No comments about Multimedia on Symbian OS: Inside the Convergence Device (Symbian Press).

2 comments about QuickTime for .NET and COM Developers (QuickTime Developer Series).

1. The Quicktime API for .NET is heavily slanted towards content re-play rather than content creation. This book adequately covers the API, but doesn't make the leaps necessary to describe Quicktime.NET usable for content creation. Missing are memory management considerations, which are important when creating all but the smallest sample movies in Quicktime. The Quicktime system is huge and it's a daunting task to write one book that describes Quicktime's dot net API when the old Carbon and new-ish Objective-C APIs get all the development and documentation effort at Apple.



2. I am new to programming with QuickTime, and needed a jump start to write applications with a QuickTime component. This book takes you through the process of building applications for COM/.NET developers. Using the Apple component is a lot faster than using the SDK. I write a lot of RAD applications and use VB with occasional forays into C#.
   
   The author writes clearly and with a lighter style than most technical authors. Sample code is provided and you can visit the website to download code and examples.
   
   I would have like a little more discussion on interactive tracks, and still don't have a grip on VR movies (hotspots, wired sprites etc.). But those are probably beyond the scope of the QuickTime control.
   
   Highly recommend this one!

No comments about Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video: Third International Workshop, La Jolla, California, USA, November 12-13, 1992. Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

5 comments about Professional Dcom Programming.

1. This book is very confusing. A lot of high level words without any clue as to what do they mean. COM features are explained extremely poor.



2. The book's title is totaly wrong, it should be like DCOM Programming in VC++ with ATL, because that's the only area it focus to, it's good on that though it lacks a lot for being professional, discusess very little DCOM itself.



3. This coming from an author of 2 books on the subject. It is a difficult read, but the content is by far the most accurate and complete.



4. It is a great book for average COM programmer who wants to fully understand details of security, marshalling and multithreading in distrubuted environment. The author concisely explains these complex topics in lucid manner. The combination of theory and code samples is optimal. The book may not be good for beginners(who don't understand COM) or very advanced COM/DCOM programmers, But it is just prfect for intermediate level COM/DCOM programmers.



5. 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.

1 comments about Learn Palm OS Powered Handhelds for 5 Bucks (Learn...for 5 Bucks).

1. I saw this book and I bought it. It is a really comprensive guide and it worth the money spent. It also includes features for Palm Zire 31 and beyond users. I suggest that you get this book if you have an Palm OS power device. It not recommended for those that own a Pocket PC device because it is not compatible with this book. Also try the Quick Start Visual Guide for the Palm OS by Jeff Carlson for a more detailed guide on how to use certain features and more!

5 comments about Vb Com.

1. It was a fantastic resource that explains COM very well. It's targeted towards beginning programmers, assuming very little about a programmer's foreknowledge of VB. It even walks through wizard examples.

   I've had the book for about 2 years now and I still use it as a basic reference book whenever I have a spacey moment on a fundemental aspect of COM.

   Excellent starter book that I've recommended to many friends along the way.




2. Although this book was written over 3 years ago, it is still a good book for Visual Basic developers to learn COM. Microsoft wants you to think that everyone will be switching to Visual Basic.Net but the reality is there are a lot of Visual Baisc 6.0 shops out there and they have to support legacy COM components (ActiveX) for some time to come. Not all of those components are going to be converted to .Net. This book is a good starting point for any Visual Basic developers who want to learn COM including ActiveX DLLs and EXEs, ActiveX Controls, and Microsoft Transaction Server. The chapter on Microsoft Transaction Server could be a good step to COM+ on Windows 2000 and XP machines. Thomas Lewis takes you step-by-step from introduction to COM thru ActiveX components and finally thru Microsoft Transaction Server. He lays a good knowledge foundation and then with each succeeding chapter builds upon that knowledge. I would recommend that after you read this book that you follow it up the Peter Vogel's "Visual Basic Object and Component Handbook".



3. I was long searching for a book on COM from a VB programmers perspective, first reading 'Beginning visual basic objects' and putting it aside for a while i decided to purchase this book and was not disapointed, sometimes this book is a bit dry and at times the examples are quite abstract it nevertheless delivers! I built a COM object for an IIS Server to handle CDO/SMTP in 10 minutes!



