Charles Petzold
1 Thorough and Easy to Use
He gives you all of his examples with the CD, and lists everything step by step. If you currently know C and want to learn windows programming, this book is a MUST for you. He teaches you everything that you need to know to program in Windows. Examples were extremely helpful. Warning, if you want a book to just "gloss" over and teach you, then this isn't it, and you probably won't find one for Windows programming. If you want to really learn step by step, then you will love this book.
2 outdated
This book will be outdated soon, wait for the 6th edition. There are also much more concise books on the market that teach windows programming.
3 A bit out-dated, Wait for a newer edition
I think this is a excellent book if you want to learn Windows 98 programming. I think the book is not worth $40 because the book is 6 years old, and the material you learn will be outdated soon. Since Microsoft is going to release Windows Longhorn which will include Avalon, the book will slowly become obsolete. I suggest waiting for the sixth edition that will most likely be released when Windows Longhorn is released.
4 Shocked....So good..best book EVA!!!
ok where to start...im a 15 year old who had been doing C for awhile now around 4 months...and i thought i would give API a go
so i bouht this book along with another win32 api book.
i had a look at the other one first because it was smaller and i was shocked at how hard it seemed..nearly gave up :( .
so i opened up this book and had a read and this book makes it seem so clear and simple
i would recommend it to any one wanting to learn win32 api.
it is extremely well detailed..has no mistakes yet and is well worth the money
5 stars from me
5 Perennial Classic
Its almost 7 years since I first started referring to Charles Petzold's classic book (for Native Win32 SDK). Even though I now use much varied tools and manage different development environments, this book still is as precious a resource.
1. Very simple language
2. Productive examples
3. Broad scope (mdi, dlls, internet programming etc)
Hope you find it as useful too!
6 The book that never stops helping
Well this book is great, I can be bored,drunk,or in any mood I can get my job done. I love this book everything you need to know about windows programming in C is here, with in depth information about every area you want to program in windows from bitmaps to DLLs one of my number #1 books by my desk.
7 The BEST!
This book is simply the best book I've ever picked up on the Windows 32-bit API.
8 Well Worth Reading
Programming Windows 5 is well worth reading. I have several years experience in native win32 programming, mostly self taught. This book in combination with the Platform SDK is an excellent way of learning win32. I only wish I had purchased this book 4 or 5 years ago when i started out win32 programming.
However i do have a few complaints about the book. Firstly the sections on Common Controls and OLE/DDE have been removed from the Programming Windows 95 (version 4 of this book). I am still try to track down more information about these 3 particular things. Also a complete list of errata is available from http://www.computersciencelab.com/PetzoldErrata.htm rather than from the authors home page.
If the sample code in the book read with the attitude of "highlighting a certain feature", rather than "this is production code" it makes for a more enjoyable experience.
I highly recommend this book to people who will be programming in win32, and for people who want to better understand the win32 api even though they may be using a higher level programming language such as Visual Basic.
9 Very good for C Windows API Programming
This book came to me highly recommended, and I went through the first few chapters very quickly, however I quickly found that much of the book is dedicated to the graphics handlers, which do make up most of the API, however I don't have a lot of use for graphics programming in designing pseudo real time controllers and database type programs. The author is amazing, however, and this will always be within my programming library.
10 Essential information on Windows Programming
What can I say? It's Charles Petzold. I have a copy of every edition of this book ever written and it is always essential reading.
This book is to Windows Programming what Kernighan and Ritchie is to C and what Stroutrup's book is to C++. Absolutely essential reading.
11 Programming Windows, The Definitive Guide to the Win32 API
This book is the best entry point for any C/C++ console mode or character mode programmer (like myself) to get into Windows programming. For many years, I struggled to learn Windows programming from reading books related to Visual C++. Most of the VC++ books tried to get into graphics, drawings and other advance features using MFC and other fancy approaches. Those books often omit simple things like adding control buttons, dialog box type application for casual progammer like myself who simply wants to add a friendly GUI to their existing console mode program.
This book has definitely get me started, I am starting to understand how to program in Windows using API after reading the first 4 chapters of the book. This book has forever changed my life as a programmer!
