Take an exploratory trip through the nooks and crannies of the Windows API -- and pick up 20,000 lines of source code along the way
Develop production-quality applications capable of running on any 32-bit version of Windows -- including Win 2000
WARNING-- Error handling has been included (to show how it's done!)
Are you tired of the typically fragmented approaches of instructional materials that focus on minimalist examples, illustrating arcane APIs and subsystems, "eliminating error handling for clarity," and never demonstrating how it all comes together?
This book presents a holistic process of design and implementation that ensures the development of production-quality applications capable of running on any 32-bit version of Windows -- including Win 2000. The author explains the development of a complete Windows application to demonstrate all aspects of application design, language selection, platform implementation, usability issues, and the myriad details of implementation. It is the comprehensive scope of the presentation, including details of drag and drop, shell integration, testing, internationalization, installation, and registry handling that makes this book unique.
If you are designing Windows applications for large audiences, or if you strive to always create truly superb applications, you need to structure your application for robustness and maintainability, and you need access to and knowledge of the raw Windows API. The author's demonstration application, a Notepad replacement called TextEdit, is implemented using C++ and the native Win32 API. It provides an exploratory trip through the nooks and crannies of the Windows API demonstrating how to:
Fit the code fragments and APIs of a complete Windows application together.
Integrate robust error handling with your application.
Design software with the users' goals in mind.
MFC programmers will gain an understanding of API-level Windows essential to use MFC effectively and Visual Basic programmers will learn about the relationship between the various approaches to Windows programming.
The companion CD-ROM contains 20,000 lines of source code, much of it independent of the TextEdit application, that can be reused in other contexts. You also get practical details and tips on how to do cool and interesting stuff with the Windows API, including:
The wealth of possibilities inherent in the command line of a Windows program.
How you can give your application a memory, which leaves it looking smart rather than stupid.
About the Author
Petter Hesselberg is a partner with Accenture in Oslo, Norway. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim. He has been programming Windows for over thirteen years, seven of which he was partner in a firm exclusively devoted to Windows programming. He writes the monthly "User Interface Programming" column for Windows Developer's Journal.
