Customer Reviews

Transactional COM+: Building Scalable Applications

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...What the hell is the IMarshal3 interface?

The previous reviewer seems to be disappointed that most of the book's sample code is written in C++. Alas, at this time (and until the moment, perhaps in the second release of .NET, when the COM+ component services are implemented in managed code) a significant part of the COM+ infrastructure is simply inaccesible from Visual Basic.

As the title and the preface state, the book's focus is on transactions in the COM+ environment of Windows 2000. Perhaps a list of "requirements", and don't take these too serious, will decrease the number of disappointed readers:

The reader should:

-know the basics of COM

-be comfortable reading C++ code (Although VB or JScript is used now and then)

-know, or read up on, the ATL util classes (CComPtr, CComBSTR)

-same thing for OLE DB (& the ATL consumer wrappers)

What the book does not cover (and again, this is stated in the preface):

-LCE (COM+ Events) and QC

-CRMs

-Security topics

The structure loosly resembles "Essential COM". (that's a compliment :-) )

In my opinion the book delivers on it's promises.

I'm a professional software engineer with twenty years experience, so I've read my share of computer books and dipped into hundreds more.

This is quite simply one of the best computer books I've ever encountered. A classic.

So many computer books are just rehashes of vendor documentation, vague or misleading or wrong in all the same places the vendor documentation is. This book is different. The author clearly has tested every assertion with his own "spelunking" code. He explores every nook and cranny of COM+, and every sentence is carefully considered, clearly stated, and as far as I can tell, absolutely accurate. There's no "hand-waving", no BS, it's just absolutely solid. Crystal clear, razor sharp.

It's a shame, really, that the title is "Transactional" COM+. I had the book for quite a while before I got around to reading it, because the title misled me into thinking that if I wasn't using transactions then it didn't apply to me. Wrong! This book covers COM+ generally, not just transactions, with particular emphasis on the elements of COM+ that are most likely to affect scalability of middle tier applications. Want to know what threading models to use in components called from ASPs? Want to really understand why? This is where to find out.

It's a serious work and really deserves to be studied with some care, but whatever effort you put into studying it will be amply rewarded.

If only all computer book authors were as smart, as conscientious, and as intellectually honest as Tim Ewald. Bravo!

Dispelling myths, exposing guts of COM+, testing one's ability to read it in one go, this book has it all.

After reading thousands of pages on COM/COM+ I can safely claim that this is the best COM+ book ever. It is one of best programming books I have read in my 15+ years of serious programming activities.

Tim Ewald is the author that delivers the content on the level expected by professional developers, and he does not treat you like a kid talking about stuff that you can learn in five-minutes browsing sessions on MSDN. He goes deep into COM+ and takes you with him in a fast, challenging pace. This book makes you read it in one night, cover to cover, and after you figure out that you got lost just around chapter 6, you start over and read it again.

"Transactional COM+" is invaluable reading for any serious architect or developer using COM+ as their environment of choice. Examples are clear, and, although written in C++, should not be hard to understand. Any serious VB developer looking to grasp COM+ at this level should be able to at least read C++ and map it over to VB implementation (where applicable).

Thank you, Tim, for this wonderful book.

If you're an architect or developer working on a COM+ application that needs to be scalable, you should read this book. If defines what scalability is, explains how COM+ applications should be written to achieve scalability, and explains in clear and concise detail, COM+ concepts such as apartments, contexts, activities and causality.

A lot of people just don't get COM+. Whether this is due to the absolute trash that is written about COM+ in a lot of others books or MSDN, I don't know. You simply cannot stick all of your components into a COM+ application and expect it to scale. It just doesn't work like that. Even if you think you've got your design right, there are lots of hidden caveats to catch you out. You need to understand what COM+ does with your components, how it manages context, the cost of this management vs traditional non-configured components etc

This book presents a clear picture of how to do things the right way. It starts at a nice high level, and drills down into more detail as the chapters fly past. Further more, it gives you a warm feeling that the author really has worked on real world applications, and not just written `play and experimental' applications. Other books have come close to this (the Richard Grimes and James Conard books sprint to mind) but this is the best to date.

In Summary....

If you think you know COM+ inside out, read this book and see how your understanding of COM+ fits with what Tim has to say. I'm glad to say I fully agreed with nearly every word, and couldn't put the book down. I learnt a couple of things too, so I'll certainly be changing our applications in future releases.

Thank you Tim.

Clear, concise and honest this book is for the advanced programmer/architect. It shows all the inners of COM+ and everything is based on serious theoretical background that too many of the developers today are missing.
Excellent.

.... but is a let-me-explain-to-you-why book. The authoer (Tim Ewald) obviously has a clear unerstanding of how COM+ was designed, and how the different features it offers can be used to get the best out of it. It explains the basic concepts in a very clear way, and develops them briniantly. While reading a book, I always keep notes of questions I need to get answers for later, and not before long, I could find the answers in the following pages. I have no interest in promoting the book, but I think everyone whether experienced or a bigenner should get this book. Beware though, that you need to understand basic COM, threading and component-based development concepts to be able to keep up and get the most out of the book.

...with regards to COM+ before I read this book. A definite eye-opener! Very well written, explains in a concise manner both the big picture but most importantly IMHO the little details, those little holes that prevent you from fully understanding what is going on, what is happening, when, where and why.
I had considerable plain-vanilla-COM experience when I read it, but I believe it can be of immense help even to COM novices (I wish I had read that amazing explanation of COM apartments as a thread affinity issue a couple of years back).
This book is so good, I would gladly buy a second copy!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Tim!!!

One of the great book. Every COM+ developers should keep a copy

All the code examples are in C++. A VB developer should look elsewhere for COM+ instruction.

I have been building transactional COM apps for many years. The cover says it all - I was blind in a lot of the things I was doing. I have read over 300 books and this is without a doubt the best book that I have ever read. Not just technology. This is "the best" book on the planet. Everyone should read this, study it, and carry it around with them wherever they go.