3 comments about Understanding C++ for MFC (With CD-ROM).

1. I am a CS student looking to do some GUI programing.The first 1/4 of the book is just basic brush up on simple c++ classes,strings, declaring variables, pointers,etc. Nice little refresher. Then it gets into pop up windows which was informative but very limited . Then the remander of the book is focused around one program that he wrote as an example but his descriptions are so vague it is dificult to apply it to your own program. The things done in the book can just as easily be done by following the MFC app wizard in visualc++ and then reading the MSDN library, save your money, or buy my copy used =)



2. The one thing that you're not going to do at the end of this book is actually understanding MFC. It will give you a crash course in how to write an MFC program, and that's where it stops. Deeper understanding of how and why things work the way they work is not explained.
   Most of the book is based on one example, so if you skip a chapter you're doomed because your sample project isn't up to date. I wouldn't recommend buying this book.



3. It does a good job of introducing MFC with good but not many examples. If you know C++ programming and have experience with another GUI framework, this book will serve you very well to understand MFC quickly.

No comments about Borland C++ 4.X Tips, Tricks, and Traps/Book and Disk.

1 comments about Getting Started With the SAS System: Version 8 (Getting Started Series (Cary, N.C.).).

1. This book proved invaluable when I needed to familiarize myself with SAS after being away from it for many years. It is also a good choice for first-time SAS users who would like to start writing programs to analyse statistical data as soon as possible. Features added to the most recent Windows-based version of SAS make it much easier to debug and use, and the book explains them well.

No comments about Killer Borland C++ 4/Book and Disk.

No comments about Borland C++ 4.5 Object-Oriented Programming.

5 comments about C++: Object-Oriented Data Structures.

1. This is the worst programming text book I've encountered. The examples may work but are far from readable.



2. After reading many C++ books, I felt that this book was the most understandable book. The examples were very, very clear. I recommend it.



3. A very lousy programming book. Readability of examples is shockingly bad



4. This book was SUPERB! The examples given were those of complexity, yet comprehendable! Bravo! This book is one I personally recomend.



5. I used this book as a text book for a data structures class. The code does work but the code structure hard to follow. As a supplement a book written by Kruse was used to fill the gap this one left. I would not add this one to my library. Also I am not a 12 year old reader, the input box would not go above 12.

5 comments about Application Development Using C# and .NET (Integrated .NET Series from Object Innovations).

1. It's hard to categorize this book. You not only you get an overview of C#, detailed emphasis on some aspects of application development, but it also provides an overview of .NET technologies, like various other .NET "Programming" books. So it's like one and a half books in one. You should certainly study a beginner's book on C# before reading this (mine was C# Primer Plus, which I recommend), though read this you should, because it's extremely well written and covers many aspects of .NET with crystal clarity, surprisingly so for a book of this scope. About 3/4 of the book covers core C# and overview of technologies, and then two or three chapters are dedicated to core .NET issues. So it's more of a "Programming/Overview" type of book than anything else; the best one I've read though. I would've preferred more emphasis on .NET fundamentals, and application design development. Nevertheless, I'm impressed.

   I'll keep an eye out for future books from this author!




2. The authors never seem to stay focused on the topic at hand for more than three or four sentences. Constantly branching back and forth in a GOTO type logic that makes you loose enthusiasm for the topic. Mentally unpleasing. Especially on the ADO.NET interface. Cannot seem to give a healthy grip.

   Other may argue that you need to be an expert to appreciate this book. If your are that expert, then you do not need the book to begin with. If you cannot enjoy the sequence of presentation without feeling mentally taxed, then it is not a book that you want to read. At certain points, you feel that your are reading a dictionary of term and concepts.

   I found other books far more superior in presenting an expert opinion in a very straightforward manner, staying focused, complimenting the theory with a good advice.

   This book is not worth the ink that it is written in.

   Thanks




3. This book picks up and overlaps a little with Robert Oberg's "Introduction to C# using .NET" which I believe is mandatory reading for C# programmers.

