Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0 (Paperback)

by Andrew Troelsen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Microsoft s Component Object Model is one of the most important concepts in software development today. Developer s Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0 provides an in-depth treatment of COM and shows how to adopt a component framework, namely ATL, to help lessen the burden of repetitive code. Every chapter contains integrated lab assignments that give you numerous opportunities to build COM clients and servers using raw C++ and IDL, as well as the Active Template Library. The book is divided into five sections, each focusing on a particular aspect of COM and ATL development. The book begins with a review of object-oriented and interface-based programming techniques, then moves into the core aspects of COM, including a full examination of language independence and location transparency. The author illustrates the numerous CASE tools used during ATL development and discusses apartments, COM exceptions, object identity, and component housing, in addition to various advanced concepts such as COM categories and tear-off interfaces. The fourth section examines a number of COM patterns such as enumerators, collections, scriptable objects, and callback interfaces. The book closes with an investigation of using ATL as a windowing framework and wraps up with the development of a full-blown animated ActiveX control using ATL.

About the Author
Andrew W. Troelsen is a partner, software developer, and trainer at Intertech, Inc., a Minneapolis-based training firm that specializes in education for Enterprise Web Developers. Troelsen is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer and holds the Master of Technical Training (MTT) designation. He has presented at various technical conferences, and is also the author of DeveloperÂ’s Workshop to COM+ (1-55622-724-8).

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers (June 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556227043
• ISBN-13: 978-1556227042
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,324 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best COM/ATL book out there, December 26, 2000

By	One Man's View (Lawrenceville, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The book is not perfect. I did run across a few mistakes; I had some trouble with a couple of the examples. But this book is far and away the best tutorial on COM and ATL that is out there. It is more than a simplistic introduction. The author starts with simple concepts, usually in straight C++, and progresses in a very logical sequence to an intermediate level using ATL. Many subtleties are covered but in context of the overall presentation. There is none of this inexplicable, out of context pandering to fellow COM gurus that seems to motivate so many software authors.

This book is easily superior to "Beginning ATL 3 COM," "COM+ From the Ground Up," and "Creating Lightweight Components." The other ATL book that is good is "Active Template Library," but this book is better and more recent. For example, it does a far better job of explaining ATL internals. Amazingly, the explanations of ATL are in many ways superior to a book on the market that purports to be solely an ATL internals book. Of course, the difference is that one author can write, the other cannot.

In any event I do not hesitate in declaring this book at this time to be the one book that is best at explaining and conducting a thoroughgoing learning session in COM and ATL. I applaud the author for rising above the mediocrity that so typifies programming books.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for hands-on ATL, September 5, 2000

By	Hugh Ang "hu_ang" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

If you have read Don Box's Essential COM, which is a great book covering COM theory, Andrew Troelsen's book will be perfect for you to get your hands wet on COM using ATL. I have personally waited a long time for this book. All the Wrox books on this subject have failed to deliver! Andrew presents ATL in an extremely logical manner. In Each chapter he always starts implementing COM with plain C++ code and then teaches you how ATL makes life easier for you by hidding all the boiler plate code in the template. You can tell that the author has spent a lot of time dissecting and understanding ATL. It seems to me that some of the Wrox authors were rushing things and finally gave us only half-cooked meal.

In my opinion, the time you will be saved from reading the ATL code yourself is well worth the money. Besides, The lab in this book makes you feel like sitting in a training class and this will save you or your company a few thousand bucks.

I also learned some useful VC++ IDE tips in this book.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book if you want to learn COM/ATL, June 23, 2001

By A Customer

I've had the [mis]fortune to have bought or read over almost every COM and ATL book out there, and have been disappointed time and again.

What usually happens is that the explanations are simply too thin for the meaty subject matter of COM and ATL. A typical problem is that macros are referred to without explanation, talk about BSTRings and smart pointers fly left and right, all with the assumption that the reader must have a built-in familiarity with the subjects.

Not to hammer these other authors, since the subject is quite difficult to get a grasp on and explain, but I'd just about given up on finding a cogent explanation on COM and ATL which I could use.

Then I came across this book and Tom Armstrong's "ATL Developer's Guide". They're the only two books I can reccomend for any COM/ATL beginner. Personally, I feel this book is the better of the two, as the lab discussions and explanations Mr. Troelsen provides really help walk the reader through some difficult parts. It's a good read, and about subjects on which he could have easily lost the reader. Quite the balancing act.

If you're starting out in COM and ATL, you'll certainly want this book. I'd also reccomend "ATL Developer's Guide" as a sort of second-reference, because it's also a good one. If you've only budgeted for one however, this is the keeper.