoft.

If you're only planning on buying one text... this is it. If you want the BEST text... this is it. And if you don't RUN to the nearest bookstore and see what I (and others) are talking about, you're short changing yourself severely. Because this book can do a lot more then take up space on your bookshelf. This book can actually teach you C++. You can actually learn to write complex Windows based programs - even obtain employment as a competent C++ programmer - with nothing more then Visual C++, and this book.

Hear that soft tapping sound? That's opportunity, knocking. And if you give it a chance, this book can change your life.

Charles Worton, MCP, MCP+I, MCSE, A+