Customer Reviews

Windows 98 Programming from the Ground Up

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought both of the MFC and Windows 98 Programming from the Ground Up books at the same. They are nearly indentical in content. This fact is great for a begginning Window's programmer (like me), but not so great for those on a budget. The Windows 98 book has more subjects, but is written using the 'traditional' Windows programming methods. The MFC book (of course) uses MFC and therefore is the much easier way to program for Windows. I never use the examples in the book 'as is'. The author writes his code examples and descriptions of the code well enough, that I can use the examples as guides to use in my projects. While neither book should be considered a complete reference, both provide enough information that I am constantly flipping through them to look for examples (which the MS Visual Studio does not show very well.) I bought SAMS' Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 24 Hours before these two books, which mainly teaches how to use the compiler. I previously had over five years experience in DOS programming with the Borland C++ compilers. In a about four months and these three books I feel that I know everything that I need to know to write any 'common' Windows 9x application using MS Visual C++ 6.

This summer I am working as an intern(paid!) and am making a windows GUI Interface program that acts like a debugging environment and displays graphs. This book is the only windows programming book I have and use. This book is the reason I have this job! The book is an excellent book for begining windows programmers. It explains most of the code in detail, and if you ever need anymore information you can just go on to MSDN. I have been able to accomplish everything from simple GUI program, graphing out data, multithreading, dialog windows, and common controls with this book. I reccomend this book to anybody with at least a grasp of C/C++ and a desire to learn the win32 api. And just for your information I am 17 years old.

Herbert Schlidt hits another home run! If you are already knowledgeable about the C or C++ syntax this book is the best chance you have to learn how to do Windows. In this book Mr. Schlidt promotes the idea of using a pre supplied Windows API skeleton with the programmer simply managing message handling between his program code and one or two Windows API functions. I believe Mr. Schlidt's idea is far superior to the OWL or MFC. Assuming you read the book and follow the style set forth you will find your self with code that can be easily tested, debugged and understood. Another big plus you will find is that you can use the C++ Standard Library rather than having to scramble to learn about a lot of compiler supplied classes which are poorly described and scatter you code among several files. The books also provides extensive coverage of the entire API, providing examples of how to best handle situations like repainting the screen , dialog check boxes etc. Special note: If you run Windows 95 all of the examples I experimented with compiled and ran just fine.

This book is, by far, the greatest book that teaches how to program windows applications. This book takes you, the reader, through each (basic) aspect of programming in windows- accompanying each concept with a well thought-out explanation that is very easy for any programmer to read. If you are interested in stepping into windows programming, this is the best book that you can buy. If you're leaning towards game programming, I suggest learning OOP C++, then buy this book. Once you're done with this book, you'll be well on your way to learning OpenGL or Direct X!

I have acquired and studied many of Schildt's C/C++ books over the years and they are all very well written and informative. This one is no exception. However, if you want to really spend your money wisely, get Petzold's Programming Windows 95. The 1996 edition is cheaper than the latest and has a few odds and ends that the newer omits. Both are available here at Amazon. [Check the auction - I got the 1996 ed. for only $18.00!!] Schildt's bood is good - Petzold's will teach you what you really need to know. Or, if you have more cents than sense, get them both :-)

Thank you for Herbert Schildt for his deep and claer explanation of Windows programming given in the book. For those who just want to start to learning windows programming should be glad to be guilded by his explanation!!!!

You will find the basics of writing an application and much more within the folds of this book. By explaining and demonstrating the most-used windows API calls, this book provides the novice Windows programmer with a firm foundation from which to build an applications. You will find the basics of writing an application and much more within the folds of this book. There's also plenty of example C source code provided for showing you how it's put together. If you have experience programming in C/C++, but you are new to writing Windows 95/98 programs, I recommend this book to you. It's a great place to start. Eric Davis

This book assumes the reader is a C programmer. The book teaches Windows programming (strictly speaking, WIN32 programming, which is writing applications in straight C (making the 32 bits calls to the OS API) with the thousands of C functions defined as being part of the WIN32 API(Application Programming Interface)) from the very beginning on to multithreading applications - it is as comprehensive as a single book can be on this subject. I compiled the code using MS Visual C++ 5 and never had any problems - the programs compiled and ran as described in the book. I have several books on WIN32 programming and I find this one to be the most easy both to understand and to move through the material and I am reading the book a second time - even though I ultimately plan to develop with C++ and MFC. I have heard it said that one can't become a mature MFC programmer without some understanding the WIN32 API - The MFC classes being merely wrappers around the WIN32 API functions.

This book has been rewritten for Windows 2000 and that book, Windows 2000 Programming From the Ground Up, is a WIN32 API book as well: Windows 2000 Programming from the Ground Up (From the Ground Up) This book comes highly recommended, in my opinion, and I know the author Herb Schildt to be a computer language expert and a prolific author - I purchase all of his books.

This is a good book for introducing someone to windows programming, but I would suggest "Programming Windows" fifth edition by Charles Petzold as it is a more complete book. This book only describes how to use controls in a dialog box. No information is provided for using controls in a window, except for scroll bars and even then not scroll bar controls. If not for this I would give this book a 4 out of 5.

This book is a great way to learn Windows programming with Win32. Although the book is written for Windows 98, it clearly highlights differences with Windows 95, and even Windows 3.x. Schlidt's expert knowledge is evident, his writing style is pleasant and easy to read, and he includes extensive sample code to illustrate each feature he discusses. I highly recommend it.