   There is more detail and lots more information on the .NET framework itself. It's a thorough grounding in the general framework stuff.

   It is not, however, an exhaustive look at everything that you can do with .NET. A lot of subjects are given very cursory looks and you will need to add extra books to your collection for in-depth coverage of more of the details.

   Reading this book and its predecessor will definitely get you a solid grounding with .NET, but you must do it with a computer in front of you working through the examples and case studies.




4. You can't expect a book on such a broad topic as this to be completely successful. This book is an excellent resource for explaining the new C# language. However, when it delves into the meat of the .NET software it lacks in some areas. I found myself laboring to find out things that I feel the book should have explained. Other books explained those concepts very well. The sample code was very well done although frustrating to implement because of the placement of the documentation in the book. The Web Services portion of the book is probably the poorest. I found Web Services easily explained in other books.

   I am new to .NET but I've read 4 other books including one that tries to cover all aspects. In some ways I believe the authors tried to cram too much into one book and parts didn't work out so well.




5. I would use two analogies to describe this book.

   1 - Have you ever talked to someone who is really bright - a doctor, a scientist, a computer geek - who you could tell was really smart but who could not communicate clearly and coherently in plain English?

   2 - Have you ever heard the expression "it makes sense if you already know the answer" as applied to an explanation which is convoluted and confusing but ultimately right?

   Well that's what this book is like to me. From the sections I've read these guys are not authors but they are experienced developers. They are not good at explaining things. They cannot lay out something simply in a one, two, three order. They jump from here to there and their writing looks like somebody cut and pasted some different sections of text together.

   They do present a sophisticated code example which exceeds what you get in most technical books, however.

   So I would say this book is not a good book if you are reading it for an explanation of C# and .NET. It could be useful if you are an experienced developer (and are used to dealing with people with poor communication skills) and are looking for some good code examples.

No comments about C++ and C Debugging, Testing, and Reliability: The Prevention, Detection, and Correction of Program Errors/Book and Disk.

4 comments about Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones (Symbian Press).

1. If you were looking for a deeper discussion of Symbian for Mobile Phones than the "Programming the Series 60 platform and Symbian OS", you've come to the wrong place. "Different" would be a more accurate word. Part of the problem is that it was put together by agglomerating works from various ( 18 !) authors. The writing style shifts from first to third person and back a lot.

   The book rather briefly mentions Series 60 ( still the predominant UI among symbian-based smartphones ) and Series 80 ( Nokia Communicators ), and then moves on. All sample code provided by the authors ( downloadable from the books website ), is targeted strictly towards UIQ.

   While the number of subjects covered( UI, file system, memory handling, Bluetooth, communications ) serve their purpose, the book just seems too haphazardly composed to be easily digestable. At least they did provide a few small applets which demonstrate some of the subjects ( strings, simple drawing ) covered, before they present their version of the classic Battleship game ( which in it's favor does implement a communication stack for multiplayer use ).

   My ONE strong suggestion to the authors would've been not to ignore the Series 60 platform altogether. The last book for Series 60 left a lot of room for the authors of this book, to have tied the loose ends that the SDK leaves open, together.




2. Having written software for 15 years for UNIX and Windows platforms, my move to the mobile space has been educational and humbling. Trying to learn to program for Symbian using the SDK and publicly available docs is daunting at best. The SDK docs are sparse, poorly written and provide a terrible search experience.

   In contrast, Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones provides a solid foundation for learning to program this relatively new breed of devices. It covers a lot of material in a fair amount of depth and will help newbies to ascend the steep learning curve. Without this book, those new to Symbian programming will need to scour the SDK docs, trawl the newsgroups, and rely on kind souls from the UK to help with their inevitable programming questions.

   I would have given this book 4 stars had it not been for several disappointing characteristics. First, there are too many authors. The writing style changes and information is repeated unnecessarily and in jarring ways. Second, the book sometimes repeats what's in the SDK docs, albeit in a consolidated form, without adding pragmatic insight and value. Third, it does not delve into some real-world, complex topics in any meaningful way. For example, the text quickly discusses messaging (SMS/MMS) but does not provide a digestible example of programmatically constructing an MMS. Fourth, it does not include Series 60 information, which is a shame given that the Series 60 is a very popular platform.

