Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding book
Review: Dear Readers, I am about to build a COM DLL which also uses DCOM library from 3rd party. I read Essential COM, Inside COM, and all stuffs I found on the Internet and MSDN. I can understand piece by piece but I cannot systemmize everything I learned from these sources. All the what, why and how are still scattered every where in this COM world. Until I read this book. I am so glad I found the right book that helps me reconstruct my learning so that I can apply what I have learned. I like the way the author presented the materials. The author linked the subject back and forth in such a way that the understanding grow from page to page. The pictures used plain language but very practical and to the point. This book takes me out of COM confusion. Now I am fully confident in designing the COM DLL assigned to me. I am so happy that I want to share with you all and highly recommend this book. It is not just the materials are so good but the price too. Oh, boy, what a perfect gift for such a price. Thank the author, the publisher, the distributors and those reviewers that lead me to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Superb! If you want to begin learning COM/DCOM, this is it.
Review: Don't be mislead by the title, this book teaches you COM, not just DCOM. It has a very practical approach to the subject. Very easy to understand too. So go for it !!
Rating:
Summary: Good Book for non-Windows DCOM too
Review: I am using VxDCOM (Wind River Systems version for embedded devices) and not any MS developer products. This book gave me a clear enough explanation to allow me to use the sample code and explanations to let a couple of MPC 8260 boards talk to each other. So, the windows stuff was applicable enough to help a person new to DCOM get something running on a non-Windows version of DCOM.
Rating:
Summary: The book of books on DCOM and COM
Review: I didn't not know all I needed to know about come when I started this book, but by the time you get to chapter 6 you are well versed in the principles and concepts of COM and DCOM. The only short fall of this book is that it packs so much information into the first 6 chapters that you don't really see the whole picture until you start writing com objects. And because it is in c++ you start off with a hard language that will make all the others look easy. Get this book you will not be sorry. Makes an incrediblely great reference guide.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm a beginner in DCOM and all I needed to know about DCOM is clearly explained in the book, no function, no parameter,... unexplained. There are few books as good as this one. This is my fist O'Reilly and Thai book, but I'm sure that not the last.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh no, not O'Reilly also!
Review: Micro$oft is famous for its ability to push out new development technologies. The reason behind this planned obsolesence is obvious, every time they come out with something new people will have to open their wallets to "keep up."DCOM is just another disposable technology. As such, it was a complete failure; one that the marketing folks at M$ have tried to bury as quickly as possible under an avalanche of .NET hype. DCOM was hard to port because, like COM, it is based on a binary standard (i.e. a standard that changes when you leave x86 and go to 64-bit RISC). Not only that, but DCOM doesn't support distributed transactions. Worst of all, DCOM is a very, very complicated technology to use. Three strikes... YOU'RE OUT! The half-wit MBAs at Micro$oft realized their mistake and have abandoned DCOM, leaving it forever in the backwaters where the only record of its sorry existence are stupid books like this. I have no idea why someone would want to buy this book. Folks, this is a dead technology. It is no more. It is an ex-techology. If you buy this book, you are lying to yourself. This book will sit an gather dust, unless you can find more productive uses for it...like burning it to stay warm. To be honest, I'm a little let down that a Unix-ish publishing company like O'Reilly would put out a book like this. They must really be hurting for cash. I heard that the bank has not been very nice to them during the recent market downturn...
Rating:
Summary: Oh no, not O'Reilly also!
Review: This book is a great source of information if you are interested in learning a complex topic such as DCOM. Be aware that this book requires you to have strong knowledge of C++, if you want to understand the examples. Although this is a great book, I'm still looking for other alternatives that will clarify the concepts of COM/DCOM in depth.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking for a good DCOM book? Keep looking.
Review: This is a good book for C++ programmers wanting to learn com. This simplistic one language approach has made the book popular, since com is complicated enough without trying to briefly throw 3 programming languages at it. However, it will never be your only book on Com. Eventually you'll need to use your com objects from ASP or somewhere else (this is the purpose of com, binary reuse). This topic will also require a lot of study, and if your going to write com objects expect to spend a lot of time with this book open. I'm a programmer with 11 years experience. Com is one of the more complicated things I've encountered in my programming career. This book did have a few typo's (3 or 4 jumped out at me), however, they did not detract from the content. My first impression was that Don Box had the best book on Com I'd ever seen (I browsed it in Borders), but this book seemed equally as nice (and a few bucks cheaper). I would have liked to see another another practical example (never enough). Overall, an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Great introduction, clarifies most concepts.
Review: This is a great book, it is clear and concise. There is no waste at all in the descriptions and the first 5 chapters are really a fantastic roadmap to COM/DCOM. I would have been nice to have this book a couple of years earlier It would have saved me a lot of time and nonsense reading from other authors. Buy this book and then buy ATL internals this is all you need to DCOM mastering!
Rating:
Summary: Great book on COM/DCOM for experienced C++ programmers.
Review: This is an excellent book that is aimed at experienced C++ programmers. It is well written, clear, and to the point. The first four chapters cover the basics and lay a solid foundation for what's to come. The author starts the fifth chapter with "While you can actually write complete, functioning server and client components from the material given in the previous chapters, you'll find them very limited." The remainder of the book then provides the details on how to build and use distributed components. I have a number of books on COM/DCOM but this is without a doubt my favorite. I recommend it very highly. If I could own only one COM/DCOM book this would be it.
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