Sams Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 21 Days Illustrated Edition

by Davis Chapman (Author)

50 ratings

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For the majority of C++ programmers, the pace and style of David Chapman's Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 21 Days will make a good deal of sense. The author covers all the essentials of basic Windows and Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) development, and then addresses several new features in Visual C++ 6, all while moving quickly enough for the busy, working programmer.

Chapman's first section introduces the basic Visual C++ 6 tools, like the AppWizard and ClassWizard, and discusses the essentials of building dialog-based applications using basic Windows controls such as static text, edit, button, and list box controls. Further chapters cover mouse and keyboard basics, timers, menus, and fonts. In short, the first week provides a traditional introduction to Windows and MFC programming without the frills.

The second set of tutorials delves into Graphical Device Interface (GDI) graphics programming, always a challenging topic for new MFC programmers. Then the author moves to using ActiveX controls inside your applications (a real strength of Visual C++, enhanced in the new release). The basics of toolbars, saving and restoring files to MFC applications, and an introduction to Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) programming round out this set of chapters.

The last set of exercises will give the MFC developer some new expertise. First, the author looks at the potential of ActiveX Data Objects (ADOs) for database development and how to build reusable libraries in both static and dynamic targets. Advanced material introduces the basics of networking and the TCP/IP protocol and discusses MFC support for working with the Web.

For readers with a little more time, handy appendices discuss additional topics such as printing, the MFC container and helper classes, and the basics of exception handling and debugging. Clearly, the constraints of the 21-day format have not prevented this author from successfully covering many essential topics in today's MFC programming with a good level of detail. --Richard Dragan

From the Back Cover

Learn Visual C++ through the Teach Yourself series, with sections on: Q&A, Do's and Don'ts, Workshop, Shaded syntax boxes, Type/Output/Analysis icons. Week One starts you with Visual C++. After installing and maneuvering through the components of the software, you'll examine a preliminary program to get the feel for C++ and Visual C++. You'll learn: C++ basics; hierarchies; members, functions, and objects; inheritance; MFC; installing Visual C++, the Visual C++ compiler. In Week Two, you'll look at components of Windows applications and how they are invoked with Visual C++. Topics include: keyboard input; mouse usage; data file handling; lists and serialization; toolbars and status bars; graphics; and projects. Week Three examines the more involved aspects of Visual C++ and Windows applications.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sams; Illustrated edition (June 30, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 769 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0672312409
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0672312403
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.88 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,031,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #105 in Visial C++ Programming
- #1,081 in C Programming Language
- #13,512 in Computer Programming Languages

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J. Drake

Very good book...

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2006

Verified Purchase

I read through this after being pleased with the Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days book. I learned how to use the Microsoft Visual C++ software, and I use it as a reference regularly. I would recommend this to someone who already has a working knowledge of C++ and who would like to learn how to use the Microsoft Visual Studio/C++ software. Ideas in the book can easily be applied to Microsoft Visual Basic or any of the Microsoft Visual compiler software releases.

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Andre Kowalczyk

I am glad I got it because it included stuff that I ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

I was using Visual C++ before I bought this book. I am glad I got it because it included stuff that I could not find easily without the help of this book.

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2001

Verified Purchase

This book gets you to a point where you have some visual programs, but that's about all. there is very little info about the MFC class members in there. For more examples on MFC, I recommend "Programming windows with MFC" by Jeff Prosise.