12 An Excellent BOOK
I can't help admiring this classic book by petzold. several generation programmer got nutrition from it. someone may say it's outdated,because now most of programmer have turned to MFC,VCL. I believe they are wrong entirely! In my opinion, the only way to master windows programming is understanding the windows API and mechanism of windows operating sysytem behind its gorgeous user interface. petzold's book is a good begin for everyone who want to be a good windows programmer.petzold's writing style is concise, crystal clear and easy-accessibility.
So I strongly recommend it to you ,and I also recommend you another classic book :"programming application for windows" by jeffrey richter after you finish this book and wanna improvement in windows programming.
13 Good book, but the code needs comments
My only gripe about this amazing book is that the source code is not well documented. At times he does a few tricky things that would be much easier to understand if there were a few lines of comments in the code.
Other than that, it is a wonderful book that any computer science student who is doing windows programming will find useful.
14 An excellent reference book.
Petzold's book is exactly what I needed to get into development in C++ on Windows. You need a bit of programming background in C or C++ to get started with the book, but the examples in this book are practical, applicable, and the text is clear on how and why to use them.
This book is not a complete reference to Windows programming by itself. Microsoft adds new Windows APIs with every Windows version, and the MSDN CDs (there is a coupon in the back of the book) are essential documentation of the specific APIs. That being said, the MSDN doesn't really provide an in depth understanding or real-world examples that show you _how_ to use the various elements of the Windows APIs, and that is what makes Petzold's book indispensible.
This is the book I constantly refer to when I need to know how to do something new with the Windows APIs or I can't find something in the MSDN.
15 great if you want to know it all.
well here is the deal. if you need to start writing windows programs yesterday then this is not the book for you. however, if you have some time to learn the subject in depth, this is the book for you. nuf said.
16 Well worth buying & reading...
I started reading this book almost by accident as I have a natural distrust of books that tend towards the size of a small family car. I believe that the people who commission computer books must be in league with the paper companies to decide that somewhere in the region of 1400 pages makes for "a good read." Over lunch with the author, just after a sumptuous raspberry coulis has been delivered to the table, they must lean forward and, sotto voce, mutter "an extra 10% if it's over 1200 pages." This can be the only reason for the vast array of shelf-strainers that must make an average Waterstone's computing section weigh more than the Isle of Wight ferry.
With such reservations, it was with more than a little surprise that Charles Petzold's contribution to deforestation turned out to be emminently readable. The text is well written, showing that Petzold clearly understands his topic, and laid out in a format that is very easy on the eye, both areas where other books fall down regularly. There is little waffle either; you can't flick 100 pages and feel that you've missed nothing. By the end of chapter one, with the page count still only in double digits, the reader has been presented with a working Windows program written in C. This is something of a novelty in this area with most other books a) first teaching you C and b) just reaching coverage of the "for" statement at about page 350.
This book is designed to teach the reader how to write programs in C for the Microsoft Windows operating system. This may sound redundant with the abundance of visual programming languages such as Delphi and Visual Basic that hide the complexity of talking directly to the operating system, but as soon as you hit a problem that requires a knowledge of what Windows is doing this is where the knowledge this book contains comes in. Without this knowledge it is also a lot harder to become proficient in that towering colossus that is Microsoft's Visual C++ development environment. To write code in Visual C++ almost invariably involves using Microsoft's Foundation Classes (MFC) which are a glorified wrapper to the OS calls that Petzold introduces us to. However, most books on this topic tend not to explain what is really going on leaving the reader with a lot of head scratching as to why something is done. Once you understand Petzold then what MFC is doing becomes, in most cases, crystal clear.
Most people will never use this book as a C programming reference. I am one of them. But, as a springboard into C++ with MFC, this book is worth its, not inconsiderable, weight in gold.
17 Overrated - and obfuscated
I disagree with other reviewers. I bought this book knowing C/C++ and Unix very well - and expecting to pick up Win32. I was very disappointed. The writing is not clear, it is not well ordered or well presented, it is huge and expensive but somehow doesn't cover many important topics (Personally I think the author bulked it up by putting every single line of code he can in there, even if that line has been repeated in 3 earlier programs). You would be far better off getting Win32 Programming by Rector/Newcomer - I did and have never looked back and now I know Win32 very well. Not only does that book teach Win32, it shows how to do it and keep your code clean. Stay away from Petzold's book.
18 Almost perfect.
This book is definately one of a different crop.
It is not so intermediate that the simple beginner would cower before it, yet it is not so basic that it should be a beginner's first read.
