Customer Reviews

Practical Visual C++ 6

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this book easy to follow. Not only do you get an understanding of MS VC++ but you also get a great tutorial on the MSVC IDE. I've read a lot of VC++ books that have left me more confused than educated. In most of the books, by the time you get to the discussion of controls you're already bored out of your wits. This book starts out with dialog boxes and controls, including ActiveX (great from a Visual Basic perspective), and then gets into SDI's, MDI's,Device Contexts, et al. Buy this book for a good general discussion and tutorial of VC++ and then buy a more advanced book which discusses your subject of interest in more detail (e.g., Jeff Prosise's Programming Windows with MFC). The exercises are great so do yourself a favor and key them in. Also, you don't have to be a C++ wiz to understand what's going on.

If I see one more hack write their version of Microsoft Documentation Regurgitated I think I'm going to lose my lunch. Fortunately, this isn't one of those. This book differentiates itself by what it leaves out--you won't see nook and cranny of Visual C++ covered, and you won't get 800,000 lines of code free on the CD. Instead, it picks out the key features you really need to know to start getting a handle on Visual C++, and covers them clearly and thoroughly.

This book assumes you know how to write C++, and it assumes you understand object oriented programming, so it doesn't waste your time trying to rehash them. If you don't know these things, get a different book. But if you know the language but are new to MFC and the specifics of Visual C++, you'll find yourself able to put together a program in surprisingly short order.

At first, I was surprised and alarmed by the fact that it contained no CD of sample code like I'm used to seeing. But upon reflection, this makes perfect sense. Many of the nuances of working with Visual C++ and MFC are in working with the Visual Studio GUI and various wizards, and the chapters that concentrate on a topic take you through all the steps needed to create sample programs. The code that *is* used in the samples is inline in the chapter, but by creating it all yourself (rather than just opening a file on a CD), you get a feel for really using the tools.

Frankly, I always thought Visual C++ and MFC were really complicated to program in. If you know C++ pretty well, after you've worked through the chapters of this book that are relevant to whatever you're trying to program, it will be as easy as working in Visual Basic, and you'll still get all the power of a real programming language.

Of course, if you're looking to do low-level systems programming in Windows or tackle other advanced areas, this book isn't going to tell you how to do it. But it will make hooking up the front-end GUI, connecting to a standard ODBC database, and other common tasks quick and painless, so you can spend your time concentrating on the hard parts.

This is a great book for learning how to use the VC++6 software, and in so doing, gain an understanding of how to use the easy stuff (like controls). It doesn't do a lot to teach the syntax of C++, so if you want to know the key to the language, this isn't the book for you. If you want a genuinely first class tutorial on how to use the VC++6 software, this is it. And surprise surprise, what code there is actually works (anyone who's read a few computer books knows how rare that is!). To say that it will teach you intermediate C++ in a few chapters is however an exageration. I've read some other C++ books (and been programming several years in other languages) and as far as the actual C++ language goes, this book is about as basic as it gets. But even so, it's a great tutorial for the software and intro to basic MFC.

I'm a senior application developer for a computer company, but we're doing mostly in Unix environment, no GUI. I just wanted to learn Windows programming (for fun). So after searching for the right book, comparing different books, I've concluded to buy this one.

The reasons why I bought this book:

1. It is NOT about C++.
It's about WINDOWS programming, using Visual C++ IDE. Many other books explain about C++ 50% of it! But I know C++, and I have other C++ books. I want to know Windows programming!

2. Just right font type and size.
Does this really matter? Yes! I checked other books and the text are all cramped and printed in small size font, which gives me a headache and I know I will put the book away pretty soon.

3. This is a VC++ beginner's book.
But it contains enough information to build simple applications.

4. Easy reading, no BS.
Unlike other thick books with 50% on C++, this book doesn't go over the history of C++ and Windows platform, and other BS, and it is really easy reading.

I gave this book 4 stars, because 1. no book is perfect, 2. it doesn't cover internet applicaiton programming, like socket -- well, this book is about Windows GUI programming and little bit about OS specific programming, like OLE, COM, ActiveX., 3. it does not have CD-ROM and you can't download the sample code from any web sites. This is actually good and bad. I have tons of other computer books with CDs, but I never really look at them. If do, I just "look" at the source code and just run it, and that's it. No real learning. With this book, you MUST follow the steps, go to chapter to chapter in sequence. It's very detailed steps, and gradually, the book stops telling you all the detailed steps, but assumes you learned the steps. Which I think it's a great self-teaching approach. However, sometimes I get lost although I thought I learnt all the previous lessons, then I want to get the source code to see how it's done, but no CD/download is avail.

If you know C++, and want to learn Windows Visual C++ programming using MFC, then it is for you. (It only explains about API for one chapter.) The book is not a reference book, well, once you go over the book it could be, but you can't expect to jump into the middle of the book and it shows you how to do things.

And remember, you must be committed to go every chapters to learn. Otherwise, this book (or any books) is useless. Hmmm, I'm still in the middle of the book, and it's quite fun.

This is the book to buy if you want to learn Visual C++ 6. It explains VC++ in a comprehensive and direct way. No sidelines, no roundabouts. Just good plain learning, well written and worth you time.

Within the first few chapters I was programming intermediate VC++ code using MFC thanks to this books presentation.

I'm an experienced VB 6 and C++ programmer and I was looking for a good introduction for the visual part of C++ for windows programming. This book is really helpful! In the first chapters you begin programming with Visual C++ using MFC (knowing it or don't knowing it) and covers all programming skills you need to begin business programming (databases, ActiveX...) in the style of Visual C++. Also it has a good reference for MFC. For sure this is a beginners tutorial, but if you don't know anything of C++ I recommends you to take up some tutorial first to understand what's going on. I also recommend it for the VB programmers.

Yes, the book was renamed, old version was titled "Using Visual C++", but that's don't really matter with the its contents.

It is absolute a great book for beginer and intermediate Visual C++ programmers involved with MFC. The examples are well illustrated and easy to follow/understand! It covers most of the Visual C++ 6 Child Controls. Of course, this book is for programmers with subtantial knowledge of C++. Great book to buy!

This book certainly explains how to develop a Visual C++ application and not a C++ app. The Author has explained the steps in a well-ordered manner. This book teaches about how to use the MFC objects and does not teach C++. One should be familiar with c++ and its concepts. Otherwise this will book will be a nightmare. The phase of this book is also good. I had covered 6 Chapters in one day. Definitely this is not a book for advanced developers.

My Background: intermediate programming skills in several languages incl. C, C++, Pascal, IDL, Matlab and more. But no experience with real Windows programming (except Visual Basic). I bought the book to learn Windows GUI programming - still not convinced that I should chooes MFC and not Qt, fltk or something else.

This book is not worth the money. Things are made so easy that they become difficult. A lot of useless text, sometimes very detailed descriptions of non-important things, and very shallow description of important ones. A lot of cross-references to paragraphs and chapters without numbering of header. If you think MFC seems difficult - don't buy this book. You'll be even more confused. It can't help you. I'll go by another tomorrow.

This is an excellent book on teaching how to crossover from a UNIX programming environment to Windows. If you've been confused by MSDN Documentation I would highly recommend this book, as it gives tips on style, windows classes, etc. The book assumes you know c++, especially classes and pointers are helpful too.