Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example [Paperback]

John E. Swanke (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0879305444 | ISBN-13: 978-0879305444 | Publication Date: January 15, 1999

-- Add extensions to the Developer's Studio Wizards -- 85 examples with complete working code Tired of the inadequate examples and documentation for MFC and Visual C++ development? Don't like what the Developer Studio Wizards give you? Beginning and exper

Create more sophisticated and powerful applications with MFC. You get an introduction to the MFC paradigm as well as solutions to 85 common application problems. 'Any half-dozen of the 85 examples is likely to save you more than a couple of hours of research.' - Windows Developer's Journal

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John E. Swanke has worked with COM since its inception. He also has over six years experience with Visual C++ and MFC creating CAD systems, network management, and computer telephony applications. He is an accomplished author having written articles on topics that range from reverse engineering to portability issues. John successfully established his teaching by example method with two MFC titles published in 1999: Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example and VC++ MFC Extensions by Example. He believes in the adage that an example is worth a kilobyte, i.e., each illustrative example is worth four or five times the amount of text it would take to illustrate the same technology. John is currently a program developer at NeuVis, Inc., in Shelton, Conn., and can be reached at [e-mail]

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: CMP (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879305444
• ISBN-13: 978-0879305444
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Examples, not step by step, January 25, 2001

By 

david h martinez (Stone Mountain, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example (Paperback)

I have been writing C/C++ programs for a long time, and I bought this book looking to go from console programs to graphical interfaces. I would not recommend this book for someone in this position. It has basic descriptions of various MFC classes and what they do, but not exactly how to use them. There is a gap between explaining the classes, and the examples, as the examples are complete programs that uses many classes put together.

For example, dialog boxes and control classes are described in Chapter 2, but the first example PROGRAM is in Chapter 5, after drawing, messaging, etc. I would have liked the book to say "Here is this drawing function, and this is how you intialize all of the MFC stuff to be able to use it." In fact, the book is more like "here is a list of drawing functions, some are used in Example X on page Z."

I suspect this book would be useful for a somewhat experienced MFC programmer but I wouldn't buy it as your first foray into MFC.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the time you'll save, January 19, 2001

By 

Victor R. Volkman "http://www.LovingHealing.com" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example (Paperback)

"Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example" by John E. Swanke serves both as an introduction to the MFC programming paradigm and an encyclopedia of how to solve 85 common application problems. In this sense, the book does apply to both beginning and experienced developers as advertised. Swanke assumes a working knowledge of object-oriented design concepts such as inheritance and polymorphism. Developers who dive into MFC without this background are likely to become confused quickly.

The introductory text covers messaging thoroughly, which is the single most important thing you need to know about how MFC works. This includes essential topics such as subclassing, superclassing, message pumps, reflectors, and window hooks. Each of these fairly abstract concepts are grounded in practical usage considerations. Many data-flow diagrams are used to good effect. However, the use of font sizes as small as six points makes them painful to read. Since the introduction to MFC is only a little more than 100 pages, only messages and drawing are covered in depth.

The remainder of the book forms an encylopedia of 85 user-interface examples. The layout of each example includes an Objective, Strategy, Steps, and Notes section. These run the gamut from the simple (Example 54: "Drawing text in your view") to the tricky (Example 47: "Customizing a Common Control Window with Subclassing"). Lots of them are going to be essential to any nontrivial MFC application (Example 28: "Adding NonButton Controls to a Toolbar). These will get you on your way, though a few may be too brief, such as the DAO which is only 8 pages. Overall, I believe the approach will be most helpful to either novice MFC developers going in to do maintenance on an MFC app or Windows developers from a different background who are converting to MFC (e.g. VB or Delphi).

Approximately the last 100 pages are miscellaneous appendices of which the most useful concerns window styles for all MFC supported controls. Many examples are included, which can save some trial-and-error in setting those often pesky flags. The accompanying CD-ROM has 4.6MB of the samples from the book. However, with many examples being fewer than 20 lines of code, the CD-ROM is overkill. A single ZIP file on an FTP site would have been better.

Any half-dozen of the 85 examples is likely to save you more than a couple hours of research or worse yet doing things the wrong way. Unless you're the most grizzled MFC veteran, I think you'll learn something from "Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example".

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for beginner to advanced, June 8, 2001

By 

P. Davis (Fayetteville, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual C++ MFC Programming by Example (Paperback)

I've been programming in Visual C++ for 6 or 7 years and I'm the project manager for a fairly large project. This book is perfect for most of my developers, especially the newer ones, but even I have taken away some great knowledge from this book. In fact, the reference card in the front was worth the value of the book itself.

I'm always forgetting the exact sequence of messages and overrides for Window and Dialog creation and destruction. I used to have my own copy written down years ago and lost it, and I've never taken the time to go through it again. Having that is terrific. I have it hanging from the lamp on my desk.

Great book. Well written, and solid examples of writing good MFC code.