This book essentially picks right up from a programmer who is comfortable with C (or C++, but the core is C based) and starts the process of introduction to the Win32 API. While gradual enough that those who prefer a slower pace can follow, it is quick enough to keep the attention of the more fluent programmers.
The good sides are the fact this text introduces the foundations in a very crisp and clear manner while maintaining the reasoning behind the structure. Each step consitantly builds upon the former.
The down side is the fact the latter half pushes more emphasis over the graphical side of the Win32 api, than it does the functionality of Win32.
Another point that would be appreciated in a 6th edition would be some kind of chart or quick reference index.
19 The best way to learn the Win32 API from scratch
I own 'Programming Windows 95' which is a previous version of this book...this newer version adds additional information, while retaining the best of the older versions.
I'm a self-taught software engineer and have relied on books for most of my training. When I needed to learn the Win32 API to write Windows application programs, I initially turned to the Microsoft website and their tutorials, but found this approach frustrating because there was no overall picture presented...a lot of knowledge was assumed.
Petzold's book was the answer to my frustrations...it assumed no Windows specific knowledge, although general C/C++ background is assumed. The book starts with simple examples that are thoroughly explained. Once enough topics are covered, an excellent overview of Windows as an event-driven operating system is presented, and the remainder of the book is devoted to covering real-world, useful examples in enough detail that they provide starting points for the reader's own development projects.
In the companies for which I've worked, most of the programmers refer to Petzold's book as the 'bible' for Windows programming...for good reason. This is the best book for learning Windows programming if you are starting with no previous knowledge of the Windows operating system.
20 The book you've been lookin for!
Was trying to find how to learn 2 things for years: Windows Programming and Winsock. All the tutorials I found were terrible... I went on IRC and asked what was a nice bood, they told me petzold... I'm a 16 years old guy with a passion for programming since 2 years when I started in school... This book was the best I ever saw about the subject, it is clear, it has a slow learning curve, but if u get something fast, it's easy to speed up... The best is the CD: I travel a lot and the book is just HUGE! I opened the book in france because I dont have a computer there, that's it! The CD has everything in a chm file which allows you to search which is really neat. In 2 words buy it!
21 no idea :))
i m writing this review just to see others..
22 Tutorial and Reference
This book covers the major topics of windows programming well. Good as a tutorial and reference.
23 Works for me
This book works very well for me. It presents the topic clearly and readably. It tells me what I want to know, and I mostly understand it on the first reading. It has lots of tutorial examples, very good. I am skipping around, finding what I want when I want it, modifying many of the example programs to try things out, and having a very good time.
These reviews vary a lot, I think, because of the reviewers' varying expectations and experience levels, so it might be useful to characterize this reviewer:
I'm a total newbie to Windows programming. My 17 years of programming includes essentially no GUI PC software, mostly embedded microcontroller firmware and MS-DOS hardware drivers, and Apple_II way back when. I already knew how multitasking works, and I had a smattering of Macintosh Toolbox exposure eons ago. This book fills the gap perfectly for me.
24 I got your money, you got zip! HAHA!
By chapter 2 of this book, you are subjected to way more than you ever wanted to know about unicode. At this early stage of the game, is unicode the most important topic? Unicode doesnt work under every version of Windows, including mine. There was a paragraph or 2 that was interesting. It was frustrating enough to make me put this book aside for a while.
By chapter 4, you've been subjected to so many terms your head will be spinning, there's just no way to grasp hundreds of Windows concepts all at once. Go ahead, type in the first program in Chapter 4. SM_MOUSEWHEELPRESENT & a whole slew of other system metrics will come up as undefined. If you compare your code to his (on the CD) you'll see he has #define 0x0500 at the top of his header file, something he doesnt show in the book.
I have compared his code (on CD) to what he shows in the book. Something must have changed in Windows.
After being bored to death in chapter 2, and being overwhelmed in chapter 4, I doubt I will carry on with this book. There just comes a point where there's no motivation.
Should you check his website, as listed in the book, that website no longer exists. You'll find it w/ a google search. He lists (supposedly) all errors there. Evidently, he got paid well to relinquish the name of his previous site.
Petzold will let you know that he is very smart. For my money, I thought the arrangement was that he would share some of that knowledge. I cant fathom how a newcomer to Windows could find anything but discouragement in this piece of trash.
