[ale] OT: Win32 Programming

[Joe Knapka]

Christopher Fowler <cfowler at outpostsentinel.com> writes:

> On Thu, Sep 18, 2003 at 09:18:38AM -0400, John Wells wrote:
> > 
> > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157231995X/qid=1063891091/sr=2-1/ref=
> > sr_2_1/002-2703557-5654464
> > 
> > Supposedly the best...from a C perspective
> 
> Thanks,  I've got a few books but they have chapters that focus on C and
> C++ before the meat.  I'm looking for a book that assumes the user knows
> all that stuff.  I think the one you showed probably the good one.
> I want to know the API for IPC, I/O, Serial, Netowor, Service, etc....

Chris, much to my dismay, I have done quite a bit of Win32
programming, including services. I wouldn't call myself a Win32 API
expert (nor do I aspire to that title :0) -- I must very frequently
refer to the documentation. In my experience, the MSDN Library
provides adequate documentation for any conceivable programming task
using the Win32 API. If you've got access to the MSDN Library CDs,
install it and use it. It fufills your requirement ("assumes the user
knows all that stuff"), unless you explicitly go looking for the
baby-step stuff about using the IDE, C++, etc.

I really hate writing Win32 code, but I will give M$ credit for the
quality of their documentation (with a few exceptions here and there).
The only real problem with the MSDN documentation is that there's just
so damned much of it - finding what you're looking for can be a bit
daunting. But the "Index" tab is your friend.

Of course, if you're using Cygwin or something, that's not going to be
useful advice.

Cheers,

-- Joe Knapka