Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic [Paperback]

Davis Chapman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672318369 | ISBN-13: 978-0672318368 | Publication Date: May 28, 2000 | Edition: 1

Using client-proven methods, and over 15 years of programming experience, expert author Davis Chapman empowers developers to create powerful, secure applications. Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic first provides you with an understanding of encryption, and then guides you through adding security features to your own applications using the Microsoft CryptoAPI, and the new security features of Windows 2000. Developers who have been confused by the high-end, academic style of other encryption books and cryptography theory will delight with Chapman's understandable style and hands-on methods. This book covers security topics developers want and need to know including File Encryption, Encrypted Communications, Working with Certificates, Digital Signatures, SChannel Communications (SSL), Secure E-Mail, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Using client-proven methods, and over 15 years of programming experience, expert author Davis Chapman empowers developers to create powerful, secure applications. Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic first provides you with an understanding of encryption, and then guides you through adding security features to your own applications using the Microsoft CryptoAPI, and the new security features of Windows 2000. Developers who have been confused by the high-end, academic style of other encryption books and cryptography theory will delight with Chapman's understandable style and hands-on methods. This book covers security topics developers want and need to know including File Encryption, Encrypted Communications, Working with Certificates, Digital Signatures, SChannel Communications (SSL), Secure E-Mail, and much more.

About the Author

Davis Chapman is a professional developer with over 15 years of programming experience. Davis is a consultant who has provided application solutions for Fortune 500 companies which have included client/server, web-based and, of course, secure applications. Davis has written and contributed to several Macmillan titles including Sams Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 21 Days, Web Development with Visual Basic 5, and Building Internet Applications with Delphi.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (May 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672318369
• ISBN-13: 978-0672318368
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,683,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Writing C Applications in VB, June 19, 2000

By 

Nello Lucchesi (Glencoe, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic (Paperback)

I've been using Microsoft's CryptoAPI for several months now with the MSDN website as my only resource.

Unfortunately, this resource uses C to document the APIs and all the sample code is in C as well. So I was delighted to see Chapman's book with a title targeted to Visual Basic developers.

Indeed Chapman includes VB snippets to document the CAPI and includes whole VB projects as demonstration applications. You can download all the projects from the (public) website:

This is all good and an improvement for VB developers who have struggled to learn the CAPI from documentation written in C. Chapman includes VB declarations for the CAPI functions, translates constants from WinCrypt.h from C into VB, and creates VB user-defined types that correspond to the C structures. These things are very, very helpful. They will save developers a great deal of time and the source of many typographical errors that require debugging effort.

I was disappointed, however, that Chapman didn't go further. A VB developer who understands the CAPI could use what he's supplied very effectively. But that is the catch 22. The CAPI is cumbersome and desperately needs some sort of object model and COM wrapper to make it usable to newcomers. Chapman stops at function declarations and requires the VB developer to make all the right calls in the right order with the right arguments. This is really doing C development in VB.

To summarize this is a good book and worth purchasing but there is still the opportunity to do it one better. Hopefully someone will.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encryption, encryption, encryption, October 27, 2000

By 

Alex Rohr (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic (Paperback)

I just received my copy of this book and I can't put it down. I have always wanted to learn encryption, and now I have. This book offers more than encryption such as digital signatures, and SSL. If you want to learn security in VB buy this book, you won't regret it.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference on encryption., July 4, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Secure Applications with Visual Basic (Paperback)

Developing Secure Applications With Visual Basic provides the reader an understanding of encryption, and then guides them through adding security features using the Microsoftâ CryptoAPI and the new security features of Windows 2000. Developers will delight in Chapman's understandable style and hands-on methods. The book covers security topics developers need to know, including File Encryption, Digital Signatures, SChannel Communications (SSL), Secure E-Mail, Kerberos Authentication (Windows 2000), Active Directory Security (ADSI). Intermediate - Advanced, 608 pages