Rating: 
Summary: Gives one a real clue! (Actually 4.5 stars)
Review: This book was the one that unlocked the "mystery" of COM for me. I find that it and other WROX beginner books are good when you've read the technobabble of others and still need more of a feel (and examples!). After reading this book, one can go back to the theoretical, intentionally intellectually impressive books for the rest of the story.The only downside was that there were no really detailed C++ examples (e.g., a COM object using another COM object).
Rating: 
Summary: yuck
Review: This book was very confusing for me, and I am VERY fluent in C++/MFC. The authors used a LOT of really big words that I had no clue what they meant, without defining what they meant. I feel like they didn't sufficiently explain some of the core concepts, such as what an interface is, what a method is, why you would have 2 interfaces in 1 COM componet, etc... The chapters were too long and should have been broken up into more short chapters. They covered several subjects in each chapter. I think that the authors are very bright people who understand COM very well, and when they wrote this, they read it and said, "That makes perfect sense..." without having any newcomers read it.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY Confusing
Review: This book was very confusing for me, and I am VERY fluent in C++/MFC. The authors used a LOT of really big words that I had no clue what they meant, without defining what they meant. I feel like they didn't sufficiently explain some of the core concepts, such as what an interface is, what a method is, why you would have 2 interfaces in 1 COM componet, etc... The chapters were too long and should have been broken up into more short chapters. They covered several subjects in each chapter. I think that the authors are very bright people who understand COM very well, and when they wrote this, they read it and said, "That makes perfect sense..." without having any newcomers read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good initial book on ATL & COM
Review: This is a good introduction to the world of COM and ATL. ATL is designed to do a lot of the tedious parts of COM programming for you. This book fills you in on both. It is not for the neophyte. You need to have a good grasp of programming before this book will help you, but it is a good place to begin if you already know C++ and need to come up to speed on COM.
Rating:
Summary: The title is misleading
Review: This is a reference manual for COM programmers who already know how to program with the Active Template Library. Hoping to learn ATL from simple concepts to advanced techniques, I quickly found this book disappointing, because the advanced material begins at around page 20. Incidentally, I found the synopsis of the book description here on Amazon rather amusing: "The Active Template Library (ATL) is the part of the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) used to build reusable and very efficient components in C++." From what I can tell, ATL was designed as a lightweight ALTERNATIVE to MFC, not a PART of it! Summary: Difficult book to read. Not at all for beginners. More of a technical reference manual.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Start for ATL
Review: This is a very good book on ATL.This book gave me confidence of programming with ATL.It deals with ATL Architecture to using Windows controls in ATL framework.
Rating:
Summary: very good hands-on book
Review: This is a very good hands-on book. I read it with Inside COM. The two books make a good pair since Inside COM is more academic. Beginning ATL COM Programming made developing ActiveX objects very easy and understandable. I am looking forward to the "professional" version.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to ATL
Review: This is one of the best introduction books I have ever read. The writing is clear and concise, and amazingly, appears to be error-free! I have also read some of Grimes' DCOM book, and I am impressed with his knowledge and his writing style. If you're attempting to use ATL, get this book!
Rating:
Summary: Poorly organized and realized
Review: To much digging needed to find the few jewels here. The organization of the material is what hurts this book most. In chapter 2, after a brief intro into ATL and COM, they launch into the implementation of an ATL client, which consists (I'm not making this up) of running the ATL wizard and then deleting most of the output! It doesn't get any better further along, either. I recommend reading another title. Any other title.
| 
