Customer Reviews

Exploring ArcObjects (Two Volume Set)

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

 

 

This new edition is a major improvement over the first incarnation called ArcObjects Developer's Guide. While this book is very large with over 1400 pages it really is an excellent survey of ArcObjects. Nearly every object and interface is discussed, some more so than others. However, it still lacks critical examples for building real world applications. For example, there's no example for building featureclasses from code. In fact, there's no complete application presented at all so the user is left with having to piece it all together.
Also some chapters are better "explored" than others. For example, there's a great deal of information on Composing Maps while there's very little details on using networks in chapter 11. This is probably a result of having different authors for each chapter. The inconsistencies showed.
As a result of these limitation, the practitioner is left with having to use the ArcGIS help and related documentation to complete all the missing pieces. Regardless this is a major improvement. Perhaps a new book should address the issues of building applications using this large object model.

An absolute must for arcobjects programmers.
But
This is for version 8, in which all classes were in the same library. The software is in version 9.1 - soon to be 9.2, and the classes are now in different libraries, therefore many examples in the version 8 book don't work now. Everything is online including updates now, but I like paper.
When will an updated version come out?

Although this book is available in PDF format for free on the ArcGIS CDs from ESRI, the paper version is worth the price -- the 2 large volumes are difficult to use online and I prefer to browse through them. It's a must have for anyone doing serious ArcObjects programming. It's really more of a reference set, but also provides an overview of how to use the extensive ArcObjects model.

If you are developing with ArcObjects these books are indespensable. I am a core developer at ESRI on the ArcMap team and I very frequently consult "Exploring ArcObjects" for areas of the software I am not so familiar with.

I think every ArcGIS developer needs this book. It is very, very excellent, but old (for version 8). However, the concepts will nerver be out of date. ArcGIS framework is too huge to handle without a good reference book.

It is good resource for those who are already good in arcobjects.
I feel the publisher should give more examples to cater the needs of the novoice.