Customer Reviews

Visual C++ 4 Unleashed

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This is a poorly written book. The author clearly states thatthis bookis not for the novice programmer but for those experienced in C/C++ and Windows programming. However, after reading this book, I fail to find how this book can be of benefit to any programmer, novice or otherwise. The book is primarily fluff, without any satisfying explanation of the concepts presented. The explanation of the MFC classes are a prime example of what is wrong with this book. There are samples of MFC coding generated from the AppWizard, but little clarity in explaining the "nuts and bolts" behind the code. True, a seasoned MFC programmer would understand the material presented, but then again, a seasoned MFC programmer would find little in this book that he does not already know. If the book is too confusing for a beginner and yet at the same time does not present adequate technical explanations for the professional, whom are the book's intended audience?

As a person who is very competent in C++, I expected this book to be useful for learning those elements of Visual C++ that are specific to programming for Windows 95/NT. I was grossly mistaken. This book assumes that you are familiar with Windows programming (perhaps using C), and helps you make a transition to Visual C++. For those who are already familiar with Visual C++, it gives tips and tricks to get the most out of the system. Perhaps this is the norm for "Unleashed" books (this happened to be my first one). It just didn't work for me.

This book has a good general overview of many of the power-tools in the Visual C++ development system. It is definitely not written for beginners, however. The included CD-ROM is of little use except for source code.