MFC Programming from the Ground Up [Paperback]

Herbert Schildt (Author)

Book Description

Series: From the Ground Up | Publication Date: August 1, 1998

MFC 6 is a major revision shipping with Visual C++6. This text is a comprehensive description of all MFC essentials with ready-to-run examples, tips and suggestions for those programmers making the transition from API for Windows programming.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Speed up your application development using the Microsoft Foundation Classes. Herb Schildt, the world's leading programming author, has teamed up with Microsoft's MFC specialist Frank Crockett to create this completely updated and expanded Second Edition of the best-selling MFC Programming from the Ground Up. Let these two experts bring you up to speed on MFC's newest features with this step-by-step guide that covers the full-range of MFC programming. This fast-paced tutorial provides ready-to-run examples, programming pointers, and insider tips. It starts with the basics, including an overview of MFC, the MFC class hierarchy, and the general form of an MFC program. It then progresses to the fundamentals of MFC programming, including message boxes and menus, common controls, graphics, and more. Next, you will learn abut property sheets and wizards, thread-based multitasking, and enhanced menus. Finally, you will learn about some of MFC's newest and most advanced features including ActiveX. Whether you're a seasoned Windows programmer looking for a quick migration path to MFC or a beginner just learning to program for Windows, MFC Programming from the Ground Up has everything that you need.

Product Details

• Paperback: 663 pages
• Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill; 2 Sub edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0078825733
• ISBN-13: 978-0078825736
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,233,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different from ANY other Windows Progamming Book, June 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: MFC Programming from the Ground Up (Paperback)

If you have had the chance to read any of the programming books that are out there you will know this one stands out on a MAJOR point:

This is the only Windows programming book that I know of that shows you how to build Windows or MFC programs without using Wizards! All the other books build from the AppWizards - why buy a book for that when those examples come with Microsoft Visual Studio anyway?!

This book shows you how to write a straight Win32 application without MFC. Then it shows you how and why to write a Win32 application using MFC. After you read this book you have a chance of understanding the underlying code generated by an AppWizard - otherwise there IS ABSOLUTELY no way to comprehend what's going on.

No other book does that for some surprising reason. From the Ground Up is intelligently written with the goal of really making you a competent programmer. I read C++ from the Ground Up and then followed it with this book - the examples are deceptively simple and on the mark so you can get started on your own ideas. Once you finish this book you can really understand any Windows code you might find and be able to build expert skills very quickly.

Does this book have some elaborate example with database integration, MP3 player and a skinnable interface? No. None of the books give you that. But with this book I actually had the basis for figuring out how to make one after finding code here and there on the Internet! I've checked every major book and they seem to focus on making Windows programming seem like Visual Basic! You will never know how to really program that way.

The reason I am emphatic is because Schildt gives you the fastest way to go from zero to hero. Get the book and really follow it and you WILL NOT be disappointed!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for beginners and beginning windows programming, March 18, 2002

By 

"tfs104" (Newport Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MFC Programming from the Ground Up (Paperback)

I think the "from the ground up" books are excellent". I have about 20+ years experience in various languages (fortran, C, C++, Pascal etc). Most of my experience is in straight line programming and was having trouble getting my brain around the MFC concepts. I spent a couple of days with the Windows 98 from the ground up to get the nuts and bolts view of windows programming and another couple of days with MFC Programming from the ground up. The nice thing is that the author follows the same subject matter in the same order with the same examples in all of the books. This was very helpful to me. It allowed me compare both styles and by starting with the API versions was able to see what is happening under the hood, which you won't find out if you start with MFC ( but it's close with this book).

Other reviews have complained about it being tedious as it kept using the same code with only small changes. This is the only way to teach. Any teacher worth his salt will tell you this. You don't need to type in the code as it is provided and you can cut and paste the major code and make your own changes to see various options work. Each piece of code builds on the previous which allows you to see exactly what is happening (you wouldn't see this if each example was completely different from the others). As I said I was able to do a couple of hundred pages in a few hours (it will obviously take longer if you have little experience) and it was definitely worth my while.

The complaint that this book didn't have "difficult to find stuff", is a bogus complaint. Of course it doesn't ( and I guarantee there is NO book that will give you the answer to every possible question), this is not an MFC Bible - it is a learn how to program MFC from the very beginning. It does this very well and covers all the pertinent material necessary to write a very complete program. Any programmer who has any experience at all will tell you will need many books on the same subject as REFERENCES. But without this type of book as a starting point - reference books would be of little value as you won't easily know where to find the information you need or how to use it, if you do find it.

One last observation on these reviews. When one reviewer says "Schildt's code does things in less-than-the-best way", he is obviously not a very knowledgable programmer or only know one way to do things. There is no such thing as a "best way". Sometimes a persons best way, is not a very instructive way. He claims it is too simplistic. That is the whole point of the book. If not "too" simplistic, many people will have a harder time.

I guarantee you no book will make you an expert, only experience does this. It never says it will make you an expert - but that you will learn to program windows using the MFC. This it does very well.

I'm sure some will disagree with me, but obviously Schildt did it right. Just look at all the people that this book helped. There is no way to please everyone, but I think this book comes as close as any is going to.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise, easy, and useable..., June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: MFC Programming from the Ground Up (Paperback)

I bought both of the MFC and Windows 98 Programming from the Ground Up books at the same. They are nearly indentical in content. This fact is great for a begginning Window's programmer (like me), but not so great for those on a budget. The Windows 98 book has more subjects, but is written using the 'traditional' Windows programming methods. The MFC book (of course) uses MFC and therefore is the much easier way to program for Windows. I never use the examples in the book 'as is'. The author writes his code examples and descriptions of the code well enough, that I can use the examples as guides to use in my projects. While neither book should be considered a complete reference, both provide enough information that I am constantly flipping through them to look for examples (which the MS Visual Studio does not show very well.) I bought SAMS' Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 24 Hours before these two books, which mainly teaches how to use the compiler. I previously had over five years experience in DOS programming with the Borland C++ compilers. In a about four months and these three books I feel that I know everything that I need to know to write any 'common' Windows 9x application using MS Visual C++ 6.