The COM and COM+ Programming Primer (Microsoft Technologies Series) (Paperback)

by Alan Gordon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Besides being one of the most readable and understandable guides to the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) (and related technologies) ever written, Alan Gordon's The COM and COM+ Programming Primer also gives today's COM developer an up-to-the-minute guide to COM+, including excellent hands-on demonstrations of installing and deploying COM+ objects.

The best thing about this text has to be the author's extremely engaging writing style and clear explanations of thorny COM concepts, like interfaces, GUIDs, and other nuts-and-bolts issues that help make Microsoft's component standard tough-going for beginners. An experienced educator, the author makes use of clear examples and analogies--for instance, describing COM as a "software bus" where components can be shared across applications and projects. If you've been baffled by other books on COM, this book's easygoing presentation may do the trick. It also helps that the text traces each slippery term in the Microsoft COM marketing arsenal. It shows how labels like "OLE," "COM," and "ActiveX" have changed over the years.

After a comprehensive tour of the basics, The COM and COM+ Programming Primer turns toward distributed COM (DCOM) and then onto today's COM+. Several useful tutorials explain building COM objects using Visual C++, including using ATL wizards. When it comes to COM+, the text shows how built-in transactions, object pooling, and queued components can be used to create more scalable and reliable distributed applications. With plenty of screenshots detailing how to install and configure COM+ components, this book will let readers get going with COM+ in their own projects.

The COM and COM+ Programming Primer shows how basic COM has evolved into today's COM+ standard--not by getting rid of the basics, but by enhancing an already capable component standard with new middle-tier resources. This title provides an excellent introduction to basic COM for anyone new to this standard, and provides the latest on COM+--which will help more experienced readers take their skills to the next level. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• COM overview, advantages of components, COM as a "software bus," COM+ basics, and ActiveX and OLE
• Object design with COM
• Interfaces and objects
• Basic COM objects with Visual C++
• Using the Active Template Library (ATL)
• In-process and out-of-process servers
• OLE automation basics
• COM callbacks and connectable objects
• Threading (single, multiple, and thread-neutral apartments)
• Distributed COM (DCOM)
• COM+ architecture and system services
• COM+ transactions, object pooling, and queued components
• Three-tiered applications in Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (DNA)
• Tutorials for developing and deploying COM+ components
• Interception
• COM+ events

Product Description
Designed to help the reader to master COM, then COM+. Covers COM+ component development with Visual C++, building 3-tiered applications with COM+ and the Windows DNA 2000 and Integrate Visual Basic and Web Clients with COM+ Components. Softcover.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 796 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130850322
• ISBN-13: 978-0130850324
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #14 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Networking > Networks, Protocols & APIs > COM & DCOM
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare to find a book so in depth but easy to follow, June 14, 2000

By	John Price (Cary, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was asked to give a 2-hour overview of COM+ to the development staff at my company. I had just started learning and developing with COM+ a few weeks previously. I scoured the web for info, and other than the MS documentation, this book was the only one that contributed to my preparation. Extremely well-written and clear, but very very in depth. Aimed at C++ programmers (I am a VB person), but I still found it more helpful than any of the VB COM books I've looked at. Once I understood the internals of COM+, programming to the COM+ API was a snap. I finally really understand why VB components can't be pooled! The C++ guy on my team also used it to get his pooled component working correctly.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for anyone who is lost in the COM world !, August 28, 2001

By	Radhika Rangarajan (Chandler, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

I've read several books in the past about COM programming/fundamentals - most of the books out there in the market jump into programming before clearly explaining the underlying concepts - THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY AN EXCEPTION. The author explains all the concepts in-depth, he takes it one step further by not assuming that the reader is familiar with MicroSoft nomenclature and then walks through the examples. This book is a good start for a COM beginner, although there are typos/programming errors - the ftp site has all the compiled examples, so no problem there. This is one of the very few books available on the subject which you would not stop reading after the first 100 pages- if not anything, it gets rid of the COM fear :-) Read this book and start building simple COM examples along with the examples in the chapter - you will be on your way to COM/COM+ all by yourself with some help from MSDN ofcourse !

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Update to my previous review, August 23, 2000

By	alaska (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I contacted Prentice Hall about the FTP site not working, and they fixed the problem promptly -- the code samples are now available.

I've looked at other COM books, and this may be the most useful one available. It contains plenty of practical examples, and is written with more care than most recent programming books. Perhaps as a result of the ridiculous pace with which new tools and standards are being introduced in these hectic times, there's a tendency for authors to rush to get their books on the shelves first. I'm happy to report that this book is not a rush job; it's definitely a keeper.