Win32 Api Programming Books : Dan Appleman s Visual Basic 5 Guide to the Win32 API

Dan Appleman s Visual Basic 5 Guide to the Win32 API

£47.40


If you want to do serious Windows programming, you ll eventually need to work directly with the Windows applications programming interface (API), but that need not mean resorting to C or C++ to write your code, vast portions of the Win32 API are accessible to Visual Basic applications. In this 1,500-plus page tome, Appleman walks through the basic concepts of the Win32 API in terms that a VB programmer will understand--and offers extensive advice on translating the C-oriented documentation of the Win32 API so you can keep up with its constant evolution. He follows with a categorised function reference with ample explanatory text and numerous code samples to illustrate real-world applications of the API. Bottom line: If you need to extend VB beyond its core functionality, this is a book you ll want within arm s reach at all times.

Actually Useful - something of a first - This book shares an attribute with a very few and select group computer books.It is Actually Useful.Unlikely I know - but there it is. It would not have been able to complete my last project (converting Postcript to TIFF (via the Ghostscript DLL s) and delivering the results using FTP) without it.

This book demistifies the API for high level programmers - Appleman s book has become the defacto reference for VB/VBA programmers when calling the API. If, like me, you are a VB programmer who is not too concerned with the inside-workings of the API, then this book allows you to find the right call and get it working quickly

Great reference, if you like reading the dictionary. - I rate a book primarily on the index, and this reference has the mother of them all. But, it doesn t point you to specific pages that show an EXAMPLE, only the page that has the DESCRIPTION. So you may know that you need to use SetWindowPos, and you know what it does, but you need the example, the index is useless for that. I didn t count, but it seems that there are only examples in the book for about 75% of the API calls. I realize that is a significant amount, but what about the other 25%? If you need an example, you need an example, and a self-proclaimed Programmer s Guide to the Win32 API shouldn t have gaping holes. I have the book, but it s sitting in a corner with Teach Yourself Database Programming with VB5 In 21 Days. I prefer to talk to people on newsgroups or IRC to get samples of API calls. At least that way I can question what s going on and get interactive help, and I know it s going to be relevant.



Dan Appleman s Visual Basic 5 Guide to the Win32 API