The Essence of COM and ActiveX: A Programmers Workbook (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by David S. Platt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This revised second edition features more coverage of ActiveX component development, data transfer, and Internet scripting, while retaining the easy-to-use, "bite-sized chunks" philosophy of teaching good COM programming practices. This book makes COM and ActiveX easy to understand . . . and comfortable to use. The CD-ROM contains 9.5 MB of working sample code to cut and paste into applications. .

From the Back Cover

The easy self-study guide to COM and ActiveX!

First edition published as: The Essence of OLE with ActiveX

"The Essence of OLE puts a training workshop in your hands, allowing you to explore and experiment with OLE and ActiveX in the context of modern development tools. David Platt teaches you to swim in the shallow end of the pool while always encouraging you to challenge yourself in deeper waters." -Kraig Brockschmidt, author of Inside OLE

"David Platt does for COM what Cliff Notes does for War and Peace. This book has the highest signal-to-noise ratio of any on the topic." -Jeff Prosise, author of Programming Windows with MFC

"This book really covers the essentials of COM programming in a succinct and easy-to-read style. I used what I learned in the marshaling section when creating the OLEACC.DLL that ships with Windows NT 5.0". -Jeffrey Richter, author of Advanced Windows

If you develop for Windows environments, you need an in-depth understanding of COM and ActiveX. With this convenient workbook, you'll learn COM and ActiveX in easy-to-digest, "bite-size" chunks. Through David Platt's masterfully-explained examples, you'll discover an internal elegance, clarity and consistency in COM and ActiveX that you never knew existed!

* Using Data Objects • Sourcing Data Objects • OLE Automation
* Type Libraries • ActiveX Controls • ActiveX Control Containers
* Structured Storage and Persistent Objects • Monikers • Custom Interfaces
* Distributed COM (DCOM) • ActiveX Controls on the Internet • ActiveX Scripting
* Threads and COM • Active Template Library • JAVA and COM
* Shell Extensions and COM • Self-Registering Programs • ANSI/Unicode • Containment & Aggregation • Smart Pointers

Jumpstart your own applications with more than 16 MB of working COM, ActiveX and OLE sample code on CD-ROM! Just cut-and-paste directly into your own applications!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 2nd edition (December 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130799890
• ISBN-13: 978-0130799890
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,246,447 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #26 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Programming > ActiveX
  #55 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Networking > Networks, Protocols & APIs > COM & DCOM
  #63 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > APIs & Operating Environments > COM, DCOM & ATL

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my 2 favorite books, April 7, 2000

By	Steve Danielson (Wake Forest, NC United States) - See all my reviews

I got the 1st edition of this book when it came out, and will get the next edition when it comes out. The book is exactly what it claims to be; I see some negative remarks in previous reviews saying that this book is a workbook and that other books have more detail. They may have more details (debateble), but don't cut right to the bone with critical info like this book does. The info per page ratio is very high. This book is not for the windows or c/c++ beginner, but is for the COM beginner. (FYI to a previous review, COM/ActiveX are essentially the same thing, OLE is based upon these, and the book doesn't cover any "OLE" technology like linking, embedding etc... and clearly states so at the beginning)

This is a good solid book for a person wishing to teach themselves COM from the basics up using practical examples.

As an aside, I was the lead developer for a successful commercial MFC/C++ class library that used COM, and this book was essential to the development of those parts of the project. Interestingly enough, some competitors of this product had certain bugs; the solution to which was in this book!

Final thoughts: This is one of my favorite books along with Programming Windows with MFC by Jeff Prosise (had to give it a plug!)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect antidote to Brockschmidt, August 20, 1998

By A Customer

If you need to learn ActiveX programming in a short time then Kraig Brockschmidt's overly verbose book won't help you. This book is the exact opposite of Brockschmidt. It will get you started quickly if you are an experienced programmer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good hands-on examples of writing ActiveX (OLE) components, July 5, 1998

By A Customer

This book gives provides good hands-on examples of writing ActiveX (OLE) controls. It focuses on OLE, covering COM from the OLE perspective. Lots of examples with good explanations. Platt offers some refreshingly practical information about ActiveX control development. He seems to have lots of real-world experience with the technology. The organization of the book is somewhat quirky. It is built around the example code.