Customer Reviews

Visual C++(r).NET Developer's Guide

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

 

 

This book covers (lightly touches without digging in) much of the classic VC++6 technology using the new VC++ .NET. It covers MFC ISAPI extensions and filters, code signing, OLE DB, ADO, ODBC, creating Help files, classic InstallShield scripts, Windows Installer (v1.2 with VS6), MMC app development via the MMC ATL template, SOAP, MFC, and all the VS tools.
There are two pages dedicated to ADO.NET and it states that it is Microsoft's vision. ( I have been programming this "vision" for a year already. No code samples included or even code snippets (although there was supposed to be some, as mentioned on the cover and in the Unit Header on page 251).
Very little Managed C++ in this book. There are a few examples in Chapters 13 and 14. There is some text here about .NET such as the IL Disassembler (ILDASM.EXE). No mysteries revealed here, though. Text in Chapter 12 compares C# to C++.
Extensive coverage of ODBC.NET (2 chapters) - an add-on for VS.NET. Note that this is not to be confused with ADO.NET.
Some material included on attribute-based programming and working with delegates.
The author is quite knowledgeable and skilled at developing applications with Visual Studio 6. I will use this book when developing classic COM applications with VC++ .NET. I liked the explanations of the many tools that come with VC++ 6/.NET (for example, six pages on the Dependency Walker).
Want to write multi-threaded MFC applications? This is the book.

Want to learn VC++.NET? Look at the MSPress Step-by-Step (ISBN: 0735615675) book (The MSPress Deluxe Learning Edition (ISBN: 0735616353) contains the Step-By-Step book plus VC++.NET).

Apress just put out a good book (ISBN: 1893115283) on Managed C++ with interoperability/migration tips for classic C++. This book was written by the VC++.NET developers at MS.

I gave this book three stars because of the misleading topics mentioned that were included. I would have gave two stars but the content is good for classic COM development.

This is the first book that I've seen that understands the problems that developers face today. .NET is not the end all solution for every programming problem, it's a nice new technology that doesn't really support older applications. I found this book refreshing in that it tells how to transition from Visual C++ 6 to Visual C++ .NET. It contains programming examples from both worlds and helps the reader move from one to the other. For example, I found great examples that show how to use existing components in .NET applications and vice versa--how to use new components I create in my old applications. OK, so this book doesn't ignore Visual C++ 6 and cover Visual C++ .NET to the exclusion of everything else--that's the reason I find it so helpful. If you're looking for a straight Visual C++ .NET book that ignores the realities of development today, this isn't the book for you. However, if you're like me and need to develop applications in a mixed environment, then this is just the place to look.

After reading the reviews here at amazon.com, I decided to order this book. I've been working with Visual C++ 6.0 before, but I'm right now changing to .NET. This book seemd to be the one for me.

Well, it wasn't. I just don't lika the way the author writes. Some authors can get you just drawling for more, and eager to get started. Well, this one didn't. I also don't like the authors way of focusin so much on distributed progams. Sure, distributed programming is an growing area, but still, lots of non distributed, desctop applications are made!

After reading about half the book, I gave up. Instead I went for "Special Edition, Using Visual C++ .NET", and I have just started reading it. I hope it will give me a little bit more.

This book is written for someone who is moving from Visual C++ 6 to Visual C++ .NET for the most part. The author covers both managed and unmanaged techniques, so I found the coverage complete. Some people might find they want a managed code only book, so this wouldn't be a good choice. I found all of the explanations clear and easy to understand. All of the source code I tried worked as anticipated. The author includes a lot of coding examples and the book is actually a little light when it comes to theory. I had some theoretical questions and contacted the author (who places his email address all over the book). He was quite friendly and helpful. I received a good answer to my question very quickly (the same day in fact).

This book is written for someone who is moving from Visual C++ 6 to Visual C++ .NET for the most part. The author covers both managed and unmanaged techniques, so I found the coverage complete. Some people might find they want a managed code only book, so this wouldn't be a good choice. I found all of the explanations clear and easy to understand. All of the source code I tried worked as anticipated. The author includes a lot of coding examples and the book is actually a little light when it comes to theory. I had some theoretical questions and contacted the author (who places his email address all over the book). He was quite friendly and helpful. I received a good answer to my question very quickly (the same day in fact).

src is trival coding and also not working.How can this book be the developer guide. what a shame. waste money and your time.

What I like about the book is the samples on how to use OLE DB in Unmanaged and Managed code. I especially like the example on how to print from OLE DB.

I would love to see more OLE DB samples like Updating, Creating New Records and more details on using OLE DB in Unmanaged Code. The same would be true for ADO.NET.