Windows 2000 Systems Programming Black Book: The Only Reference Needed to Successfully Deploy Applications Within the Windows NT Operating System! [Paperback]

Al Williams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Al Williams (League City, TX) is the Java columnist and development section editor for Web Techniques magazine. He is the author of over a dozen popular computer books, including Active Server Pages Solutions, MFC Black Book, and Developing ActiveX Web Controls. His writing credentials also include the Windows Commando column for Visual Developer Magazine. In addition to consulting, Al frequently lectures on programming all over the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 700 pages
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books; Bk & CD-ROM edition (January 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576102807
• ISBN-13: 978-1576102800
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,774,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Windows 2000, March 13, 2000

By 

Mark Covert (Canton, Oh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows 2000 Systems Programming Black Book: The Only Reference Needed to Successfully Deploy Applications Within the Windows NT Operating System! (Paperback)

In my humble opinion this book should have been classified as a more win32 api programming book. When I purchased it I was hoping to have a referenced comparison between systems programming in NT 4.00 and 2000. When I refer to Systems programming I refer to device driver, I/O control systems, File Systems, etc. A really big disapointment was the section on Security, Kerberos was only mentioned in the last section of the chapter.

The order of topics seems strange, I guess I do not understand why ActiveX received a 100 pages in the second chapter while memory management received 20 in chapter 7.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally useful for advanced programmers, November 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Windows 2000 Systems Programming Black Book: The Only Reference Needed to Successfully Deploy Applications Within the Windows NT Operating System! (Paperback)

This book is basically about the applications of ActiveX (mostly MFC, but ATL is also used in Chap. 10) to Windows systems programming in a somewhat narrow sense, excluding low-level issues such as drivers, and also (mostly) security. Much of it is also relevant to NT and Win9X.

The examples are very well chosen, and if you study the code carefully you'll learn a lot, for there are many interesting details not discussed in the text. Have your on-line help at the ready -- and be prepared to do some sleuthing in atlsnap.h when you get to Chap. 10! Though the author cut his teeth on UNIX, he's also a Windows expert and handles the Windows API very adroitly, making the code a real pleasure to read. A few of the code examples don't quite work "right out of the box", but it's easy to fix them. Besides, a few bumps in the road help keep me awake.

The best chapters are the longest ones -- console apps, internet programming, shell programming and snap-ins (how many people know how to create a Windows shortcut programmatically?), and interprocess communications. There is also a long and useful review of ActiveX (I find some of ActiveX rather indigestible even the second or third time around).

If you don't know ActiveX yet, you're not ready for this book. But Williams has written another book on ActiveX, which judging from this one should be excellent; or you can learn the subject from Grimes et al., "Beginning ATL COM Programming" as I did, or some other way.

In sum, if you are already an advanced but nonexpert programmer this book will help you extend your knowledge further.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for serious programmers, March 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Windows 2000 Systems Programming Black Book: The Only Reference Needed to Successfully Deploy Applications Within the Windows NT Operating System! (Paperback)

I'm only about half way through this book but it is really worth it. The material is really about Windows NT in general with a lot of Win2K-specific material but it isn't just about Win2K so if you are coming from Win98 or whatever that's OK.

I liked the ActiveX part -- I finally "get" ActiveX. I've never read such a clear explanation of the WHY of ActiveX before.

Because of the W2K stuff, some parts of it is stuff you probably won't use every day. I don't care about fibers or job control, but someone does I'm sure. Completion ports are obscure but I like them.

The memory chapter talks alot about virtualalloc and how to make sparse arrays, read only pages and stuff. Haven't got to that yet. Haven't got to the security chapter either but it talks about PROGRAMMING security. Seems to me Kerberos is more of an admin problem -- programmers don't see the difference.

The ATL stuff near the end looks good too. Now that I'm more interested in ActiveX, I want to try ATL.

A big book but well worth the time.