25 Be Ready for theory -
This is truly the definitive guide! - But be ready for wordy sentences in parts, and greater detail than you are expecting. This is not a Beginners Choice book, nor is it for the inexperienced programmer. DON'T BUY IT IF YOU DON'T PROGRAM HEAVILY. Though, it is a great reference. Very Helpful for those who are detail oriented programmers and readers who don't mind alot of theory. Worth the $ -
26 Amazing
I LOVE this book.
The book is very easy to understand. I think that every programmer need to have this book, it's helpful to understand the windows inside, how it's works. It's also a great reference.
27 This is what you are looking for.
This is an absolutely golden book. Don't be intimidated by the page count or the title - this book is actually a very easy to use ground up tutorial in Win32 programming. He starts out talking about the basics and then slowly moves into more advanced topics.
As always it's important to know what a book is NOT. This book is not a tutorial for writing windows applications, nor does it discuss MFC or most of the common methods used today for rapidly producing computer programs. This is not REALLY a reference book on win32 either.
Instead it provides a tutorial-style documentation for the monstrous win32 API at its most fundamental levels. This book sets the standard for all other code written for any modern version of windows. It addresses real world issues and real world solutions to those problems (such as the chapter dedicated to making unicode friendly programs), as well as some historical issues (the difference between wParam and lParam).
No manual is without its flaws. This book is a bit too braod spectrum in the detail levels. There are places in the book where he will delve into details that you could care less about, and there are points that he will put in two or three sentences and assume you understand, although you may not.
Despite this, this book is essential to everyone writing code for Microsoft Windows (ANY version). You needn't read it cover to cover, but readiny section I (about 1/3 of the book) is essential. My one wish is that this book came in three volumes, if you haul it between home and school/office it gets to be buronsome. That's about all I can really complain about with this book.
28 Another Windbag
The thing that constantly amuses me about most computer authors is their blatant disregard for easy reading and organizational logic. Not all computer authors are like this -- look at the excellent work of Peter Norton, for example. When I look at Charles Petzold's book, however, I'm led to ask once again: is this guy actually trying to teach me, or is he just padding his book with endless self-promotion (aka showing-off) and useless, boring trivia? If you're not interested in some comment in the SVR2 kernel source code or the "schism" of terminal input routines in the 70s and 80s, I guess you could say the same thing about W. Richard Stevens.
An example of this irrelevant trivia can be found right at the start of Chapter 2 (character sets):
"It is uncertain when human beings began speaking, but writing seems to be about six thousand years old. Early writing was pictographic in nature. Alphabets--in which individual letters correspond to spoken sounds--came about just three thousand years ago."
It's this type of baggage that, if removed, would reduce the book to a mere 500 pages or less...
On the issue of logical organization, can you imagine entering a large arena filled with 20,000 people with foreign names, having those names rattled off to you on the second, and then having to write each person a letter by recalling their names? What if, in between the mention of each person's name, you had to stop for five minutes and listen to a lecture about some ant migration pattern. An analogy? Yes. But you'll feel like you've been pressed with a similar task if you try to read this book. There are no tables, no succinct references, nothing. Good luck.
Another habit that is damn irritating in computer authors is the "I've been around for 20 years" pseudo-elitism that leads them to gun you down with historical note after historical note (not in a footnote where it belongs, either). This book lives up to that tradition.
It's about time our industry's writers get off their high horses and actually try to HELP their readers, rather than boost their own reputations.
I give this book a 2, and not a 1, because it's one of the best win32 API books available (despite omissions of file routines, registry routines, etc.), but this is more of an exposition of the poor state of win32 literature than a compliment.
29 roy
excellent book on win32 api programming. it deserves a better rating than a 4, but probably not a perfect 5. as a c/c++ programmer for over 15 years, i place this book in the 'must have' catagory for anyone doing serious windows programming at the c/c++ api/sdk level. and this should be the second book on the desk of all mfc programmers who want to take full advantage of mfc capabilities. the strength of this book is that it is a good combination of 'how to' and technical reference, and an excellent supplement to the online msdn.
