Professional Windows DNA: Building Distributed Web Applications with VB, COM+, MSMQ, SOAP, and ASP [Paperback]

Chris Blexrud (Author), Scott Short (Author), Brian Loesgen (Author), Jonathan Crossland (Author), Dino Esposito (Author), Jason Hales (Author), Whitney Hankison (Author), Vishwanath Honnaya (Author), Tim Huckaby (Author), Slava Kristich (Author), Edward Lee (Author), Rockford Lhotka (Author), Stephen Mohr (Author), Simon Robinson (Author), Ash Rofail (Author), Brad Sherrell (Author), Dan Wahlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

Building distributed web applications is a wide-ranging topic, covering a variety of technologies and techniques. Windows DNA is the name given to the combination of traditional n-tier architecture with the intrinsic Windows 2000 services, including COM+, MSMQ, and Active Directory. Using this architecture, you can design and build scalable enterprise-level distributed applications on the Windows 2000 platform.

This book takes an in-depth look at the DNA architecture, focusing on fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. Each of the logical tiers is examined, with particular emphasis placed on the features COM+ contains to make component building simpler and more powerful.

Who Is This Book For?

This book is for anyone involved with building distributed web applications that want to see the bigger picture. As such the book assumes a working knowledge of VB and ASP in places, but the emphasis is not so much on the code as on where each of the pieces fit into the puzzle. It's designed to give you an idea of how each area or technology affects you, enabling you to make informed decisions about whether to pursue a subject further, or confidently assert that you can do without it.

What Does This Book Cover?

DNA architectural overview

COM+ including Transactions, Events, and Queued Components
Variable client richness and building rich clients
MSMQ
Business Objects
SOAP
Universal Data Access
Directory Services
Scalability and Availability
Security and Debugging
Case Studies showing actual implementation

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Weighing in at nearly 1,000 pages, Professional Windows DNA is a comprehensive guide to creating state-of-the-art Windows enterprise applications. Written for the more experienced VB or C++ programmer, this guide shows you best practices for creating scalable, multitiered Web applications that make use of the latest and greatest in Microsoft tools and standards, including SOAP and XML.

The tools-based focus of this tutorial is what sets it apart. While the authors provide background on important standards like COM+ for building middle-tier components, the book is anchored by real hands-on examples (and plenty of screen shots, where appropriate) on using tools like Visual Basic and SQL Server 2000.

First, the book leads you through a discussion of the latest developments and tools from Microsoft (like COM+, SQL Server 2000, and SOAP for communicating on distributed systems). There's a thorough tour of COM+, which gives DNA its middle-tier prowess. You'll learn COM+ configuration, security, and deployment, as well as how to use COM+ transactions and asynchronous message processing with built-in MS Message Queue (MSMQ) services. Later, there's a concise introduction to ADO database programming, as well as the new support for XML in SQL Server 2000. Useful debugging advice will help you out with server-side components, which can be notoriously hard to troubleshoot.

Final sections present a fairly substantial case study for an airline reservation system that's built with middle-tier components and ASPs for a Web interface. (There's also an e-commerce application for renting construction equipment.) The book also walks you through implementation of a back-end database, middle-tier COM+ components, and a browser-based front end that's built with ASP.

At least until the new Microsoft .NET Framework arrives, any system architect or developer can rely on this title to get a sense of how to build effective software for the enterprise. Professional Windows DNA is a thorough and up-to-date guidebook on the constantly shifting terrain of Microsoft tools and technologies. It's filled with nearly everything you need to know to develop scalable Web applications by using Visual Basic and Windows 2000. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Introduction to the Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (DNA) for enterprise development History of monolithic, client/server, and n-tiered architectures Overview of Microsoft DNA tools and components (including clustering support and server-side tools) DNA vs. .NET Frameworks Advantages of DNA for the enterprise Introduction to COM for component development (including IDL, IUnknown, and GUIDs) Distributed processing overview (socket basics, RPC, and components) COM+ and DCOM basics Designing middle-tier business objects with COM (UI vs. business logic) COM+ transactions and contexts COM+ security COM+ catalogs VB COM+ component programming Distributed transactions DTC and compensating resource managers (CRMs) Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) and asynchronous processing

