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Summary: this book really is overcredited
Review: Yes, the book gets its job done. Once you are done reading this book, you will know COM quite well. However, this really is not for beginners. Unless you have a good idea on how COM works, you will be lost. I have read "Inside COM" before reading this book, and I was still somewhat lost(its that confusing). If you know how COM works, this book will lead you to more technical background and help you truly understand how COM works, but, things are not clearly written. The author expects you know COM quite well.
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Summary: COM God has arrived! and his name is Don Box
Review: I am a professional COM developer. I have to said that I though I knew COM well until I read this book last year. This book places eveything about COM into perspective. Not need for tutorials on this book, just grab your favorite drink and tell your wife you'll be out for the next 2 months !! Also watch out for chapter 5, is a tricky one! If youare serious about COM, get this book. If you are a VB programmer and want to stay a VB programmer, stay home. Carlos
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Summary: Masterfully done.
Review: Insightful, elegant, and logical. Don Box shows the reader not only the "what-is", and "how-to", but also the "why". Through simple examples, Box puts the reader in the seats of those COM designers to give the reader an intuition of how some COM features had come about. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to really understand COM.
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Summary: The Book to the Theoretical and Practical Foundation of COM
Review: Excellent explanation of the true essentials of COM. All the why and wherefores and how they relate to C and COM. If you've read Chappel's beautiful book and want to know more. Than this one is an ideal pick on the theoretical, philosophical side. (For the practical side I recommend Platt.) Its deep and readible. Great Stuff.
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Summary: Superlative book - But understand where it fits on the shelf
Review: I bought and read this book about 16 months ago. I've re-read it twice since then. This is not because I didnt understand the book the first time -- its because there are so many layers of information in the book. Some authors seem to be able to write 20 books on a subject -- You've seen the authors that do 3 C++ books a year, or 3 COM books a year. This is great for publishers, and the successful "serial author". (I am aware that Stroustrup has 2 other C++ books and Don has taken part in Effective COM -- but they're not on the same subject material) Don takes a different approach. He's only going to write one COM book and do it properly. He does. This book is the most dense in terms of giving solid information to help you understand whats going on. Whats going on when your product is about to ship and there's only 3 "showstopper" bugs left. Thats when understanding it properly matters. It also matters when you want to design something. These details also matter to VB projects when they ship, or when they're being designed. I generally read any COM book I see sitting around. So I've probably read about 6000 pages on COM. I've seen about 1000 wizard screenshots. I've seen 40 analogy-riddled COM explanations. I've seen "cute and funny" examples. This is the only one I've bought and I've never regretted it or covetted my neighbour's book. Similarly with C++ books, there are authors who sell a rehash of the same material 20 times. I read any of these lying about too -- another 10,000 pages with 50 useful per book. I only _bought_ Stroustrup. It's not (nor was it intended to be) _the_ tutorial. It doesnt have screenshots. Its not 'funny'. Depending on your initial level of knowledge, you should probably read one or two other books such as Inside COM (or intros to other books of that ilk) -- in fact the best primers are probably articles in MSDN. Use these as a primer as necessary. When you've read 1500 pages of these, come back to Essential COM, and you'll have any gaps in your knowledge filled in. If I was allowed to own only 3 books on C++/COM development, they would be Stroustrup, Box and Effective COM. (Although Mr Bunny's Guides would come close :) Finally, would people, regardless of positive or negative opinions held, please be kind enough to give their identity -- IMHO it invalidates your opinion if you're not willing to stand behind it.
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Summary: FIRST 2 CHAPTERS ARE GOOD, REST OF CHAPTERS ARE DENSE
Review: The first 2 chapters are excellent. Don gives a very clear explanation of how COM was developed. The rest of the book seems to be a lot of ideas packed into a small area. The topics covered could easily fill 2 or 3 books, if explained properly, but I feel Don wanted to cram in as much information as possible into his 1 book, making it suffer.
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Summary: Interesting and exciting
Review: after reading this book (it was not easy) I was amazed how this book is perceived by other readers. Reading the reviews one has a feeling the reviewer would rather say something different but feels obliged to acknowledge the greatness of the author. "The author is a COM guru therefore this is a bible". Is this a phenomena of emperor's new clothes? This book presents a comprehensive review of COM as seen from the top, and is valuable to developers already familiar with COM. The style of this book is interesting, I personally would prefer a simple prose.
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Summary: Good book for understanding the technical concepts of COM
Review: The first time I read this book, I put it down. I was so lost! However, after reading some more general COM books, I came back to this one, and was able to "get through it," and was pretty satisfied with the results. It is not a book on the basics, but for understanding the "whys" of COM, I haven't found one better. The only complaints I have about the book are: 1) Although the book is pretty clear throughout, I still got lost on the monikor section. More real-world examples would help. 2) Some small spelling errors in the code tripped me up in a couple of sections. 3) I don't mind C++, but COM is supposed to be language-neutral, and it would've been great to see even more examples in VB, Java, etc. For any COM programmer, this should be one on the bookshelves. Jason
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Summary: THE book for COM programmers !
Review: I just can't seem to say enough about this book ! On a daily basis, I marvel at the value afforded by this great book and just can't imagine what COM programming hell I'd be in without it ! This book has jump-started my involvement with COM concepts and development and has provided invaluable assistance in presenting a complex and sometimes mysterious topic. Read this book, read it carefully and then read it again. Hang on to every word !
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Summary: Fabulous!!!!
Review: This book is really fabulous. It explains COM in the language of an expert. I would advise someone buying this book to read a more elementary book ,like Inside Com by Dale Rogerson, before reading this book. Should be there on the bookshelf of any developer who is seriously involved with COM. Don Box is a real expert in the COM philosophy.
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