4. The material seems a bit dated, but the basics are there. It was helpful in that I was looking to refresh some of the concepts. However, the ~n that appear in numerous places really started to drive me nuts. You would have thought that something so obvious as a "~n" would have been easily caught by an editor! They start to appear on page 26.
   
   And why does Wrox insist on putting the authors pictures on their books? Developers are not photogenic!



5. I'm making the transition from C++ COM to VB COM, and I have very little experience with VB. This book just kind of goes over what COM can do and sort of explains what COM is doing in the examples. The coverage of material is minimal at best, and you won't really understand what COM is doing from the explanations. What's worse is that you won't really learn how to apply his examples to other projects. This book assumes you are an experienced VB programmer and is explaining COM, which would be fine except then his instructions are way too low level for any VB programmer and his explanations are severely lacking.
   
   As an example for anyone who knows about COM, he covers connection points in 2 pages, whithout really explaining how you can use these in your own applications. For reference, all other COM books I've read devote at least 1 chapter to connections points, and it's often one of the largest/most challenging chapters.
   
   If you want to know what COM is doing, buy a concept book from Microsoft presses, or a C++ book. Even if you don't know C++, it at least explains what COM does. (Because you can't see what COM is doing for you in VB, this book doesn't explain COM very well). If you need to learn COM in VB, try another book (if I knew which one, I would have bought that one instead).
   
   A word about the books age. This book is written for VB 6.0 which was based on COM. If you're now developing in VB 7.0 aka VB.NET, this book is not so useful. VB 7.0 is now based on .NET, so you can't actually make any COM objects from VS 2003 using VB. New VB objects to be used by COM objects or to function as COM objects must use wrappers which are another topic entirely. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I could not find a way to build unmanaged , native code from VB.NET and there don't appear to be any ActiveX (aka COM) wizards around.
   
   Also, online support for this book is non-existant. The Company that published this book was split into two and purchased by other publishers, and this book appears not to have been purchased by either, and so neither provides any support or references for it.
   
   I really recommend against purchasing this book.

5 comments about Developing Your Own 32-Bit Operating System/Book and Cd-Rom.

1. MMURTL V1.0. The title seems to imply that there is going to be a second version. Oh Please.

   Like OS/2, which also faded into obscurity, MMURTL is a toy operating system written entirely in assembly code by some bozo who forked over $5000 to buy an 80386. Bad investment junior, go back to your coa-coa puffs.

   Burgess obviously doesn't know what open source development is about (thank god Linus did). This has pretty much doomed MMURTL to the backwaters, along with other great hits like the TRS-80.
   
   Should Bill Gates be worried about MMURTL? Oh, that's funny. Hell no, MMURTL is about as much of a threat to Windows as a 3-year-old is against the Oakland Raider's offensive line. Get real!

   Don't waste your money.




2. Usually when a software project is hobbled like this, the author does it to make things easy to understand. This can not be said in this books defense. It's both elementary and difficult to understand.

   For beginners I would read Villani's book on FreeDOS, which does a much better job of explaining basics. Once you've conquered FreeDOS, move on to Linux. Linux has the benefits of extensive documentation on internals and a massive base of users (which are things that MMURTL does NOT have).




3. The one thing that seems to stand out in my mind is how the code seems to be thrown together without any regard for long term maintenance (i.e. assembly code isn't wrapped in C, most of the kernel is in x86 assembly code, doesn't seem to be any sort of structural design underpinning the different components, etc.). This is evident by the fact that the author often admits that he had problems remembering what he had done. If an overall design blueprints/metaphors had existed, he wouldn't have had this problem.
   
   I assume that the author decided he would tackle his OS project and then get on with his life. In other words, let's get this done and then never, NEVER, look back (history seems to have verified this: the author wrote the OS in the early 1990s and then left MMURTL at the station with bus fair in the mid 1990s). There was no home-page on the internet, nor promoter outside of SAMs publishing.

   MMURTL did not take off. The hundreds of hours that the author spent building tools and wading around in the dark have been, for all intensive purposes, lost. All that remains is a jumbled book, as a testimony to one man's urge to climb a mountain "because it's there."