COM+ queued components Events and callbacks COM+ events (publishers, subscribers, and filtering) Objects vs. Web services Primer on SOAP and XML Universal Data Access (UDA) (including ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, and RDS) SQL Server 2000 (including new XML support) Active Directory (and ADSI programming) Thin and rich clients (including terminal-based, HTML, and thick clients) Introduction to Active Server Pages (ASPs) for Web front ends ActiveX controls Scripting Office 2000 applications Performance and scalability hints DNA and Windows 2000 security Introduction to cryptography and certificates Debugging tips Case studies for sample enterprise DNA applications

From the Publisher

This book is for professional programmers who are moving into Windows DNA 2000 development and who need a thorough overview of the technologies and how they interact.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1000 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861004451
• ISBN-13: 978-1861004451
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,876,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good DNA (almost .Net) overview in one book, October 24, 2000

By 

Maxime Bombardier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional Windows DNA: Building Distributed Web Applications with VB, COM+, MSMQ, SOAP, and ASP (Paperback)

I have to admit, this book contains an impressive overview of all the Windows DNA technologies. As a reminder, DNA has been there for years and was working under NT4. It has been revamped with trumpets with a new name, .Net, with all those new services. The authors do have this in mind and they will tell you where .Net will be improving features.

I would recommend this book to anybody that wants to know what is Windows DNA/.Net (beside thinking it's everything that Microsoft is providing for developers!). Of course, you cannot have all those technologies into one book and expect the best coverage on all of them. Having that in mind, the authors create an incredible reference for developers that wants to upgrade to a more scalable & distributed environment as well as to take leverage of the new technologies that came with Windows 2000 (for developers that is).

The only thing that I have to mention (and I did to Wrox) was that I personnaly believe that this book, though the readers needs to have professional knowledge of development, would be better inside the Beginning series since this book serves as an overview reference of all those technologies. Wrox will undoubtfully then release multiple Professional books that will go further in those new technologies (such as doing COM+ events or asynchronous components, having XML Business Objects, etc.).

As a bottom line, most of the authors wrote in a confident programming style and it is a very interesting book to go through. ... But I can't wait for the .Net one!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Windows DNA Workshop in a Book, October 18, 2000

By 

Muhammad Zahalqa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional Windows DNA: Building Distributed Web Applications with VB, COM+, MSMQ, SOAP, and ASP (Paperback)

I have read, reviewed or skimmed through every book written about Windows DNA/COM from WROX, MSPRESS, AW and others. If you ever wanted to master the DNA architecture then definitely this is the book for you. In a well written book the authors explain the why, when and how of distributed application development with Windows DNA architecture. The subject matter begins with the obvious COM and n-tier architecture, which will ease the beginners in. Afterwards the plot thickens as more advanced areas are covered, like COM+ services, universal data access, XML and SOAP. The book is also great on the practical side as the theory is put to practice in a series of sample applications exploring the architectural ideas and techniques of implementation. This book builds and enhances the ideas first explored in the book "Professional MTS and MSMQ Programming with VB and ASP", and in contrast to that book you will find here a more robust, detailed and mature coverage of the subject matter.

A must book for visual basic developers working on distributed or web based applications. If you are a C++ guy then although the book is VB oriented, you still will find important insight into the architecture, services and methodology that comprise the DNA archetiture.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ends and outs of modern Microsoft development, April 8, 2001

By 

J. DEATS (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Windows DNA: Building Distributed Web Applications with VB, COM+, MSMQ, SOAP, and ASP (Paperback)

Windows DNA is an platform and methodology for Enterprise development. It is taking all of what Microsoft offers for industry : server software (SQL Server, Biztalk), development software (Visual Studio) and productivity software (Office, Viso) and making them tightly inter operatable to produce scaleable solutions that can be development very rapidly.

This book covers Microsoft DNA and does so very well. If you have been following the evolution of Microsoft's Enterprise development methodology and related technologies (MTS, COM, etc..) then you should flip though this one before buying to make sure it offers enough new information for your investment. Do this especially if you already have the Wrox title: Professional MTS/MSMQ and you have a good book on ASP or Visual Basic.

If however you are a beginner/intermediate level Visual Basic, ASP or VC++ developer and you want to expand you knowledge from how to build small-to mid-sized client-server or desktop applications to building scalable Enterprise solutions then this book is for you.