Rating: 
Summary: Read another book
Review: As a VC++ and VB programmer, and the attempted reader of this publication for several months, this book never ceases to amaze me at how thoroughly poor it is in several aspects. I was perplexed by the detail that was covered by the first few chapters - immediately the reader in confronted by implementation details without first explaining the overall concepts. It seems as though the authors, have munged theory, tutorial, and reference together in each chapter, which unfortunately serves only to confuse rather than demystify ATL and COM. Other COM books take different approaches - chapters alternating between theory and practical tutorials. My biggest criticism is that seemingly straightforward concepts are explained to death, whilst the more complicated features are explained extremely poorly. I fear this book has definitely suffered from the 'too many cooks spoiling the broth' scenario. After a while I sought comfort in other COM pulblications for VC++ and VB, both from WROX and SAMS, which proved considerably better.
Rating: 
Summary: A good way to ease into a complex environment
Review: ATL addresses the typically overweight Active-X components that carry around unnecessary MFC baggage. Being template driven, it provides a set of problems new to C++ programmers who have become comfortable with the MFC classes. COM is also a science unto itself (see Inside COM, Rogerson, MSPress). Here we have a set of authors who KNOW how complacent a lot of Windows Programmers have become. They introduce you to the ATL paradigm and show practical applications of this new technology. I found it extremely useful, even though it was a little scant in the DCOM arena. A good intro. You may want to look at the Professional DCOM book (when available) if you've already burned this bridge.
Rating:
Summary: I am sure there are better.
Review: Chapter 2 was just way too intense. It threw way too much at you, way too fast. I was left feeling overwhelmed, and frustrated. After reading chaps. 2 and 3 four times, I was able to proceed, but chapter 7 proved a disappointment when the example wouldn't work. I even downloaded the code off the site, and checked the errata online, to no avail. When the samples don't even work...well that's never happened to me before. It just didn't work. I was sticking with the book, because although it wasn't ideal, it was getting the job done. But I am fed up. I am shelving the book, and looking for something else now.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginner
Review: Chapter 4 ATL Architecture is terrible. It's not for beginners. I almost give up from here.
Rating: 
Summary: good for someone who has known MFC and COM
Review: I can imagine how hard it was for the reviewers before me. I actually had a hard time when I tried to learn com and atl using this book. I could not get through to chapter 2 even I understood VC and MFC. after I read Inside COM, I come back to this book, Gee! it makes sense. good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular work
Review: I don't know how the other readers could possibly get a bad impression of this book. I'm only about 200 pages into it but I must say that it is truly masterful. There's no place in the book where the authors have you run through the ATL wizard and delete most of the output. There is a place where you delete some of the output, but it's because the authors are teaching you how to think _beyond_ what the wizards are capable of. The book is extremely detailed and for someone who really wants to understand how ATL works underneath, rather than just how to do a few things with it, this is definitely the book. If you're looking for a book that you can just open up to the middle and copy some code to accomplish some task at work there's probably a better book, but for those with the time and the desire, this book will really get you up to speed on _how_ ATL does what it does. As an example, the authors discuss in serious detail the macro expansions for all those macros the wizard throws out all over the place (MFC programmers know the kind of macros i'm talking about too). I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to gain a solid foundation for programming in ATL.
Rating: 
Summary: Pan. Obtuse, obscure, incoherent definitions
Review: I found the book obtuse. I still don't know what COM is or what it's good for or what ATL is or what it is good for. I found it amazing that I could work through the examples, compile and execute the example code, and still be mystified. The lack of useful definitions of the obtuse terminology doesn't help either.
Rating:
Summary: Not a beginner book
Review: I got about half way through it and found myself skipping more than reading. Few examples, too much talk about obtuse data structures that even after the description I was left wondering if it was important. Just not enough teaching. The authors need to learn a key axiom of writing: show don't tell. Might be a good reference book, however. Chapter 2, learning basic ATL was great, but after that the book went south. If you are new to COM or ATL try another book.
Rating:
Summary: prereqs: WIN32 and C++ ( no MFC or COM knowledge needed)
Review: I have now finished reading this book - and am chuffed about how I am now traversing with ease various ATL examples I have found on the net. I give it four stars. Prior to reading it, I had no COM experince and no MFC experience (only win32api and c++). BAD BITS: Like other readers, I found the chapter 2 client-from-server-wizard bit to be unsuitable. At the time I was still trying to grasp the main concepts. I just skipped that bit. And also, perhaps the chapters are a bit long, they cover alot in one chapter. GOODBITS: Comprehensive - for me, this book left no questions unanswered. If you reread a section you will eventually understand it. I constantly annotated with a pencil things such as "see pagexx", "see pagezz", But its all in there! Well chosen examples - they like throwing in examples that expose the little technical quirks that I assume will be hard to figure out unaided. It is true that this would make a good reference aswell as a learning guide. Technical detail - I like to know what is actually going on behind the scenes, and in all those macros. This book told me. I thoroughly recommend this book for those with no MFC or COM experience. I would recommend re-reading chapters if you get lost. The examples aren't that important, (I think I did about 4 examples all up). Goodluck - its challenging, but what you are capable of when you get to the end is quite impressive.
Rating:
Summary: Trival examples further confuse a complex subject
Review: I know COM is "where it's at", and I'm trying hard to find out WHY. Namely, why it's good to use 100 lines of code to do what 10 used to do, to say nothing of IDL and ODL compilers. Is COM really a sinister plot to make software development so bizarre and complex that only Microsoft can do it? Anyway, I bought this book looking for enlightenment, and didn't find any. The authors seem enamored with COM theory and terminology, but show no feel for practical use. The example they build (aptly named "Simple") is a trivial stateless object with two properties and NO METHODS! On page 56 they dismiss MFC because it "makes the server too big" and "requires the proper libraries to be loaded" (paraphrased). Welcome to the world of computers, Dr. Grimes! I plowed through the examples, working them on my computer, and finished with about the same level of practical understanding of how and why to use COM as I started with. Part of the problem may have been my going-in attitude toward COM. Anyway, I'm ordering some more titles, and hope for better results next time.
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