   Had Richard involved other people and Open-Sourced his creation, the man-power necessary to take MMURTL out of its confusing infantile state may have been available. Instead, Richard decided to build MMURTL utilizing a software team consisting of one person, and the rest is history.

   Those readers who want to dig into OS internals should defer to Linux. Unlike MMURTL, Linux is a "live" system (which admins actually use) with all the features you would expect in an enterprise OS. Linux has a sane design, does a sufficient job of isolating hardware specifics, and information/support can be located at dozens of web-sites. Best of all, Linus and his cast of thousands have wrapped the assembly code and given it a structural underpinning.

   At the end of the day, this book is a nice concept whose execution never really followed through. There may be one or two useful snippets of code, but I wouldn't invest 6 months of my life to become a MMURTL fanatic. History and evolution were the judges and Linux is the winner.




4. Some reviewers may fall back on the sorry excuse that this book is intended for educational purposes (because it does not examine a system being used by IT professionals). But my guess would be that these same reviewers must have ulterior motives ...because this book is, by no means, and educational textbook.

   What Burgess does, throughout the book, is basically dump code in your lap. There is no discussion of background theory, which is an absolute necessity when dealing with complicated topics like Intel Protected Mode and the 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC). Instead, what he does is throw a bunch of source code at you (to pad the book's size) and then expect you to sift through everything line-by-line, with the expectation that you already know how PIC interrupt control words work, and that you understand how x386 segment descriptors work.

   There are a number of books on the Linux Kernel that do not suffer from these shortcomings. Specifically, the book by Bovet and Cesati does an amazing job of explaining all the little details (and don't think that this doesn't make a big difference, the devil is in the details). Check out Bovet's explanation of how Linux uses protected mode memory on Intel, it's well done.

   You can tell that PHDs like Bovet actually take pride in their work (unlike some two-dollar ex-technical school instructor who just expects you to learn by osmosis).

   Instructional text books are about lowering the learning threshold. The goal is to make a subject as easy to understand as possible. Burgess has not done that in this book. He hands you his code and then expects you to do the requisite foot-work. In this sense, this book is more of a poorly documented journal rather than something that an engineer would use to learn from.

   Documentation? Ha, that's a good one. If you're lucky, you might get cryptic one-line comments. The author admits, in certain points in the book, that his lack of documentation came back to haunt him (i.e. "I went back months later, only to realize that I forgot what I had done"). If Burgess worked for me writing software, I would have fired him.

   The reality of this book is that Burgess wrote an operating system because he had nothing better to do (he was retired). Retired people are like that; let's climb a mountain because it's there (what else am I going to do? Build a ship in a bottle? Watch TV?). However, once he completed the first cut, I suspect that he lost heart and decided to get a life. This book is his attempt to re-coup on the time he spent writing his own OS. Unfortunately, that's really all this book is. He took what he had and haphazardly crammed it into book format.




5. 
   The thing most of the reviews seem to be missing is that this was written in 1995 (when Linux didn't even -function-) and OSS was in reality, barely off the ground. Most reviews carp about how this os/book is a "no show" - that's not really the point. It shows all of the bits necessary to write an OS from scratch.
   
   Apparently, few of the readers have actually worked in industry.

5 comments about The C/Unix Programmer's Guide.

1. well, this book has proven handy for reference and review, but i would certainly NOT recommend it. the author repeatedly used obscure functions(imho) that were prone to bugs, and he introduced totally new concepts in breif 10-word sentences only to use them all-too-frequently in most examples following. yes, im a 16 year-old, shift-key-fearing mexican, but i've seen good code, and mr.bacon's code doesn't fool me. if you want to take full advantage of this book, read the ENTIRE THING in one sitting so every little concept sticks with you throughout, and don't you dare approach a computer without reading a book that emphasizes on structure, organization, and clean, effective code first



2. The C Unix Programmer's Guide was the only book I could find that provided useful background information as well as thoughtful, applicable coding examples. What impressed me most is the fact that all the information found in the man pages on C as well as further insight was combined into an easily readable and searchable format. As a student of computer science, I was familiar with Borland/Microsoft C++, but I had no previous experience with C or Unix. This book helped me get an A (one of three) in Operating Systems! While my classmates struggled on assignments, I was able to find exactly what I needed to complete the assignments on time. I truly believe that without this book I would not have performed nearly as well. Thank you Mr. Bacon for writing such a great book!



