[.ca] Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework (ISBN 032117352X)

Use XML and cryptography under .NET:
There is a vast group of Visual C++ coders out there, you perhaps amongst them. Successfully writing and maintaining what is perhaps now large source code bodies. In doing so, you've become quite experienced and you know the ins and outs of Visual C++. But about 2 years ago, Microsoft starting pushing a wonderful new .NET platform. Impressive claims about how one could develop code in several languages sitting atop this. Technically nice. But for you, much of this was moot. You and others in your group have no inclination to start coding in Pascal, anyway. You cannot abandon Visual C++. So the authors wrote this book, targeted towards you. It is not a comprehensive introduction to .NET. But they chose to focus on a few topics that you might value. XML for example. This is now a widely adopted standard for data interchange, and if your code isn't already familiar with it, then it might be a good thing to add. It motivates you to start dipping into .NET. Plus, in order to parse XML, they show how to use the standard Document Object Model (DOM) parser that is available under .NET. All useful stuff. They also use cryptography as another hook into .NET. It is just a guess, but some of your applications might need this. So here is how to use some of the latest advanced implementations of hashing and public key infrastructure. And if these are done in .NET, well, gosh, what a coincidence. :)

Brilliant stuff!!:
When I read the various quotes from this book I was a bit skeptical - especially the quotes from the program manager of Visual C++. I'm not saying I didn't believe the quotes, but I figured that lots of these guys know each other and help each other out with quotes. However, I did buy the book and am definitely happy with it! Here are my specific Pros and Cons: PROS * Incredible coverage of XML, RegEx and Cryptography * I almost didn't read the File I/O chapter thinking it couldn't be of any more help than CStdioFile and CFile. Boy was I wrong!? Great chapter * The *best* ADO.NET chapters currently in print. Archer is the only author to show why and how to incorporate disconnected data using ADO.NET into an MFC application. Actually, these chapters alone are worth the price of the book. * Great Visual Studio AppWizard to automate creating MFC/.NET apps! CONS * Remoting and Performance - These chapters (at the end of the book) seem a bit rushed and could have used more detail. SUMMARY I'm using this book quite frequently to write MFC/.NET appliations where I create the UI using MFC and then the lower level classes from the .NET BCL. Great combination to produce quality results quickly!