2 people found this helpful

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Wiliam VERCH-WELDON

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

very useful; a good start

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Pretty good

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2002

For those programming in C++, Microsoft Visual Studio can be both a blessing and a curse. There are many instances in program and project development where the package can be very helpful and save hours in development time. This is usually the case for commercial applications. For technical or scientific applications written in C++ though, Visual Studio can be very painful, as it does given the developer a view of what is going on behind the scenes. Individuals who are doing scientific applications usually want to have control of most of code, and so templating and the Application Wizard can be more of an annoyance rather than of help. For this reason, scientific programmers will probably not want to read this book at all. But frequently these days, scientific programmers are involved in developing applications in areas such as finance and bioinformatics, and so a study of this book would then be appropriate. Readers of the book are expected to have a thorough knowledge of C++, but the author gives a short (36 page) review in an appendix to the book for those who need such a review.
For readers who are writing Windows applications using Visual C++, the author has done a pretty good job of overviewing how to develop with Visual Studio. He begins with the simplest features of Visual Studio, and builds up to more advanced features, to the extent possible in Visual Studio. Some features of Visual Studio are so entrenched at all levels of the package that it is difficult to separate them out, being themselves advanced features, at early stages in the book. This is readily apparent in the author's use of the "WinExec' function instead of the "CreateProcess" function, since the latter is deemed to complicated for the beginning reader. The Class Wizard and AppWizard are brought in early on, no doubt to encourage the reader to become adept at using them as soon as possible. The major goal of the book then is to get the reader to create a Windows application as soon as possible.
Some helpful and useful discussions in the book include: 1. The Q&A section at the end of the chapter, wherein the author attempts to anticipate a typical reader's questions after they have finished the chapter. 2. The review sections at the end of each week, detailing to readers just what they are expected to know before moving on. 3. Binary attribute flags, for memory-senstive applications that need window and control capabilities. 4. The creation of custom dialog windows; the author is very detailed here and he also shows the role of the MFC class library in creating these. 5. ActiveX controls are introduced fairly early, and this is good considering their importance and pervasiveness in current applications. 6. How to make application objects serializable using the CArchive class and Serialize function. Performance and legacy issues with serialization dictate that particular attention be made to this discussion. 7. Database access and updating. Performance issues involved in database access again make this discussion mandatory reading for those who are involved in these kinds of applications, particularly for database applications that are used in a client/server configuration with a database server that is accessed over a wide-area network. The author does not discuss these issues unfortunately, but ADO, which is used to build a database application in the book, has had performance problems in the past. 8. The creation of library modules and dynamic link libraries. For creating software for scientific purposes where classes should be used from one application to another, this discussion is particularly appropriate. The author also spends a small amount of time on how to create test applications to test these modules. In addition, he shows how to convert a regular DLL so that it can be used by applications not created with Visual Studio. The author mentions that in the design of DLLs one must insure that they be "threadsafe". Multithreading in C++ however is not a subject that is usually encountered in a course on C++, so this inclusion may cause difficulty for some readers. This is alleviated somewhat in a later discussion on threads. 9. How to add multitasking to applications. Multithreading again makes its appearance here, but in this case the author spends more time on explaining the origin and need for it. The author details a fun example of multithreading that involves four spinning color wheels. 10. The discussion on creating Internet applications. Although the author does not dicuss performance issues in creating these, he does give some basic background on how actually to program them.

4 people found this helpful

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Dan

I want to scream!

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2001

I was really fooled by this book. Please, before buying, take the following FACTS about this book into consideration, and note that these are NOT my opinions:
1. The code in several chapters will not work due to syntax errors here and there.
2. The corrections can be downloaded from the site or gotten from the CD, BUT the source code is not the same as the book's.
3. You need an understanding of C++ (especially pointers, classes) before you can really understand Visual C++. There is a quick tutorial on the back however.
These are some facts about the book. My two feelings towards this book are anger and frustration. At times I felt like screaming from anger. Besides being syntax errors, the book was hard to follow from a lack of clear explanations. At times, he's just shoving code down your mouth and not explaning the material. And if he explains something, it's usually something you understood already, or something irrelevant.
In the beginning I didn't think the book was that bad. I thought Chapman was leaving stuff behind on his explanations but that he would retrack later on in the book and explain in detail what he missed. I was wrong! Also, I wished he had explained MFC a little better. At least one dedicated chapter on the basics. (There is a little section on the back... but again... lacks clarity.)
Please be cautious when buying this book. The only thing you'll learn is using wizards. If you want to make applications not knowing what you're doing, and having a book on your lap to copy from, then be my guest.

7 people found this helpful

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Sams Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6 in 21 Days Illustrated Edition

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