From: atif@infotec.ch
Subject: Feedback needed on a new Windows book!!
Keywords: Windows Programming API Book
Organization: Infotec S.A.
Distribution: comp
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 10:12:40 GMT


Hello everyone. I am writing a book on Windows programming and
I would like to gather as much input as possible to determine
the need of the developers. The kind of road blocks they run
into. Essentially, you could help me by answering some questions
like:

1. What would you like to see in a book on Windows programming.
2. If you were to write one, what kind of material, subjects
   and aspects would you consider?

Here is a small preview of my book anyhow:

So far, I have decided to propose the following three titles
to my (future) publisher:

1. "Windows Gadgets"
2. "A Practical Approach to Windows Programming"
3. "Windows Programming by Examples"

* Why I decided to write this book?

Okay, so this book is not your average guide to Windows Programming
that everybody is getting tired of. In my opinion, Charles
Petzold has already done the best job in that domain (although
I am disappointed with the new edition on Windows 3.1 because
it doesn't cover any new topics; just the source code has been
updated and some text) because he had all the inside information
and help from the Windows developers themselves. It would be
insane for me to compete with that sitting here in Geneva,
Switzerland, where news reaches months later.

Reading SDK books and Windows Programming bibles does not
really teach you how to get certain things done in Windows.
Sure, you may learn how to create windows and fonts, display
bitmaps and write DLLs, but Windows is much more than that.
It takes at least a year of intense Windows programming and
experimention to start getting an idea of how some effects
are achieved in commercial applications. One has to get a
real good feel of the event-driven system and it is more
important to know all you messages and how to respond to them,
rather than every function in the API.

Undoubtedly, the first time you embarked onto programming
under Windows, the SDK books were probably not enough. Almost
every beginner is tempted to look at the sample applications
that come with each compiler and SDK package. This is where
your vision widens and the imagination unlocks. You see which
messages to trap and what functions to call in order to get 
something done. Reading all about memory management, GDI,
and controls is just the theory. People need examples and
examples to see the practical application. How many Windows 
beginners really see the power of GDI regions immediately?
Can they say what useful purposes can they serve the 
programmer? 

In my book, I wanted to show 15 or 20 solid examples that 
touched several areas of Windows programming. In the text,
I don't exaplain what every single API function used 
really does. I presume that people can look up their
reference guide and see that. The text discusses how messages
and function are used in the examples to achieve the
effects they demonstrate.

My real aim is that people come and see this book in the
shelf, find the sample programs interesting, copy parts
of the source code they might find useful and incorporate
them into their own programs. It's really a book about
those little gadgets like toolbars, mini-captions and 
other stuff that are found so often in commercial 
applications.

All the source codes are Windows NT compatible using
Win32 API guidelines and message crackers.

I'd like to know what you really think, and need as much
feedback as you can offer on this.

Thanks in advance.

 
---------------------------------------------------------------
 ATIF AZIZ         |  Infotec S.A., Geneva, SWITZERLAND.  
 Software Engineer |  "Imagination is better than knowledge."   
 atif@infotec.ch   |             - Albert Einstien. 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc