Customer Reviews

Pro Visual C++/CLI and the .NET 2.0 Platform (Expert's Voice in .NET)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a terrific resource for programmers who were stuck working in the Visual Studio 6.0 coal mines and are trying to adjust to life on the .NET surface. It has very easy to follow and complete information on .NET, and it is SO much easier to find information there than trying to glean what you need from the thousands of confusing and incomplete articles on the web that are littered with references to VB and C#.

It's very well written and easy to understand (unlike the forward by Stanley Lipman...don't worry Stanley, I sometimes write that way too), and I've had no problems finding what I need in the index. Just as the author suggests, you can just read a few chapters and then reference the rest of the book for the pieces you need.

There is some information that falls into the "duh" category for experienced programmers, but I'd much rather skim over that kind of information than to have the author assume you know something that you don't and then you have to search for that information elsewhere.

Great job Stephen!

Harry Strand
StrandControl, LLC
www.homedomination.com
hstrand@homedomination.com

I'm quite proud of this book (Okay the 5 stars might be a tad biased)...

Though my new hardcover book is physically 60 pages shorter than the previous version, don't be fooled. The type set used for the book is considerably more condensed and if the original fonts had been used the book would run well over 200 pages more than its predecessor. It contains 6 new chapters covering the topics:

* Integrated XML Documentation
* Windows Services
* Network Programming
* Security
* Unsafe C++ .NET Programming
* Advanced Unsafe C++ .NET Programming (PInvoke, Interop and Data Marshaling)

Not only are there these 6 additional chapters, the first four chapters were almost completely rewritten. Also due to the changes made from Managed C++ to C++/CLI, every example in the book had to be rewritten.

The only thing I regret about the book is that I had to remove the chapter on creating Web applications but there really wasn't much I could do about it as it can no longer be done. (I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong and submit an article to this book's support site http://www.procppcli.net showing how to do it.)

For those of you who end up buying the book thank you and I hope you get as much out of it as I put into creating it.

Stephen R. G. Fraser

This book is an excellent resource for C++/CLI. I rated it 4 stars because it has some typos that need to be cleaned up in future printings. The typos are certainly excusable because this was one of the first books on the market to cover C++/CLI in depth. The text is easy to read and the author makes insightful comments about C++/CLI language design decisions, and features. Most helpful to me though, were the sample programs that the author provided on his web-site. When one compares the number of sample programs that Microsoft provides for VB.Net, C#, and C++, it's clear that the C++ code samples lag far behind. The code samples provided by this book fill that gap. So far every sample program I tested ran successfully. The author's enthusiasm for C++/CLI and .Net is very apparent in his writing. If you plan to write C++/CLI .Net programs, this book would be a useful addition to your library.

Pro Visual C++/CLI and the .NET 2.0 Platform by Stephen Fraser is an extensive look at C++ programming for the 2.0 platform. The thing that I like about this book is the focus on .NET C++ development under the 2.0 umbrella. Nice writing, lots of content, overall a nice addition to your C++ library.

Chapters covered:

01. Overview of .NET Framework
02. C++/CLI Basics
03. Object-Oriented programming with C++/CLI
04. Advanced C++/CLI
05. .NET Framework Class Library
06. Integrated XML Documentation
07. Collections
08. Input, Output, Serialization
09. Windows Forms Applications
10. Advanced Windows Forms Applications
11. Graphics with GDI+
12. ADO.NET
13. XML
14. Windows Services
15. Web Services
16. Multithreaded Programming
17. Network Programming
18. Assembly Programming
19. Security
20. Unsafte .NET C++/CLI Programming
21. Advanced Unmanaged C++/CLI Programming

Overall the word that stands out more than anything else about this book is THOROUGH. This is a thorough look at the source material and an entertaining and informative book for developers.

Enjoy!!!

***** RECOMMENDED

As a person well-versed in C++ and looking to make a transition to the Managed world (the times they are a-changing), C++/CLI seemed to be the perfect language to take up. As this was one of the only books out when I took up this task, I decided to give it a shot.

Firstly, the material in this book is comprehensive. A simple look at the chapter list will quickly reveal this. The first 4 chapters or so will provide the reader with a solid base of new concepts, such as the handles, properties, and the managed heap. While none of this might be new to someone already within the .NET world, to a native C++ developer they're....well....they're like a foreign language. As this book is so encompassing, naturally, it is also looooong. One would surely struggle to get through the whole thing sequentially like one would do with so many other books. However, this book is laid out so that the reader can skip to any chapter after those first four and tackle the topic of his/her choice. As such, this book serves less as a structured learning environment so much as it does a reference. When you need it, go find it.