   All in all, this is a good book that provides relevant, helpful information that will flatten the learning curve considerably.




3. I ordered this book because I was new to Symbian/UIQ. I found it easier and more convenient to use than the SDK on-line doc.
   I appreciate the battleship case-study used to illustrate the basic and intermediate Symbian/UIQ concepts. It helped me a great deal. This book also focuses on UIQ application framework. But surprisingly, I found it very scarce (as much as the SDK) on some aspects of the application framework: embedded application programming, command-line parameters processing.
   However still good to have it close at hand for when I need a quick info.



4. My title says it all. The book starts relativly good by giving an useful introduction into Symbian Programming and introducing the basic programming paradigms. I also like the chapter about how to avoid common pitfalls and about descriptors.
   
   After the example section the book goes to introduce the basic functionality of some libraries, but stays too much on the surface to deliver some advantage over reading the official documentation.
   
   Some examples (for example in the file system services part) also seem to be outdated.
   
   Not so much work seems to have gone into creating an index - it is overbloated with useless page citings. It seems as if somebody just took a number of keywords searched the document and added them directly to the index, even if the keyword at a page is not relevant at all. For example the keyword "UIDs" points to 19 different pages!
   
   My recommendation: For an introduction take a look at S60 Programming - A Tutorial Guide by Wiley (same publisher). I found that to be organized better for beginners. If you are beyond that stage, use the internet forums or the Symbian documentation.

5 comments about OLE DB Consumer Templates: A Programmer's Guide.

1. With high hopes, I bought this book. But it has been a big disappointment. The book explains the concepts of OLE DB templates and the various macros, quite well. Lot of figures explaining the relationship between objects. But it is very much lacking on real usable examples. There is not a single complete example. Most examples are real simple. Inserts and Deletes get just one page each, hardly useful, and also the example used for these is with a CTable. How many people use a CTable for inserts and deletes? It is like saying "Delete/Update the first row in the database", which is hardly practical. There are about 30 OLE DB types, but no examples on how to use these. In summary, the book is better than the SDK documentation on OLE DB templates, but not much useful if you want to get into OLE DB programming quickly.



2. The coverage for basic OLE DB is not good in this book. To get a decent coverage of this in my opinion you can do no better than: "Beginning Components for ASP" which not only explains basic OLE DB well, but also explains MTS and Writing components for ATL to work with ASP amongst other things.



3. This book isn't exactly what I had hoped for. It seems that only about 30% of the book is actually devoted to "Consumer Templates" and the other 70% talks about raw OLE DB interfaces. However, since it is the only book that covers anything on consumer templates ... it is better than nothing.



4. As you can see, there are not many books on the subject. However, this book contains very few code lines and it is not organized well. The fact that a programming book does not have even 1 (!) full example can't be good. You will get a fair amount of information from this book; however, YOU WILL visit MSDN regularly. The author spend time on known subjects like performance again and again (although that C++ programmers are well aware to this subject) and less to the whole concept of the templates. He is breaking up all the objects very well, but failing terribly in providing the whole system. A "nice to have" book as a second or third reference. Don't buy it as first.



5. I am by now several months into a project using the consumer templates. I have to say at this point that the decision to use them was the biggest mistake I have made on this project. They do not make the grade and it is too late to back out and user another interface.
   
   The templates would be a good idea if carried to completion and fully supported. They are not. The template classes Nallet presents are not a full wrapper, but just a series of incomplete examples. They do not compile under newer versions of C++ and must be hacked just to build. Each hack in turn produces more problems. The publisher's web page no longer contains any reference to this book, nor to it's source code. The author's web page is "404", and the code exists on the Internet only in "pirate" sites. I have turned up references to the author through search engines but see no sign he is maintaining his code.
   
   Microsoft is in the process of abandoning OLEDB in any case in favor of ADO.
   
   In short and in other words: DON'T BOTHER!!