30 1500 pages of obsolete Windows 3.x API with little Win 32
I have no idea why this book gets rave reviews. This book has almost no information specific for Win 32. Basically it covers seven years old topics. Looks like it was originally written for Windows 3.x and new topics were quickly added without any details. This is complete guide how to work with GUI API. Almost nobody uses it directly today. We are using MFC and VB with powerful tools including variety of GUI designers and form builders with Visual Components. There is no word about them. All other issues coverage is next to joke. Multi-threading, file IO, resource management are just touched. There is no or almost no information regarding: socket, overlapped IO, synchronization objects, security, Hmm... Should I continue? MemoryMapedFiles, Virtual Memory management, IoComplitionPort. This book even would not let you know that many of these things exist. This is the great example how to waste almost 1500 pages. Try "Programming Applications for Microsoft Windows" this book really accounts for win 32 API with accent on client side development. "Programming Server-Side Applications for Microsoft Windows 2000" is the great source for server side. These books cover details.
31 This is an excellent book!
I was completely new to Windows programming before getting this book, and it helped me write my own Windows programs in no time at all. I got the book to help me with a term project for one of my classes, but I know that I'm going to find it invaluable in the future as well. For anyone starting out with Windows programming, or even people who already know some win32 api stuff, this book is a must-buy! The CD that comes along with the book is extremely useful. I like playing around with code so that I'm comfortable with what it does before I use it myself, and using the CD let me do that without having to type everything up myself.
32 Disappointing
I bought this book after having read the glowing reviews about it. I really didn't like it. I was learning the Win32 API - perhaps the book is better for experienced Win32 programmers. My primary complaint was that, in the code examples, it presented the material it was trying to illustrate alongside copious amounts of material that had never been discussed. The part you were trying to learn was sandwiched among many unrecognizable things. This fact made the code examples almost worthless to me. In addition, the book leaves out the subject of the Windows Common Controls entirely.
There seems to be a shortage of good books on the Win32 API. I don't think the Platform SDK documentation does a good job of helping students learn it either. There is another Win32 API book, Win32 Programming, by Rector and Newcomer, that I liked better than Petzold. I also prefer it to digging through the Platform SDK.
33 The best book on the Win32 API, hands-down
This book is by far the best book ever written on the Win32 API. If you are trying to avoid MFC and want to program for Windows the old-fashion way, then look no further. Actually, even if you do use MFC, you can still benefit from knowing the Win32 API as you can make calls to it from MFC. Charles Petzold has been there since the beginning of Windows and remains the true authority on learning to program for Microsoft Windows.
34 Lots of topics covered, with just enough info on each one
If you're going to be programming for Windows, with or without MFC, you need this on your bookshelf. Petzold covers nearly everything, including a good overview of unicode right up front where it belongs. He then goes on to cover the GDI, mouse and keyboard input, modal and modeless dialogs, most common controls, and very basic multithreading issues. All chapters contain complete, working examples that leave lots of room for you to play around once you've convinced yourself you understand the basic concepts. I haven't run through all of them yet, but I haven't found any erros in those I've used.
All I'd add for the next edition is a discussion of Z ordering, an overview of resource scripts (to break the dependence on the Visual C++ wizards), serialization, and perhaps a little more detail on parent/child relationships. As it stands now, this book doesn't lend itself as well to use with the Borland compilers as it does with Microsoft's.
35 New to Windows Programming!
I'm a C/C++/Java programmer, but never have programmed in a Windows environment or used the Windows API (other than the extent of Visual Basic).
This book IS IT. If you want to learn everything there is to know about Windows API programming, look no further. This book uses basic C programming and has easy to follow text as well as plenty of examples with full code! It's hard to find a book these days that give you the "body" code, but tell you to access the CD-ROM for the headers. This book doesn't do that, it actually prints out the entire program, headers and all. (I hate accessing the CD-ROMs for my books!) :)
This book is 1479 pages of pure Windows API goodness!
36 Excellent introductory book on the Win32 API
This book is great for anyone who wants to learn Windows programming using its native API. It is very readable and requires only a basic knowledge of C, so it is an excellent tutorial for beginners, but there is enough meat in it that it is quite useful for advanced programmers as well. The author explains everything clearly, thoroughly, and accurately. The numerous example programs he uses to illustrate his concepts are well-written and free of bugs.
The book is peppered with occasional historical asides. If you can't stand historical asides, you may be frustrated, but it's understandable that a guy who's been programming Windows for 15 years will have a few stories to tell.