Secondly, as my title implies, the author has personality, and he shows it in his writing. This is a refreshing departure from so many dryly written books that are just trying to get the information across. The book doesn't read like stereo instructions, it reads like a guy sitting there telling you how to program. Books of the former nature often threaten to put the reader to sleep, which sort of defeats the purpose of the book. You shouldn't fall asleep with Fraser's book.

If I have one criticism about this book, it's that there aren't too many practical examples. While it does include copious amounts of code to show how things work, it would have been nice to have some real programs to do along with the chapters. A growing program that runs the length of the book might put this one over the top. Given the non-sequential nature of the book, and the fact that it covers so much may have made that an impossibility, but it would've been nice.

For someone making a transition from C++ like I did, this is a great resource to help the switch. I can't really speak for someone brand new to programming. Overall, this book probably deserves a 4.5, but I'm knocking off a half star for Fraser's admitted Dungeons and Dragons obsession. Geek test!

The book starts with the very basics and quickly moves to the important aspects, leaving nothing to be explained. It covers more than just code, including XML, windows services, web services, security, assemblies, and much more, giving readers a perfect understanding of Visual C++.Net and the Common Language Interface.

This book is excellent. I needed a book that described how to create C++ classes that I could use in code behind for an asp.net site. Found everything I needed and then some. Excellent book!

This book is full of problems. Unfortunately I can't point to anything better.

From the chapter about Windows Services:

"Windows services, I'd like to point out, is a bit of a misnomer, as this same functionality is also available on the Mono/Linux platform using what is called a monod, which (I believe) is an implementation of a forked daemon and has nothing to do with Windows at all. I am also pretty sure the other .NET-implemented platforms don't use Windows in any way to implement the functionality. Admittedly, I have not looked into it. Personally, I think Windows services should be called service processes, as the implementing .NET Framework namespace suggests."

What is the author doing making pronouncements riddled with "I believe", "I have not looked into it", etc.?

Furthermore:

"Also, due to the fact that the Windows service has no interface, it is ideal for running in the background thread on a server. Since I do not cover multithreading until later in the book (Chapter 16), I will not the cover placing of a Windows service in a background thread, but after you have read Chapter 16, you should have little difficulty doing so."

If the services are ideal for threading (which they are) why is the chapter on threading deferred until after the chapter on Windows Services? Why weren't threads covered, and then the services could be covered including threads?

The whole book reads like this. It's a superficial reading at best.

I got this book almost 2 years ago, when there were almost no C++/CLI books on the market.

This book is fairly well written, and the author is undoubtedly a very experienced tech writer/software developer.

That said, I am a little dissappointed that after 2 years, there is one significant error in the book that is still not corrected in the errata.

On page 104 of the book, "Memory Management Destructors", it is said " You can call the delete operator on the handle of the ref class object, and the managed memory will be dealllocated IMMEDIATELY in reverse order to which is was allocated".

This is compleletly wrong. After calling delete, the physical memory hold by a reference class can NOT be deallocated immediately but will be reclaimed during next garbage collection cycle, it is STILL managed by garbage collector. C++/CLI just allows "delete" as an eye candy for C++ developers but still it is garbage collector that plays.

This cast serious doubt on the authors understanding the essence of C++/CLI.

Besides that, the book is a very good book, and I have great respect for the author's efforts. But it is still looks like the author translate it from his previous version in managed C++ and rush it to publish two years ago.

I'm not sure when to start to review this text. I've read it cover-to-cover, at least four times. I've read over the material and examples so many times, I can practically quote it chapter and verse. This book is hands down the best reference manual on C++/CLI that exists in print. If you had to select just one book to purchase on the topic, this one is it.

One of the things that particularly amazes me about this text is the sheer volume of it. Books this large are usually 75% reference material that can be found elsewhere. This is not the case with this text. It's has very little straight reference material, but instead is jam packed with original content, that's laced with useful insight and terrific examples.

I don't think there is much I can say critical about the material. About the only weaknesses are in the coverage of triple slash documentation and XMLReader/Writer usage.

The triple slash docs lack really useful examples -- and are built around NDoc. A more more useful set of examples, that show the output that results from specific input would have been more helpful. And NDoc development has halted, and is now replaced by Sandcastle.

I had never read another book by this author, but you can be sure I'd purchase one anytime I have need of a topic he's treated. Steven Fraser is an excellent author -- a real credit to his trade.