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Windows 95 Programming: Nuts & Bolts for Experienced Programmers

Book Review by Pete Cassetta, Alamo PC

"Nuts & Bolts" (to make a long title short) is a new book by Herbert Schildt, published by Osborne McGraw-Hill. It presents an introduction to Windows 95 programming, and is aimed at experienced C/C++ programmers who are new to Windows programming. The cover price is $24.95, and it is exactly 300 pages long.
 
 

Overview

The book contains ten chapters and an appendix:
  1. Windows 95 Fundamentals - A quick and very basic overview of Windows 95, including some of its salient architectural features, and how it differs from Windows 3.1 and Windows NT. A simple Windows 95 program skeleton is developed.
  2. Application Essentials: Messages and Basic I/O - Describes how to do basic input (keyboard and mouse handling) and output (displaying a message box and repainting a window's client area).
  3. Using Menus - The basics of menu handling, including defining a menu resource, including the menu in a window, responding to menu selections, and modifying the menu in response to user actions (adding, deleting, and updating menu items).
  4. Dialog Boxes - Discusses the difference between modal and modeless dialogs and shows how to use each in a program. Also covers the basics of programming three types of Windows controls: pushbuttons, list boxes, and edit boxes.
  5. More Controls - Covers four additional Windows controls: scroll bars, check boxes, radio buttons, and static controls. Also presents timer messages, and shows how to use controls in a regular window instead of a dialog.
  6. Managing the Client Area - Gives a good explanation of three different strategies for updating a window's client area. Along the way, bitmaps and basic text output are covered.
  7. The Windows 95 Common Controls - Chapters 7-9 are Windows 95-specific, and quite interesting. Chapter 7 introduces the new "common" controls in Windows 95 (animation control, drag list box, header control, hot key control, image list, list view control, progress bar, property sheet, rich edit control, status window, tab control, toolbar, tooltip, trackbar, tree view control, and spin control). Only the toolbar and tooltip controls are discussed in detail in this chapter. The file open and file save as dialogs are discussed as well.
  8. Up-Down Controls and Trackbars - Three more common controls are discussed in detail: the spin (up-down) control, trackbar, and progress bar.
  9. Thread-based Multitasking - A good introduction to multithreaded programming, including the basics of how (and when) to synchronize threads.
  10. Using Graphics - A brief look at using pens and brushes to draw graphic objects like lines, rectangles, ellipses, arcs, pie slices, and polygons.
  11. Appendix - Windows 3.1 Conversion Tips - Four pages of very useful tips on converting Windows 3.1 programs to Windows 95. Too bad it wasn't 40 pages, as a lot of important information was omitted or glossed over.

General Impressions

This book is well-written and reads quickly. It addresses its topic on an introductory level, and explanations are clear. There are very few typos, probably only one or two per chapter. The content is well-organized, and there's a good index. The typographical layout is attractive and pleasing.

 Sample programs illustrate most topics. Although they are well-commented and generally serve their purpose, they are very bland. I prefer sample programs which show interesting programming techniques and serve as useful utilities in themselves. As is often the case for sample programs, the coding is rather inefficient and user-interfaces are often messy and non-standard. While one might argue that these things don't matter much in sample programs, I disagree. Given this book's target audience (new Windows programmers), I think it's best to help readers learn good design and programming habits right off the bat.

 A diskette containing the sample programs is available separately for $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. Given the simplicity of the sample programs, I think this price is excessive. I would rather see the sample code available for free downloading from a BBS, an FTP site, and/or various online services.
 
 

Is "Nuts & Bolts" for You?

This book is most suitable for a rather limited audience: DOS or Unix C/C++ programmers who want a fast-paced introduction to Windows 95 programming. If you're in this category, "Nuts & Bolts" will get you off to a solid start with Windows 95. Just keep in mind that you'll probably want to pick up a more in-depth Windows 95 programming book at some point, to learn about topics like printing, font handling, OLE, etc.

 I wouldn't recommend this book if you're already familiar with Windows 3.1 or OS/2 C/C++ programming, as too much of it will be old hat. Only three of the ten chapters are specific to Windows 95 (chapters 7-9), and you'll learn little from the other seven chapters. I wish the author had used more of the book's space to elaborate on the issues raised in these three chapters, but I guess that wasn't his purpose.

 If you have any questions about "Nuts & Bolts" or this review, please feel free to contact me at 210-659-2532 or ftsoft@connecti.com.