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Summary: An Author that Actually Understands COM & ATL
Review: As any good Computer Scientist would agree, the most important thing when learning a new technology is the concept not how to program it. I have read just about every, so called, book on the market about COM and ATL and almost all of them explain pieces of COM (not to mention the ones that should be titled "This is how to use the VC++ wizards). Andrew Troelsen does a remarkable job at explaining the concepts of COM by starting with the building blocks and working up. The first five chapters that are just about building COM servers with raw C++ are worth the price of the book alone. Troelsen explains many aspects of the internals of ATL as a programming foundation, not just how the wizards work. After reading this book your knowledge will be large enough about the inner workings of COM and ATL that learning other concepts about COM will be no trouble at all (whether in MFC or other languages). I recommend this book to all, and hope that it is as imformative to you as it was to me.
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Summary: Simply put, Toelsen is the Petzold of ATL.
Review: At first, when I read this book I had absolutely no knowledge about COM (minus VB's implementation); However, the book itself was so thorough in explaining the basic concepts of COM from the ground up that it didn't matter--it explained COM in the best detail I've ever seen in any book. The author explained things so well, in fact, that I was able to start working with COM libraries (such as ADO) within just a few days of reading the book! I remembered looking at ATL code just a few days before I read this book, and I said, "I can't read this at all!" Almost about a week later, after reading the book, I looked at that same chunk of code, and to my sheer amazement, it made perfect sense.This one is DEFINITELY a keeper, right up there with Jeff Prosise for MFC, and Petzold for Win32. This is the best ATL/COM book I have read, hands down.
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Summary: An Amazing Guide to COM Architecture and ATL Framework
Review: Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0 is an effective guide to COM implementation utilizing raw C++ and especially the Active Template Library. Andrew Troelsen is an incredible teacher and writer. In this book, he presents COM in such a way that makes it surprisingly simple and quite magnetic. The book is extremely well-organized. Troelsen analyzes most aspects of COM components with the exception of, for example, custom proxy/stub marshaling and on advanced COM multithreading. He presents examples of each aspect of COM via raw C++ and followed by an implementation via ATL. The developer gets to see and understand each implementation of a COM component in raw C++ and ultimately appreciate the simplicity that the ATL framework brings to COM development. The author's teaching style and organization is amazing! He organizes COM topics in terms of complexity especially toward implementation. Troelsen presents concise implementation examples that effectively help the developer learn the design and development process of COM components. In every discussion on a theory of COM architecture, he includes a raw C++ example and then followed by an ATL version of the implementation. Furthermore, Troelsen organizes the examples such that each example builds on from previous examples. In other words, each example is the previous example with one or more new features such as an added aggregated COM object or an added callback interface. Troelsen's teaching style and organization coupled with a good understanding of COM architecture and the ATL framework shine in Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0. This book is an effective guide to COM design and implementation in raw C++ and especially ATL. I highly recommend Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0 to advanced C++ programmers and real-world COM developers. Kuphryn
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Summary: A must have
Review: I am writing this book after reading couple hundred pages and I am impressed. It, unlike many other COM books, do not assume anything and teaches from groundup which is highly beneficial to new COM programmars. I had the chance to look at atleast 3 other books of similar topic and not a single one comes close to the quality of this one. This is the book I wish I had when I first started with COM. A must have for any programmars.
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Summary: I highly recommend this book!
Review: I've been programming professionally for the last two years. While I have worked with COM before it has mainly been through VB. That has always bothered me because my main language is C++. Unfortunately, implementing solutions in C++ that require COM can be time consuming. Enter ATL. ATL makes COM development a snap but it can be a complex beast in it's own rite. Many of ATL's features are hidden behind complex templates and macros which facilitate rapid application development. Learning ATL is a breeze thanks to the Wizards but *understanding* what it does, how it does it, and why it does it is a different matter. Enter COM and ATL 3.0. This book provides answers to the most common questions that a developer learning ATL might ask. I absolutely love the side-by-side comparisons; raw C++ COM and ATL COM. This theme is carried through out the book. I cannot begin to offer enough praise for this method of teaching. It gives the developer a solid foundation in the 'nitty-gritty' of writing COM using raw C++. After demonstrating the 'raw' approach, the ATL method is examined. By having the fore-knowledge of the 'raw' method the reader can appreciate the ATL approach and better understand it. This book is also packed with an indepth examination of ATLs inner workings. The authour displays a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of what he is discussing - a rare quality among technical authours lately. For those developers out there who are like me and want to understand the *WHY* and not just the *HOW* this book is for you.
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Summary: Jumps around too much
Review: If you have the time to study, I mean REALLY study, and time to do the examples from start to finish (I don't), and want to know how COM works under the hood, this is probably a good book. However, sorry, but I could care less about HOW things work under the hood, I just want them to work so I can concentrate on my application. It also jumps around too much, important things you really need to know to make ATL COM objects are scattered throughtout the book (thank goodness it has a good index).
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Summary: Learn COM Now!!!
Review: If you want to learn COM in C++, this book is DEFINITELY where you should start. If you find COM difficult to grasp, don't worry, it is most likely because you haven't learned from the right resources, or you haven't read this book. This book really covers all the essentials of COM programming. The author does a great job in making COM simple to comprehend. For instance, the author takes you step by step in every step of the way in every detail that required for you to get your hands dirty with code practises. Not only the explainations and code samples in the book are CLEAR, they are also backed up with diagrams on topics that are just can not be dissolved by words alone. Nicely done! If you were to take COM in University, this would be one of the two books required for the course. "Inside COM" would be for COM 100, and "COM and ATL 3.0" would be for COM 200. So if you want to learn COM in C++, these are your BEST BET. They get you started coding immediately, they provide all the required fundumentals, and best of all, they both are well written with NO mumble-jumble space filler! TIPS: Atfer you done with Andrew's book, go back and read Dale's book on chapter twelve - "Multiple Threads". See how much you had missed, and how everything ties together.
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Summary: The most useful book available on ATL... bar none!
Review: Mostly I just wanted to register my 5 stars for this book. It is hands down the most useful ATL book that I have ever seen and I have spent over three years looking. This book is the perfect engineers guide to ATL. It tells you how to be a COM ATL programmer. It explains all of the the most basic things that you need to know about COM and ATL programming and it does so clearly and efficiently. It then moves on to cover intermediate and advanced topics equally as well. You don't have to wade through endless chapters on how COM and ATL work nor contrived Active-X control examples... just real COM ATL as you will practice it every day. If I had to try and explain what is different about this book I would say that this book presents COM and ATL not as some abstract technology or disorganized bucket of functions but more as a programming language. Remember the first book you read on C++. This is class. This is how you create a class. This is a method. This is how you create a method. This is an exception. This is how you use exceptions. This book takes the same no non-sense approach. This is ATL. This is how you use ATL.
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Summary: Simply the best COM/ATL book out there
Review: 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.
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Summary: Detailed, complete, well-explained
Review: This book is perfect if you have some knowledge of C++ and OOD. In fact, chapter 1 is an excellent nutshell of OOD with C++. The book covers both the low-level detail, but quickly, and the high-level ATL view. Also, it doesn't get all wrapped up with OLE, MFC, and Windows programming.
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