Visual C++ .NET: A Primer for C++ Developers [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ Aravind Corera (Author), Stephen Fraser (Author), Sam Gentile (Author), Niranjan Kumar (Author), Scott McLean (Author), Simon Robinson (Author), PG Sarang (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The .NET Framework creates a level playing field upon which all languages are equal, so using C++ to develop your Windows applications is no guarantee of high performance. However, Visual C++ .NET is the only language that's capable of mixing managed and unmanaged code, offering ways to integrate your existing code base with new .NET development that no other language can match. Additionally, the expansion of ATL into web application programming brings with it the possibility of writing web services that outperform anything developed in ASP.NET.

In this book, we provide you with a guide to both paths. In the first half, we explore the .NET Framework and examine its properties in C++ terms. In the second, we see that traditional C++ programming still has a big part to play on the stage of distributed computing.

What does the book cover? Changes and improvements to the Visual C++ IDE
Complete introduction to using the Managed Extensions for C++
The role of attributes in .NET and COM programming
Assemblies, and their support for strong naming and versioning
Interoperation between managed and unmanaged code
The RCW mechanism for COM and .NET interoperability
ATL 7.0, ATL Server, and ATL Server web services
The .NET Framework as a Windows class library

From the Publisher

This book is aimed at experienced Microsoft Visual C++ developers who need to understand the nature and purpose of the new features in Visual C++ .NET. It assumes familiarity with COM and ATL, but no prior experience of the .NET Framework is necessary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 462 pages
• Publisher: Peer Information; 1st edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861005962
• ISBN-13: 978-1861005960
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,848,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of bugs and inconsistencies but some good information a, January 7, 2003

By A Customer

In case you are considering buying this book, be aware it was "written and tested for the final release of .Net v1.0". According to authors, many features on the final release of .NET v.10 were not working properly and therefore the sample does not work. The technical revision of this book was poor and the obvious errors in the code make me wonder if the code was ever tested or if one author read the previous chapter written separately by another author. Examples to illustrate this fact can be found on page 373, 396, 423 and many others (I only start taking notes about the pages by the end of the book when I decided I needed to write a review about it). The errors, added to the limitations on the final release of the product, disturb my reading more than if no spell checker was used.

Nevertheless, the book has some very good chapters and given that at the time I could not find any other book available on the subject, I read until the very last page. Hopefully now that .Net is out, the authors will do a second and carefully revised edition of the book.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but has a lot of information, April 18, 2002

By A Customer

Managed C++ is a very difficult area and there is not a lot of books in this area. Most of the books seem to concentrate on C# or VB.NET. This is sad because it seems like a lot of the current work to be done in .NET has a lot to do with taking the existing millions of lines of unmanaged code and COM code and making it work/or port to .NET. This can only be done with Managed C++. The book does not pupport to be a complete reference in this area. It states in the Introduction that "At heart, this book is pragmatic: its purpose is to tell experienced C++ programmers what they need to know about Visual C++.NET" and for the most part, I do believe that this has been accomplished.
The first chapter is quick overview on what's new in Visual C++.NET. This didn't do much for me but is a quick glance. Chapter 2 "Introduction to Managed C++" is quite good, IMHO. It takes all of the .NET concepts and shows the Managed C++ keywords to perform it. Chapter 3 on Assemblies is pretty good but does not drill down far enough. A tie to PE files is not made. I did learn quite a bit about Resources though which I did not understand before. Attributes and Reflection, Chapter 4 is excellent. These features are very important in .NET. Chapter 5 on .NET Framework utility classes, I felt was a good overview on something that could easily fill 1200 pages. I especially liked Chapters 7 and 8 "Managed and Unmanaged Code" and "COM Interoperability." I feel these are the heart of Managed C++. In Chapter 7, the authors do a fine job of presenting the differences between managed and unmanaged code and the IJW mechanism. I do feel that the example class chosen to be warpped, an integer linked list could have been better and doesn't cover all the cases. The P/Invoke discussion is quite good. The COM Interop chapter is excellent - it has good examples. All in all, I think that the authors did a fairly good job in writing about a fairly complex area.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good info for VC++ developers, December 29, 2005

By	Ronaldo A. Carballo "milostea" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book will inform you about the changes (ahem improvements) to the C++ language under .NET. Although some of the examples have bugs, it does not deter the authors from teaching you C++ under .NET. It is a very good introductory book for experienced C++ developers interested in moving to .NET.