Visual C++ .NET Bible [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Tom Archer (Author), Andrew Whitechapel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bible | Publication Date: July 15, 2002

If you want to gain more precise control over Windows and Web-based applications, this is the only comprehensive combination reference with tutorial you need by your side. Expert programmer and author Tom Archer begins with thorough hands on introduction, such as SDI applications, MDI applications and dialogs then moves quickly to the skills expected of professionals, such as internet programming, multithreaded programming and attribute programming.
The author ensures that the novice professional receives special explanation as well as dispensing expert tips, such as ATL Server issues and programming .NET for the advanced developers.
This book fills the "holes " between understanding how to create a Visual C++ project and how to implement a complex application.
Visual C++.NET Bible is the essential guide for developers at every skill level with its step-by-step instructions, real world examples and Tom's expert insight into developing industrial strength applications.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Given .NET induces a sea of change, C++ provides a rock-solid vessel to stand upon and with this book, Tom is your captain."
—Michael Lane Thomas, .NET Series Editor

• Master database programming techniques including ODBC, DAO, and ADO
• Harness the power of COM, ATL, COM+, and ATL Server
• Jump right into writing your first MFC application

If Visual C++ .NET can do it, you can do it too . . .

With greater MFC-ATL integration, and a new Web services class, Visual C++ is better than ever in its .NET release – the development environment of choice if you want to combine the control and performance of C++ with built-in support for Windows and the .NET Framework. This comprehensive guide by Visual Studio guru Tom Archer shows you how to make the most of Visual C++ .NET, whether you’re new to Windows development or an old hand looking for tips on the latest tools and techniques. From user interface and dialog basics to ATL Server, Web services, and managed code, it’s all you need to get up to speed and get the job done.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Visual C++ .NET

• Get a MFC programming crash course in UI basics, from menus to GDI to dialogs
• Master multithreading, Internet programming, and other advanced MFC techniques
• Delve into ODBC, ADO, database attributes, XML and other data I/O issues
• Get the scoop on COM and ATL–from components and eventing to ATL
• Build XML Web services using the new ATL Server class
• Harness the power of COM+
• Discover the secrets of writing managed code

About the Author

Tom Archer has over a decade worth of experience programming in several operating systems as well as with a multitude of languages. He has worked on the development of two successful software products, IBM/World Book's Multimedia Encyclopedia and Peachtree Software's Office Accounting. Tom writes books as well as being a senior level Windows NT/ VC++ consultant.

Andrew Whitechapel has spent 20 years in the software industry, over 12 of them using C++ at all levels, from embedded systems through to n-tier distributed enterprise solutions. He has spent most of the last decade working with the Windows platform, the MFC and ATL, and the suite of Visual Studio tools to produce advanced systems across a range of industry sectors. He firmly believes that .NET will revolutionize the way we design and write software.
In the unmanaged world, Andrew plays rugby for Battersea Ironsides rugby club in London- the best club in the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; illustrated edition edition (July 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764548379
• ISBN-13: 978-0764548376
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,821,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good overall, except for bug ridden examples, February 28, 2005

By 

dslbrian "dslbrian" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual C++ .NET Bible (Paperback)

I've been working through this book for a while now, and overall the material is presented in a decent format. For the most part you can pick the topic to work on (ie. Menus, Dialog boxes, etc) and focus on that chapter to learn it. For someone like myself who needs a point solution (very specific app with very narrow GUI requirements) this works well.

However that said, one thing that is driving me nuts in this book are the bug-ridden examples. I've been through quite a few chapters now, and I've come to the expectation that its not a question of -if- a given example has a bug, but where it is located (since it almost certainly has one or more).

To give an example I just read over the Modeless dialog example in chapter 11. It starts off having you throw down a dialog and a bunch of controls, without exactly telling you what IDs to give them (after a while you get used to this, because the author does this a lot). Its important because by the time you get to step 7 in the example you realize that the ellipsis button should have an ID of IDC_FILEOPEN if you want your function call to line up with the demo (again not such a problem since you can change the IDs at anytime - but I'm just getting started). At step 10 you get to enter in a global function (huh? what the heck happened to the class?). Moving on - Step 12 has you adding in member variables to a class which won't exist until step 13. Yeah good job there. Step 19 has an erroneous structure definition. And to top it off, steps 21 and 23 have you add message handler functions without actually telling you how to map them in the message map. Whew! and this is just one example program. Typed in exactly as the steps in the book describe, this example compiled with something like 20+ errors. Fixing the structure and the map problems (which required downloading the code off the website to figure out what to do), eventually got it to work.

Overall I think the content and the way the material is broken up is good, however this book needs a complete overhaul and proofing on the examples.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not .Net, August 9, 2005

By 

William Gustafson (Phoenix) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Visual C++ .NET Bible (Paperback)

This is a regurgetation of C++ and MFC. .NET and managed C++ are only briefly addressed. There are better books.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The place to start, February 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Visual C++ .NET Bible (Paperback)

Several months ago, I was faced with a daunting challenge -- to develop a state of the art, user-friendly Windows application despite the fact that I had never written any Windows code. Armed with this book and a knoweldge of C++, I quickly mastered enough MFC, COM, and ATL to deliver a great product to a happy client. I couldn't have done it without this book. It will quickly give you the foundation to learn more advanced topics or move in whatever direction your work requires. If you supplement this book with the examples and www.codeproject.com or www.codeguru.com, you will be up to speed in no time.