The book has excellent, awesome, unbeatable, all-that-almost-anybody-would-ever-need coverage of: window procedures and messages, keyboard and mouse input, fonts and character sets/Unicode, the GDI (including mapping modes and metafiles), dialog boxes and child/MDI windows, palettes and bitmaps of all kinds, menus and resources, timers, and printing.
The book has very good coverage, without going into the really advanced details, of: DLLs, multithreading, MIDI and wave audio, Winsock, and internet functions.
Notable omissions are: registry functions, file I/O, COM/OLE/ActiveX controls, Setup applications, the Shell (links, namespace extensions, screen savers, WinHelp), and the common controls (toolbars, sliders, tree views, property sheets/wizards, list views and header controls).
Despite its omissions, this book is well worth its money for anyone who wants to learn (or learn more) about the Windows API.
37 Solid book on windows programming
This book is excellent for learning windows programming. To the reviewer who complains about no c++ examples, the author clearly states in the first few pages of the book that his intention is to give an understanding of windows programming based on C and the underlying win32 API, which is the fundamental knowledge required for windows programming. Other OO architectures such as MFC can be very useful but hide from the programmer many details which can be important for someone trying to learn how windows programs work. Also, the complaint about no asserts in the book .. well, again, the author mentions in the book that he left them out (in most places) because it makes code less readable, and students are less likely to read and understand a long program full of error checking.
Be warned, this book is huge, 1500 pages. Its not a book for those looking for a quick introduction to windows programming. Its intended to give an in-depth knowledge of windows programming and it does a very good job at that.
38 To MFC or not to MFC
Charles Petzold is one of the leaders of programming in C for Windows from the start. Thats right, C not C++. No classes, a lot of code, little object orientation. This book is good for both Microsoft Visual Studio and Borderland Compilers. Why? because it uses the original SDK calls to interface with Windows. If you want to really learn the guts of windows programing, this book belongs on your desk. Now if your looking for the Easy MFC solution, then I would recomend Jeff Prosise book Programing Windows with MFC, who writes (at least in his first edition of his book) almost the same samples as Petzold, but in the MFC classes. Both books are in my library and are well referenced.
39 Awesome Book on API
This is an awesome book. It covers a lot of what used to be API programming. It gives a little more understanding to how to program Windows. In fact, I had to read this book first before I was able to understand MFC. In addition, it made me want to download the Platform SDK to try out more stuff, even though it wasn't covered in the book.
Anyway, a couple words of warnings. First, all of the coding in this book is in C, which doesn't give much for Object Oriented Programming. Second, there are a lot of code compared to MFC. So, don't expect to do some small things in a couple of lines. Lastly, you must at least have an interest into learning this because I can see that a person not interested in this can get bored really fast.
Overall, it's a good book.
40 The Big Kahuna
They key thing to emphasize about this book is "Windows." This book does contains little information not pertaining to the user interface. Moreover, information about the registry and DDE is completely omitted from this book.
However, there are chapters on Multitasking and Multithreading, Sound, DLL's, and Internet. While these chapters exist, they are once again geared toward the windows interface aspects of it.
Another key thing to remember about this book is that encompasses the Win32 API. This book does not touch on Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) at all.
Given the above information and limitations, this book is the definitive guide to Windows user interface programming for C programmers. This book begins with an in-depth discussion of Unicode, and the importance of internationalization of applications. he book then progresses through the Windows user interface, beginning with simple Windows creation and manipulation operations, and continuing through graphics and canned dialog boxes. This book also contains in depth sections on device control, including the mouse, printers, and timers.
If you are developing applications for commercial use, or will need to handoff development to other programmers in the future, you will need this book. The sections on internationalization were key for me, and helped put things in perspective for me on developing applications for broader markets outside the United States. However, I only gave this book 4-stars because of the omissions outlined above.
41 There is no DDE\OLE chapter, like in the older versions
There is no DDE\OLE chapter, like in the older versions. This is a drawback and i'm dissapointed from it. The rest of the book looks OK.
42 Very good, though somewhat poorly organized.
I found this book to be very good at what it does- introduce you to, and teach Windows programming. The one problem that I have is that it must be read linearly, because the author made the mistake of burying offtopic subjects in certain chapters. For example, there is a long discussion of child window objects in the chapter on The Mouse- and that discussion was subsequently refered to in the chapter on child windows, so if you hadn't read the discussion in the earlier chapter, the later chapter was a bit confusing. So be prepared to read this behemoth of a book from cover to cover to get everything. And don't expect to carry the thing around. In hardcover, it weighs a ton.