3. This book did an amazing job of introducing many important concepts about C, and C in UNIX.
   
   The description of the material is very clear, and the examples are well thought out.
   
   If you're looking for a beginner/intermediate text on C and UNIX, this is THE book to get.



4. I wish this had been my First C programming book. It teaches all the basics required for you to start some worthful programming under *nix. It doesn't go into as many details for e.g., as given in 'C programming: A modern Approach by King but it still gives many details on what things are. It starts with basics of Unix and provides a lot of information on the C development tools in *nix. A very good starting point for learning programming in C under *nix.



5. I have seen good C programming tutorials, and this is not one. It isn't very descriptive. It will introduce you to new library functions and not give a good explanation on it, and then it rarely describes the code snipets. The C Primer Plus by SAMS is far superior to this for learning C. Having said that, this book is decent in its coverage for UNIX system calls with C, in that it is easier for a beginner to understand the code snipets in this book as compared to other books I have seen. Other books I have seen require you to at least already be an intermediate C programmer, and use examples that require you to study the complex code snipets before you can begin to understand what is being accomplished with the system calls.
   
   The author/publisher hasn't updated this book with regard to hardware, and it talks about 286's, 386's, 486's and Pentium processors. It considers 16 bit and 32 bit processing, and it puts too much emphasis on 16 bit, when every compiler I have seen for C is 32 bit. It even gives suggestions based on 16 bit technology. It references DOS, and if anyone is still running DOS, they shouldn't be reading a book about programming. They should be reading about survival skills and moving to Montana and building a bomb shelter.
   
   So, to learn C, this isn't a good book. If you are dealing with the C/UNIX environment and are a beginner, the end of this book is decent for understanding system calls, as long as you already understand C from some better, more up to date source.

5 comments about Novell's NetWare 6 Administrator's Handbook (Novell Press).

1. When using the book to set up a new NetWare6 server what the book said to do is the same as what is on the screen. this was my first time setting up a server and to have Zero back ground in netware the book was hard to use.



2. I own the previous editions of this book as well as the more comprehensive Hughes/Thomas NetWare books and could not wait to get my hands on both for NetWare 6. It's a must have for our shop - easier to get through than the online help files and also provides the tips and tricks the online docs do not. The newest edition of the Admin Handbook is useful for both the beginner and more advanced Admin. It's easy to find eveyday information fast. Excellent tool to check the syntax of commands you use infrequently. Coverage is just right, not too much to wade through for every day administration but adequately covers the ins and outs. Also addresses new features of NetWare 6 succintly. Well done again authors - thank you!



3. I've read parts of this book like a novel, and used other parts like a reference. The book works either way. Not written for the newbie, it is great for someone with some Novell experience, it is not super-geeky either -- just right.

   Depth is there when needed, enough screen-shots, drawings, and diagrams as needed for clear conveyance of the information.

   I did not detect any errors, and found it to be quite accurate regarding things I already knew.

   The physical size is handy too.

   This one will stay nearby -- I like it, and recomend it.

   Barry Betttenhausen, CNE 3/5/6




4. Excellent little book. Lots of good info packed into a conveniently sized and proportioned book. Not for newbies.



5. This book is packed with the neccessary knowledge you need to manage, set-up, and administer your Novell Netware 6 network. With extensive coverage on areas including iPrint, iFolder, eDirectory, NetStorage, Enterprise Web-Server, this book is for beginners and experts alike.

   I was a novice, never used Netware before, but now I manage a network with 4 servers and over 500 computers, and use this book daily for a reference to comply with Novell's recommendations. You can't go wrong with this book! By far the best out there!

   Thanks Novell!

   Also -

   This book can be used as a resource for the CNA 677 exam too. However don't make it your only one resource...

5 comments about Visual Basic 6 Win32 API Tutorial.

