Customer Reviews

Windows++: Writing Reusable Windows Code in C++ (Andrew Schulman Programming Series)

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

 

 

I have been looking for a book to cover OOP in combination with Windows for a long time. I wanted something that gave more than short examples meant to demonstate the power of a certain API call. My desire was to create my own mini-library to complement the tools I use now. Windows++ seems to do all that by actually taking the reader through the process of writing a class library for Windows 3.1. Not only that but there was a Win95 code update available on the authors website.

If you are looking for something similar this may or may not be the book for you. On the good side the author does a terrific job of explaining his thought process on how and why a class library can and should be built. Many of the problems (i.e. call backs, messaging) are still relevent today but at the same time Windows has changed alot. For instance chapter four is on memory managment which is absolutely Windows 3.1 specific (Win95 and above does not have these problems). When I emailed the author he didn't even know what chapter four was about and suggested I learn MFC. In chapter two he begins by describing a better POINT structure and tries to employ inlining to keep it small. It is one of the basic lessons of the book. But the constructor calls a member function before the member function is declared inline making it non-inline. He also declares a copy constructor for a base type. Later in the book he makes extensive use of circular referencing and forward referencing which really creates a tangled web of code. Difficult to update and debug.

This book will give a definate roadmap to writing or developing your own API specific software library but use extreme caution and prejudice in using the authors code. Most of the time the class library that comes with my compiler is fine but there are many time when having a lightweight class library would be invaluable. Given the choice of transfering a large Exe or a small one across the Web most people would choose a small one. There really is a need for this kind of book. If the author ever decided to write an update to this I would be thrilled

Windows++ gave me the best a book can give, the courage to begin to write a library myself. It works! Hoever i hate to separate C++-code and dialog boxes code. So i hope that the author would show us how to avoid it and write easy dialog boxes in C++. P.S. I know that he has mentioned it in his book but i think its not enough

The book is excellent, as it covers in depth how a class library is constructed, along with the logic and windows knowledge components. Although built for the old win 3.x system, it gives a good basis for the construction of one's own personal c++ class gui library. As was stated in the book, the best way to understand the inner workings of a class library is to build your own. This book allows an experienced yet learning programmer to develop top notch system programming. I give the book a nine, because it "does not" include a digital copy of the programs in the book. I started to type the code in, but 100+ pages of it is really too much. The author has an order form in the back of the book, but no access via the webb and the book is five years old, so I guess the reader has to type, eh?

This is a very old book dating from Windows 3.1 era. It walks you through the methodology one could take to encapsulate the Windows API in a C++ framework. Most of the information contained in the book is still accurate today except for one chapter related to memory management.

One of the best windows/c++ oriented books ever published!
From a guy who knows what he is doing!

First things first: it's awfully old (based on Windows 3.1). What it does though is developing a C++ framework for the GUI part. This was before there was MFC (can you imagine?). It is better than MFC (not too much to say, perhaps, but the fact remains). I think it's a great piece of didactic literature where you can learn object-oriented design principles, C++ programming, and GUI programming (btw, a lot of it still works in the current Windows: Gui didn't change that much, at least on the source-code level). I remember the great pleasure I had reading this book when it came out (bought on impulse in my then-local brick-and-mortar bookstore: there was no Amazon then! Hard to believe.) I liked it so much, I sent in a check and the author sent me a floppy with the code.... those were the times. Still have this disk, amazingly.

Now, that said, it's not likely that you'll use any of this framework directly. It does depend somewhat on what exactly you do, of course, but these days if you get to write to the APi direct it's most likely not GUI; if it is GUI, then my guess is, you have to screw with .Net (or maybe, less likely, MFC). So don't misunderstand: this is not something you urgently need for your work today: it's simply a good book with a step-by-step process of good design; well written and friendly, and very edifying, imo.

Bottomline: not a must-read these days, but if you know what you're getting here, you won't be disappointed. A general-learning piece, sort of; to massage your brain and develop design skills.