Rating: 
Summary: NOT PRACTICAL
Review: Arcane and incomplete examples. A book is supposed to teach you not show you half of the solution. Definitely not for the beginner programmer. Arcaic and convulted examples. Not very realistic!!! Granted, C++ is not supposed to be easy but some of us have lifes and can't devote our life to C++...
Rating: 
Summary: It is fair, but not 'Excellent'
Review: I brought this book by reading the reviews here. After finishing 90% of the chapters in 4 weeks, I found it is fair but does not deserve for an excellent rating. First, every chapter of the book includes examples or source codes which are sort of 'beyond' what the author explained through out the chapter itself. (To give the reader an impression that he could do more 'advanced' things?) Second, 99% of those 'advanced' programming tricks are related with Windows messaging service or how those messages are handledby Windows[ APIs like: GetMessage(), TranslateMessage(), PeekMessage(), SendMessage() ]. In that case, why he don't dedicate one additional chapter that explains the internal working of Window programming? Yes, I mean those APIs and BOOL CALLBACK WndProc(HWND hWnd, UNIT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam}
etc.
Instead, the writer wastes a lot of space for sort of 'nonsense' stuff and left the vital areas untouched. Simply put, his approach isn't radical enough. [Tip: I found sections on (window programming) from 'C/C++ programmer's Bible' helpful for this purpose. It is not as lengthy as this one BUT to the point!
another source is
MSDN----platform SDK---User Interface Services---Windowing] Third, his source codes doesn't have any business value at all. Excuse me, if my comment is too harsh. But being a VB programmer for a while and almost everything I have coded is business-oriented, it is pain-in-da-neck to sallow his zero-value-added examples. Forth, I suggest the publisher save the job of writing those 'advanced' topics for another author. I have been writing COM/ActiveX DLL-EXE/UserControl in VB for a long while and I know what I am talking about. In a nut shell, this book is fair. But if you are an experienced programmer and are looking for a radical, efficient approach for MFC, I would suggest you to look somewhere else.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Reference Book but not good for beginners
Review: The is no doubt that this is a must read book for the MFC programmer. As a reference book, it is excellent, but for the beginning MFC programmer, this book falls short as a tutorial. My biggest complaint with the book is this: Prosise repeatly states that learning MFC using wizards is a bad idea, and stresses the importance of learning to code MFC by hand. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I bought his book so that I could learn MFC without relying on code generators. However, Prosise's "let's not use 'wizards'" attitude lasts only until chapter 4 - at which point, it's wizards all the way. Why is it so difficult to find a MFC book that doesn't use wizards? These wizards generate code that is extremely obscure.
Even the simplest code that these wizards generate, requires an understanding of documents and views, a fairly complex subject in itself. I just resently bought Herbert Schildt's "MFC programming from the ground up". This book seems to be the only truely wizard free MFC programming book on the market. The examples are hand coded and start forward. The beginner programmer would probably be better off, reading Schildt before going to Prosise. I'm starting to believe that part off the reason MFC is so difficult is that all the tutorials drown the reader in wizard generated code. It should not take a brain surgeon to get a dialog box up and running.
Rating: 
Summary: The best MFC book available
Review: I must say that I do not agree with people like Mr David who can only mention how "bulky" this book is. Why then, is there an e-book version included with the book? I've been working in the IT industry for 6 years now and never found a better book on Windows programming using the C++ language / MFC library. This book is EXCELLENT. It changes your view of MFC totally. The author has an exceptional talent to explain concepts clearly and in detail. This is a SIX star book!
Rating:
Summary: Don't try to go into MFC world without reading this book
Review: This book will teach you every single tiny thing about MFC, you just need to be familiar with C++.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Bulky Book
Review: A must-have for anyone willing to learn MFC, but not intented for C/C++ beginners as the concepts covered in this book are challenging for people with insufficient programming experience. This book may be a handy tool if the publisher would enlarge it to letter size. With 1337 pages, including the index section, it is very difficult to find the specific topic within 5 seconds as oppose to other books.
Rating:
Summary: Phenominal
Review: This book is a must have for any serious MFC programmer. This indispensable work by Prosise pays due homage to Mr. Petzold's classic 'Programming Windows 3.1', and as well it should, but regardless has earned its stripes standing alone. The book has the fit and feel of Petzold's 3.1 - it is orgainized in a very simlar fashion, it speaks to the reader in much the same spirit, and it will place you in the upper tier of the developers in the company who really know something about MFC. So far, my office copy of Prosise MFC 2nd Ed. is nearly as marked up and commented as my trusty old Petzold 3.1, which along with K&R C, I refuse to banish to the attic. If I had to have a gripe, I would say that it is one of the more expensive books that you will no doubt need two of. One for home and one personal copy at work - no you won't want to sign the waiting list for the company copy or hope that 'Joe' will lend you his for the day. So buy it already.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a good MFC book.
Review: When I had to make the leap between C++ and windows programming I was so frustrated trying to find a book that explained MFC well. Either the books were too general or literally incomprehensible. This one is just right. While no one book can teach you everything about this subject, this one gives you a clear idea about many fundamentals as well as some more in-depth types of MFC programming. There are many sample programs within this book and they are all (for the most part) very well explained. You WILL be able to read MFC code and understand it once you finish this.
NOTE: I would however reccomend that a beginner read a more fundamental book first, just to get a firm handle on the basics and then move on to this one. Not that Procise doesn't explain things well, it's just that a novice may be too overwhelmed by the amount of information that is packed into this. If you thourougly understand this book, with the help of the MFC library you will be ready to begin as a windows programmer.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the money
Review: I am an experienced C and C++ programmer but on UNIX machines. A recent project required programming a 3-D medical imaging visualization program on a Windows platform. This book made the transistion to Windows and MFC much easier. Rarely did I come up with a question that I couldn't hunt down in Prosise's book. It helps not only with MFC function calls but with programming style as well. Not for the C++ novice, but if I were a somewhat experienced C++ programmer, I'd skip the introductory books, and buy this standard instead.
Rating:
Summary: A real MFC bible
Review: At lease I can always find the information if I want to do
something with MFC. The author has definitely thorough
understanding of MFC and windows. His examples are also easy
to follow. Even for the difficult parts, like COM and Automation,
the author can explain them in a style much more understandable
than any other MFC books I've read. Please pay attention to where the author said you may need to spend more time and would benefit from the complete understanding. Try to re-read the part after you follow his examples. You will get bigger and more clear pictures about
what you have done!
It is a bible for MFC users and deserves the money you pay for it.
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