1. Personally I thought this book was great for progammers just starting out with the API or Applications Programmers Interface. The examples are well laid out and the code is mostly bug free. Yes this book does not have the depth of some other earlier mentioned books, however it is important to realize that this is a tutorial. Because this book claims to be a tutorial it should be rated on how well it teaches the subject. Personally I think the author did a great job and I learned a significant amount from this book.



2. A lot of people have mixed feelings about this book. But i think it really depends on your level of programming. If you are a absoloute beginner to the Win32 API, then forget this book, it'll just get you lost. If you have a little experiance in the API, (for example, i had used the API for a few BitBlt functions), then this is a good 'next level' book. If you have no idea what i mean when i say 'BitBlt Functions' then this book probably isn't for you. This book is a good reference and fairly useful when troubleshooting API problems, and it also goes a bit beyond the Win32 API which can be informitive. I enjoyed reading this, and escpecially building the encryption program that this book helps you compile along the way, but as i said before it really matters what skill level you are at.



3. I can honestly say after doing about 80% of the examples in this book, that I found only about 20% of the stuff useful. And of all the stuff I learned I can honestly say that it did not make my understanding of API's more clear.

   To me API is something you have to spend some time with. And it is hard cause unlike picking some new control and just figuring out what it does by its properties and methods, API's aren't something you can quickly grasp (IMHO) by playing with them.

   I didn't like the 'I will explain what all this does later', concept either as one reviewer mentioned. If your going to write out tonnes of code explain it all before you move on. This book doesn't do that. ALSO DON'T throw pages of code and more pages and then explain what it all does.

   DO IT IN SMALL CHUNKS!! Any developer who writes tonnes and tonnes of code and then tests his/her program is nuts. Take it in small steps. The book doesn't do this and I feel that was its greatest fault.

   I'd write this huge routine and sure it would work, but I'd be saying to myself "what do these 2 lines here at the beggining with the API call do exactly".. Then I am coding more and then the concept is atempted to be explained to me in its entirity.. And I am sitting there "What the hell did I just do?"

   Well that's my 2 cents. The good thing is source code is available from the publishers web site, and what errors there are in the book are easy to see.. nothing huge (that is unless you are really new to VB then u shouldn't be using this book first). However, the mutex example was VERY helpful and I have it in one application already. I know what it does but I don't really understand its mechanics... And I think that's how I feel about this book in the nutshell.

   Got some usefull code (not a lot) but API is still a mystery to me.... There's propably something better out there..




4. I bought this book about a year ago when I had a need to learn how to use Win32 API. I read a little, then started to skim, then skip sections, then put it aside completely where it collected dust while I found my answers elsewhere. I eventually picked it up again after I had become casually familiar with the Win32 API and realized that my remorse over the purchase wasn't the book's fault - rather it was my expectations of what the book was going to deliver.

   The Win32 API is vast and complicated. A casual glance at Win32 API books that go over just the Functions and Types (in only 4000 pages) will prove it. Any programmer looking at this book to solve a specific problem for them should keep looking. The book does not cover that many specific API situations, but rather explains syntax and structure, how's and when's, etc (metaphorically explaining what the abbreviations for a cup or tablespoon is and how to read a recipe card rather than how to cook any particular dish itself). I recommend the book as either your first introduction to the Win32 API after you have got VB6 down but before you actually need the Win32 API, or as a refresher for those who know the general gist of how to use the Win32 API, but want to fill in the gaps of what some things are, why they are used, and when to use them.




5. The contents of the book deserves a five-star rate, but the extremely boring explanations of the author made me downgraded it to a mere 3-star rate.
   I started to read the book -approximately four months ago- very excited because the contents of the book is something that has always interested me.
   After maybe twelve to fifteen pages, I had to stop reading it because the absolute boredom the author transmits with his explanations of the theme.
   I overcame that boredom and continued to read.

   The book has excellent examples with which to learn the API from; and the author's knowledge is undeniably outstanding.
   I have not been able to finish the book yet because the annoying way the author explains -as a consequence, my learning of the API/VB is still truncated.
   However, my proposition is to finish the book because, I know, needed knowledge will come from it.