Professional MFC Visual C++5, 2nd edition
Authors: Mike Blaszczak
Venue:  (1997)

:Previously announced as Revolutionary Guide to MFC Programming with Visual C++ 5, 2nd Ed. Revised and updated for Visual C++ 5, this is the 3rd revision of Mike Blaszczak's critically acclaimed book covering professional techniques for MFC users. Who is this book for? This book is for professional developers with a desire to get under the covers of the Microsoft Foundation Classes to find out why Microsoft implemented things the way they did. A good grasp of C++ and some Windows programming knowledge are assumed. What does it cover? This book focuses on the use of the Microsoft Foundation Classes to develop software. Of course, 'software' is a very broad term - some readers are doubtless interested in writing low-level technical applications that might not even have a user interface, while others will be interested in coding form-oriented applications that do little more the data validation and formatting before they hand the information off to a database server. While you won't be writing a database server, you will write a few utilities, some DLLs, an ActiveX control and even an OLE document server, as well as examining Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and Data Access Objects (DAO) strategies. At the very end of the book, we look at what MFC provides to make programming for the Internet easier. This book gives a detailed discussion of the majority of classes present in Microsoft's application framework library. While it points out what parameters are required for the member functions of those classes, it concentrates more on describing what utility the classes really provide. It should be obvious that a class named CWnd will probably provide the functionality inherent in a window, but it may not be obvious when some class derivatives are more appropriate than others, exactly how objects of that class are created and destroyed, or what interaction that class has with others in the framework. We should say that there are a few things this book doesn't do. It isn't an exercise in marketing hype, because although Mike works for Microsoft, and while he may be tremendously excited about the group's product, he doesn't intend to gloss over issues that are problems, or be shy about showing workarounds that are faster than the way things were intended to be. It does not beat the glossy features of Visual C++ to death. Those tremendous facilities are for you to discover. Instead, the book discusses the details that come up when your work with the Visual C++ AppWizards is complete: the real code that will make your program the best selling application, the fastest utility, or the most flexible embedded object in town. Key ingredients: Microsoft Developer Studio and the Wizards unraveled Comprehensive explanation of MFC's document/view architecture Learn how to tweak your applications to perfection MFC support for the Windows common controls described in full Discover how to write safe, secure, multithreaded applications Compound document servers and containers explained Find out how to program ActiveX controls and control containers Use MFC to implement Internet client and server functionality What's special about this book? The book is written by Mike Blaszczak, a leading member of the MFC development team and uniquely qualified to provide insight into the underlying structure of the class library. It represents the most comprehensive examination of programming techniques within and while using MFC.|AUTHORBIO:Mike Blaszczak lobbied his high-school principle until he was allowed to graduate six months early. In 1988, he moved to Hartford, Connecticut and attended the University of Hartford part-time. Disgruntled by the lack of an advanced placement curriculum at the school, he quit taking classes and concentrated on working hard and making money. After working - and traveling extensively - for a small consulting firm in Blooomfield, Connecticut, he took a position in Microsoft's Consulting Services in March of 1992. In November of 1993, Mike joined the development team, working on the Microsoft Foundation Classes in Redmond, Washington. Mike accepted a promotion (which is Latin for 'lateral move') to Program Manager and was, for a time, responsible for managing the development, documentation and delivery of the Microsoft Foundation Classes and the C Run-time Libraries. Mike decided that playing with cards was much more fun than playing with schedules, so he laterally removed himself back to the development team. Mike has previously been published in Byte Magazine, Microsoft Systems Journal, Computer Buyer's World Magazine and in books published by Que and Microsoft Press. Mike does presentations wherever they'll invite him back. He likes referring to himself in third-person. Mike is currently responsible for telling all of his friends about the rules in ice hockey, saving up money to buy another vowel for his last name, getting nicer strings for his bass guitar and completing a variety of design and development tasks relating to MFC. You can write to Mike at 76360,157 on CompuServe. He also answers Internet mail at mikeblas@msn.com. Mail sent care of The Goose Pub and Eatery may be answered but is not guaranteed to reach the author. Titles by this author Professional MFC with VC++ 5 Programming Revolutionary Guide to MFC 4 Programming with Visual C++ Revolutionary Guide to Win32 Programming with Visual C++|TOC:1: The Microsoft Developer Studio2: The Wizards and the Gallery3: The Application Architecture Hierarchy4: The Document/View Architecture5: Using Dialogs and Controls in MFC6: User Interface Issues7: Advanced User Interface Programming8: Using the Windows Common Controls 9: Writing Programs for the Windows Shell10: Utility and Exception Classes11: Writing Multithreaded Applications with MFC12: Creating Dynamic-link Libraries13: Writing Database Applications14: Writing OLE Containers15: Writing OLE Servers16: ActiveX Controls17: ActiveX Control Containers18: Internet Client Programming19: Internet Server ProgrammingAppendix A: Installing Visual C++Appendix B: International ProgrammingAppendix C: Writing Console ApplicationsAppendix D: The Foundation Class Headers and LibrariesAppendix E: A History of MFCMFC Quick IndexIndex