Customer Reviews

Programming Microsoft Windows CE, Second Edition (Pro-Developer)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most of this book follows the model of Charles Petzold's "Programming Windows" series. Most of the emphasis on specific Windows CE topics is on areas of control and UI programming that more experienced Windows programmers will find fairly straightforward. I was disappointed in the books complete lack of Windows CE ActiveSync coverage, arguably one of the toughest aspects of Windows CE programming.

Of all the books I looked at for Windows CE programming, this was by far the best. If you've read Petzold's Programming Windows, you'll feel right at home. Has the same style of writing & examples. Easy to pick up for even the novice C/C++ programmer.

All code is written in C. Doesn't use the Windows CE SDK, MFC, or ATL.

I have not seen the first edition of this book, which the author notes in this second edition, does not cover Pocket PC or other Windows CE 3.0 platforms.

The second edition of this book is written in a highly approachable manner that doesn't make sweeping assumption of the readers programming experience level. This style may turn off those who are a bit more experienced, but if you can handle the "hand holding", you will get some great information on programming for the Windows CE platform, including Pocket PC. If you have a cursory knowledge of C/C++, you'll follow this book perfectly.

Doug does a great job of not only explaining what XYZ API call is used for, but what all the parameters mean and the options available. He takes great strides to de-mystify daunting API calls that have several paramters by walking through each of them in real examples.

If you're looking to start programming for this platform, this book is definately worth checking out.

This book gives very, very little insite to anyone actually interested in using eMbedded Visual C++ to write in the Windows CE environment. The author gives one paragraph explainations of subjects and then goes into 10 page programs using tons of functionality that he refuses to explain.

Great for cut and paste. Horrible for anything else.

Not entirely useless, but by no means good.

There is an enormous amount of filler in this title. Most chapters contains 20+ pages of source code listing. That would be fine if the programs were illustrating a point or at least well-documented, but they seem to exist for the sole purpose of taking up space. In many cases the examples provided actually confuse the point rather than illustrating it.

Worse, the example programs are a blend of ALL the techniques discussed in a chapter--sorting out the information relevant to the particular technique/concept you are interested in is next to impossible. (e.g. the Property Sheet example in chapter 4).

In some rare cases it's possible to learn things by consulting this book, but when that happens it's almost always a case of "Oh, I didn't know that existed--now where do I go to find out how it works?"

I've found no instances of clear explanation or illustration of concepts in the text. It's just an undifferentiated 500 page block of blah-blah, yadda-yadda.

I've almost entirely abandoned it in favor of the (free) online documentation included with embedded C++.

Doug's book is professional, clear and easy to follow through excellent examples and plentiful sample source code. If you're working with CE or thinking about it, you can't afford to miss this book. Doug's attention to detail is exemplary and his CE knowledge is strong and comes out in this fine effort. Don't expect anything but SDK level code...just WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN here folks! SIP and SHELL topics are just some of the gems found inside this comprehensive CE book.

Doug has put together the best CE book I have seen so far. This book explains many tricky points in programming for CE. From how to hook into ActiveSync, to how to correctly capture those pesky mousepoints, to programming those buttons on the bottom of the unit. Whether you are using Pocket PC, Palm-Sized or Handheld you will find this book an invaluable resource. I do!!

I bought the first edition right before the second edition came out. The second one has a lot more coverage of more contemporary topics and I liked it a lot better. There isn't an abundance of different examples available for developers but this book helps bridge the gap. If you are doing CE development, I think you'll appreciate this book.

Bill
bill@devbuzz.com

I have been looking and looking for a Windows CE book that covers development with Embedded VC++. I have only been able to read through it for the past couple of days but it is already coming up as a book to keep next to my computer (and PDA).

Only gave it 4 stars because all the samples were written in straight C++. Still looking for something with MFC.

If you want to know anything about how to write a Windows CE application using Microsoft's Visual C/C++ you should acquire this book. The book is a whopping 854 pages of valuable programming information. It's not just ramblings about nothing like so many programming books are.

All of the usual Windows API programming topics covered along with the new Windows CE related ones such as memory management, Object Store for files, databases, and registry (most Windows CE devices have no rotating memory), processes and threads, Windows CE networking, desktop / Windows CE communications, shell programming, system programming, and COM basics (barely).

The book will save you countless hours when writing Windows CE applications. I can tell that the author, Doug Boling, worked long and hard to put a complete Windows CE application development reference together.

The book provides a CD-ROM containing all the source code from the book along with the Developer Studio project files. According to the author, the examples are Windows CE 2.0 compatible. Also included on the CD-ROM are the platform SDK's for the Handheld/PC and the Palm/PC Windows CE devices.

Programming Microsoft Windows CE does not cover Windows CE operating system configuration builds using Microsoft's Windows CE Embedded Toolkit for Visual C++ 5.0 (Embedded Toolkit) along with the Embedded Development Kit (EDK). This is another topic for another book yet to be published.

How to perform Windows CE operating system configuration builds is a subject yet to be decently covered in a text book. The book Inside Microsoft Windows CE by John Murray briefly touches on this topic.

As a new Windows CE developer, you should not attempt to write applications without this book. I wish it had been available six months ago when I first attempted to develop a WinCE application.

I am not affiliated with the author or Microsoft by any means or relationship. The views here are strictly mine.

Pete Mackie, Seaquest Software