Customer Reviews

Inside Ole (Microsoft Programming Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I tend to agree with most of what is said in previous reviews. The tome could have been easier to read. You really must pay attention to every word written. Personally, I ignored everything relating to C.

Inside OLE 2nd Edition is not for you if you want to jump write in and code with MFC and especially the ATL. Much of what Mr. Brockschmidt discusses is encapsulated within the ATL. But any developer worth his salt knows that debugging and even everyday coding depends on a solid understanding of what's going on underneath. This book definitely gives you that. I studied IO2E with that in mind. I have no intention of hand coding coclasses from scratch, but absorbing the material presented in the book makes learning ATL a whole lot easier.

Surprisingly, I found the book not dated at all even though the notion of ActiveX did not exist at the time of writing. Just about everything that one would currently do with COM today is in the book and still applies 100%.

For a d! eep understanding of the reasoning behind COM and how to use it, I have not read any better explanations. There is a lot of information out there on how to build a COM interface, but not much on what to do with it once you have built it. I really gained a lot of insight on how to build systems using interfaces and "object hierarchies".

If you have the time, I would suggest to read Inside OLE 2nd Edition and then move on to Inside COM. Following that you can tackle the ATL. If not, Inside COM is still an excellent first step. In any case, the book makes a valuable desk reference. It really is the "bible" so-to-speak.

This was a book I disliked when I was a COM beginner. But after I know basic concepts and write a lot of COM/OLE codes, this book begins make sense. It is a serious book for experienced COM programmer. I think the author should update his examples which could not compile on VC6++ so we can debug into his codes and understand his examples better.

99,9% of Plain OLE is covered. No MFC/OWL/ or anyother compiler-dependent technique. It is the must for the serious programmer.
Warning: not for beginners, make sure you know C++ and the Win32 API well before trying the book.

I consider this book to be the bible* of what to become OLE, OLE2, (OLE again,) COM, ActiveX, COM+, etc.
If you want to deeply understand these techniques, take the time and read this huge book. It is both enjoyable and very helpful.

(*did not mean to offend anyone with the term 'bible'. If I did - please forgive)

This book is undoubtedly the best one you will find for the details of COM and OLE. Comment for some of the other reviews: I think it is too bad that because one's lack of ability to read English at a higher-level that you lambaste the author - shame on you, get a dictionary! Brockschmidt needs to provide an update on this text, until then you will have to make do with what we have at this time -- if indeed you can find a copy. As for me, my own will stay in my library for reference!

I didn't understand OLE at all until I read this book.(period) It is true that this book is difficult to understand. But there is a reason. OLE is very complicated. Anyone try to teach you by simplifying the OLE will mislead you!!! Chapter1 and Chapter2 are the best introduction of OLE. You don't need to read anything else! Chapter 5-6 are the best chapters about component and their marshaling.

This book tells you everything about OLE. It decribe the internal meachanism in detail. Also this book has the best diagrams about OLE.

Buy it and read it. You will love it as I do.

There was a time when this was the only book that could be had that covered things you needed to know to write apps that handle OLE enough to pass VeriTest.

Thankfully there are newer books that explain COM and controls much better. I still have to break out this book every now and again because OLE is still required.

Mr BrockSchmidts writing style is very difficult to read and the code samples are extremely outdated. I suppose no other books on OLE have really come out because it is assumed that MFC will deal with many of the weirdnesses of OLE. That is unfortunate because MFC apps are HUGE bloated creatures that do NOT implement all the OLE functionality needed to get a fully functioning OLE application.

On the positive side, it is definately a cure for insomnia.

I feel this is a must book for any one dealing with OLE. It delas with both COM and OLE. For COM alone, there are other books "Inside COM" and "Essential COM".

This foundational bible is a good desk reference. Chapter one summarizes the remaining chapters, and is therefore a good starting point for the uninitiated. Once a topic has been perused in chapter one, it can be studied in the specialty chapter.

This book tries to cover too much territory while at the same time that territory is being outdated. Mr Brockschmidt's writing style acheives two phenonmenal feats: he is both condescending and incomprehensible! Unfortunately, I've had to read this book because no where else is the the Ole type library, the concept of Marshalling, or C++ automation controllers adequately covered. Mr. Brockschmidt does not give any context to the important interface functions. The way around this is to use the examples,and see what the author has done to solve problems. This is especially relevant for Chapter 14, which shows you how to write a C++ automation controller. He also has wasted time in comparing C to C++, this is irrelevant and should be in another book if anybody cares about it. In terms of sytle, the transition from one chapter to another is rough, and I wonder what the editor was thinking when he let Mr. Brockschmidt ramble on, obfuscating important details with irrelevant trivia and minutia. Warning: Read only Chapters 2,3, and 14 if your a C++ programmer, and buy Dale Rogerson's book on Inside COM, a great book written in English! Nobody else should be put through this torture.