.NET and COM: The Complete Interoperability Guide (Paperback)

by Adam Nathan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The focus of the book is on COM Interoperability (since it's a much larger subject), and the heart of the discussion is broken down into four parts:

• Using COM Components Within the .NET Framework
• Using .NET Framework Components from COM
• Designing Good .NET Framework Components for COM Clients
• Designing Good COM Components for .NET Framework Clients

The scope of the book is just about everything related to using "unmanaged code" in the .NET Framework. Technologies built on top of COM Interoperability are also covered-Interoperability of Windows Forms Controls and ActiveX controls, Interoperability with COM+, and Interoperability with Distributed COM (DCOM). Although Platform Invocation Services is a separate technology from COM Interoperability, there are many areas of overlap, so including in the book is a natural fit. All of these technologies are a core part of the Common Language Runtime and .NET Framework, and will likely be used not only as the path of migration for existing software projects, but for brand new software development for the next several years.

From the Back Cover

The focus of the book is on COM Interoperability (since it's a much larger subject), and the heart of the discussion is broken down into four parts:

* Using COM Components Within the .NET Framework
* Using .NET Framework Components from COM
* Designing Good .NET Framework Components for COM Clients
* Designing Good COM Components for .NET Framework Clients

The scope of the book is just about everything related to using "unmanaged code" in the .NET Framework. Technologies built on top of COM Interoperability are also covered-Interoperability of Windows Forms Controls and ActiveX controls, Interoperability with COM+, and Interoperability with Distributed COM (DCOM). Although Platform Invocation Services is a separate technology from COM Interoperability, there are many areas of overlap, so including in the book is a natural fit. All of these technologies are a core part of the Common Language Runtime and .NET Framework, and will likely be used not only as the path of migration for existing software projects, but for brand new software development for the next several years.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1579 pages
• Publisher: Sams (February 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067232170X
• ISBN-13: 978-0672321702
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 3.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #273,960 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is no other book covering a topic so well, July 23, 2002

By	Daniel Moth (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Moving to .NET doesn't mean throwing away your COM code. Integrating the 2 worlds (managed and unmanaged) is achieved via COM Interoperability and there are 2 main scenarios:
1. Writing .NET clients that use COM servers
2. Writing .NET servers to be used by COM clients

This 1500 pager is split into 9 parts containing 24 chapters and 6 appendices. In my opinion, the heart of this work lies in parts 2-5 (650 pages, 14 chapters) that thoroughly detail how to write perfect .NET components for COM clients, COM components for .NET clients, .NET clients for COM components and COM clients for .NET components. Trust me (and anyone that has read this book), there is absolutely nothing else left to be said about the topic.

The remaining 3 parts cover PInvoke (talking to Win32 dlls), advanced topics such as custom marshaling and two comprehensive examples. The quality throughout is of the highest level. It is a joy to read and full of technical information, a lot of it not found anywhere else. Own this book and forget the online help or any internet sites when it comes to interoperability.

The examples used throughout the book are not overly complex or academic or basic; they are just right. Such a balance is hard to strike. What is also hard to find is a book that treats both VB & C++ developers equally. Many authors will benefit by reading Nathan's writings to learn how to achieve that. Whether you plan to write C# or VB.NET code and whether your COM components were written in C++ or VB6 you will not feel left out or bored going through the chapters.

Although large, it can be read linearly and it will definitely serve as a reference text on your shelf. I particularly enjoyed the sidebars (categorised as FAQ, Digging Deeper, Tip, and Caution) which are full of golden information. I could go on praising it but suffice to say that it could easily be sold with money-back guarantee and not a single book would be returned.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for anyone serious about .NET, May 22, 2002

By	Lucas (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews

This is an amazing reference book for COM and P/Invoke interop (i.e. Win32 interop), an essential topic that most .NET books don't cover well enough. It's essential if you're migrating to .NET, or even if you're writing a non-trivial .NET application from scratch since the .NET Framework has many holes in functionality that must be filled by using interop.

I was skeptical because I've had bad luck with Sams books in the past, but this book is wonderful! It's incredibly thorough, complete, and has lots of useful examples and great sidebars. The author's expertise really shines through... It covers things I couldn't find anywhere else (and I've looked at other Interop books) such as an in-depth treatment of custom marshaling, and I really enjoyed the last chapter with Windows Media Player that demonstrated how to expose existing COM APIs as brand new .NET-looking APIs with very little code.

The chapters are self-contained, clearly organized, and jam-packed with information. I swear, each page I learned something new, and that's a lot of pages! It answered all of my questions and doubts about .NET interop. I can't imagine doing .NET programming without this book.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work on Interop in general! Highly recomended, February 12, 2002

By	"samgentile" (Nashua, NH United States) - See all my reviews

I spend most of my professional life right now deep in COM Interop of .NET. Although the concepts are rather straightforward, the actual "little things" and using it for real non-trivial COM components have proven to be quite difficult for many. We have run into many difficult issues at the place I work with using it for non-trivial COM components. There are many parts of the System::Runtime::InteropServices namespace that are hard to understand. I have found Adam Nathan to be an invaluable resource here on mailing lists and in private email. So, it was with great anticipation, that I looked forward to his "COM Interop" book shipping. Since we (the place I work) were having so many struggles with COM Interop, we were counting the days. I made sure I had 24 hour ship.

This afternoon, Adam's book gets rushed to my house. Much to my surprise, it is not only everything I expected on COM Interop but a 1579 page complete definitive work on *all* interop including PInvoke. Everything is here in exhaustive detail. Adam, great job. The cover has Don Box saying " This is the last book that should be written about COM programming. There is nothing left to say." I agree.

It's all here. The basics of using COM in .NET and vise versa, iindepth look at the wrapper assemblies, responding to COM events, all aspects of marshaling, modifying interopp assemblies, and much much more.

Highly recommended!