Rating: 
Summary: Chapter 5 - Event Log Class
Review: Mr. Miller wrote a handy class for event logging called CEventLog, but he chose to use overloaded names for the methods to handle all sorts of different types of events. If I were you, I would NOT do this.Instead: I would give each LogEvent() method in that class an explicit name, because it makes it more clear which method will be invoked. In my particular case, I sort of assumed his class was good until I noticed that a bunch of my custom messages weren't printing to the event log. Because it was 2:00 AM when I found this, it took me a long time to figure out the problem. Anyway, the rest of the book is pretty great, a must-have if you're going to be writing a service.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: No other source compares to the quality and convenience of Professional NT Services, either in book form or on the Internet. The only other way to get this information is to read sample code on MSDN, which is a less-than-optimal way to learn the subject. Professional NT Services describes the issues involved in writing services, such as security and threading, and provides sample code every step of the way. The book also details how to build a service with ATL and even tells you how to improve ATL's implementation. It even talks a bit about Microsoft Transaction Server (now part of COM+). Here are three bits of information that I discovered elsewhere that I wish were more evident in the book - 1. If you create an ATL service, the default registation code registers the EXE as a COM server instead of a service -- run "myservice.exe -Service" to register the service. 2. The easiest way for multiple clients to be able to use a single COM instance that's housed in the service is to implement the COM class using DECLARE_CLASSFACTORY_SINGLETON. This is your typical "server" pattern. 3. Clients that want to connect to COM objects housed in the ervice should use CLSCTX_SERVER in CoCreateInstance Perhaps this information is buried in the book somewhere, but I didn't find it. At any rate, without this book, I wouldn't have known where to start. Finally, for all its great qualities, the book needs to be revised for Windows 2000. It mentions some new features of "NT5" but I wonder how accurate this information really is.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: No other source compares to the quality and convenience of Professional NT Services, either in book form or on the Internet. The only other way to get this information is to read sample code on MSDN, which is a less-than-optimal way to learn the subject. Professional NT Services describes the issues involved in writing services, such as security and threading, and provides sample code every step of the way. The book also details how to build a service with ATL and even tells you how to improve ATL's implementation. It even talks a bit about Microsoft Transaction Server (now part of COM+). Here are three bits of information that I discovered elsewhere that I wish were more evident in the book - 1. If you create an ATL service, the default registation code registers the EXE as a COM server instead of a service -- run "myservice.exe -Service" to register the service. 2. The easiest way for multiple clients to be able to use a single COM instance that's housed in the service is to implement the COM class using DECLARE_CLASSFACTORY_SINGLETON. This is your typical "server" pattern. 3. Clients that want to connect to COM objects housed in the ervice should use CLSCTX_SERVER in CoCreateInstance Perhaps this information is buried in the book somewhere, but I didn't find it. At any rate, without this book, I wouldn't have known where to start. Finally, for all its great qualities, the book needs to be revised for Windows 2000. It mentions some new features of "NT5" but I wonder how accurate this information really is.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of its kind
Review: The book is comprehensive, clear, and easy to read. The source code works and it is easy to follow (the code is available on-line.) The discussion on ATL COM servers is truly enlightening and by itself worth the price of the book. If you are writing an ATL COM server this book is a must, especially if it will be a multi-threaded server. From the beginning the author has the attitude that NT services are easy to understand and his "prophecy" becomes self-fulfilling throughout the book. The book is well organized and it pays special attention to service design and usage patterns. Also notice that the book does not cover hardware drivers. By the way, do read the previous review titled "One of a kind" as it gives very useful tips on installing ATL services (using "myservice.exe -Service") and housing COM objects in a service; I have not found that information in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Best of its kind
Review: The book is comprehensive, clear, and easy to read. The source code works and it is easy to follow (the code is available on-line.) The discussion on ATL COM servers is truly enlightening and by itself worth the price of the book. If you are writing an ATL COM server this book is a must, especially if it will be a multi-threaded server. From the beginning the author has the attitude that NT services are easy to understand and his "prophecy" becomes self-fulfilling throughout the book. The book is well organized and it pays special attention to service design and usage patterns. Also notice that the book does not cover hardware drivers. By the way, do read the previous review titled "One of a kind" as it gives very useful tips on installing ATL services (using "myservice.exe -Service") and housing COM objects in a service; I have not found that information in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Another WROX success
Review: The only book on the subject and its an excellent read and technically advanced.
Rating:
Summary: Into the light
Review: There has been so much written on the reviews for this book that I don't think I want to repeat all the good stuff said about it. The author has presented the various topics clearly and I like the style of writing. This book has been a great help. If you need to understand NT Services and how to program something decent; this is the book. Not for someone new to Windows programming. Just hope he comes out with another book soon.
Rating:
Summary: Into the light
Review: There has been so much written on the reviews for this book that I don't think I want to repeat all the good stuff said about it. The author has presented the various topics clearly and I like the style of writing. This book has been a great help. If you need to understand NT Services and how to program something decent; this is the book. Not for someone new to Windows programming. Just hope he comes out with another book soon.
Rating:
Summary: Right on target!
Review: This book addresses all the issues related to such complex problems as NT Services. The author explains them in very great details, and makes you understand how all this works. The sample code works and you can use the classes from the book to start coding NT Services very fast. The author is very talented in explaining difficult concepts. Funny enough, this book has the best explanation on MSMQ, as well as apartments. As an alternative to the classes provided in this book, I recommend the CodeGuru NT Service C++ wizard written by Joerg Koenig. But even with a wizard, it is good to know how all this works.
Rating:
Summary: excellent coverage of most of the important issues
Review: This book is a excellent explanation of the important technologies involved in writing services for NT. The writing is clear, and understandable. The treatment is complete, and, surprisingly, not overly verbose or redundant (as is often the case with books of this type). This is an wonderful book for beginning service writers as well as experts. Beginners will appreciate the clear writing and logical pace. Experts will apperciate the complete coverage and apt organization. Reading just the chapters you are interested in is quite easy. Later chapters do not make unnecessary assumptions to previous examples or specific material earlier in the book, making this a useful reference.
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