43 Why this book?
Well question is very short. So will be the answer. If you have serious plans to do programming for windows OS visual C is definately the most powerfull environment. If you are serious in visual C and want best out of it choose win 32. Now you are down to win32. Where to start? well now you don't have much choice left but to accept what's best. So here you are having your personal copy of this book. Believe me all you ever need apart from this is MSDN (which is ofcourse free) and that too for reference purpose only. So buy it now.
44 Learn to write windows programs the old fashioned way.
As everybody says, Programming Windows by Charles Petzold, now in its fifth edition is the definitive guide to the Win32 API, and windows based programming in general. Anybody who has experience in C programming and would like to learn how windows programs are written will be very happy reading this book, and will come away with a new found knowledge of windows programming. Covering all the basics such as the structure of a windows program written in C, and the major aspects of the GDI, and other advanced topics after reading this book you will be ready to write your own windows programs, and then be ready to move onto more advanced topics such as MFC, where it helps to know what is really going on. The major topics covered in the book are graphics which include the printer, bitmaps, palettes, text and fonts, and also metafiles. The advanced topics go to include the basics of the multiple-document interface, multithreading and DLL's, and also sound programming and a small bit of internet programming. Those who want to know more about how the more advanced topics work would be happy reading Programming Applications for Microsoft Windows by Jeffrey Richter also, which goes into more detail about threads and DLL's than this book.
45 Windows In A Whole New Way
I'm only thirteen and I love this book! Charles Petzolds Fifth edition of his windows programming book was even better than the first four! If you'd like to know how Windows works, then get inside the code for its programs and decipher them with this book. The programs demonstrate the many possibiities in windows programming and teach you how to do it yourself! This book is worth its weight in gold (which, with the hardcover, is about 4-5 pounds)! An improvement from the fourth edition is the chapter on networking possibilities at the end of the book, but then leaves you hanging. Another improvement is the amount of coverage on bitmaps, metafiles, and device-indepent-bitmaps.A must buy for a C programmer!
46 Must read for all MS Windows programmers.
This book is very good. I definitely recommend it for all programmers (Delphi, Visual basic etc). It explains the inner workings of the Windows family, and even though the examples are in C, they will prove to be of value to all programmers.
47 So many words - so little substance
The book is so full of morsels of unrelated historical data and trivial facts, as well as verbose explanations of things that you never thought about and never will again that, well anyway, perhaps at this point you are starting to get a flavor for what I am talking about when I tell you that the book is a tad wordy. Don't buy this book if you are expecting a technical reference. If you can appreciate some of the background Petzold delivers then the 1500 pages will provide you with a great understanding, and five years from now when all of this stuff is outdated you can start a nice warm fire with it. I prefer a more direct style with diagrams and table references.
48 5-Stars -- This is the book.
You need to learn how to wite Windows API code? You need this book. There is nothing else out there as comprehensive or well written.
49 The Bible
I consider this book to be the bible of programming Windows at the API level. I've looked at maybe all the other books that cover this area, and I think Charles Petzold stands head and shoulders above all of them in his intelligent, skillful approach to teaching a very complex subject. His examples show a tremendous amount of research and understanding of Windows API usage. Awsome.
50 Programming Windows, The Definitive Guide to the Win32 API
This is the best book I've ever read about Windows programming. It has a lot info about native windows programming, and is very easy to understand.
51 Clearly not a reference, perhaps a GUI guide
For a 1,500 page book with a subtitle "The definitive guide to Win32 API", I found plenty of holes in the API coverage. It's not even the new additions such as DirectX or TAPI, but also what I would expect to be the core features such as file handling and security features (in NT) are simply not mentioned. Most of the book is dedicated to GUI, printing, etc. While it may be an excellent resource in that area (I have not yet ventured in that part of Win32) it is certainly not a complete overview of Win32 API. If nothing else (isn't 1500 pages too wordy for just the graphical part?), the title is misleading. Be warned.
52 Lot's of nice examples, easy to comprehend, and thorough
This is one of those better text. In fact, the most complete Win32 API tutorial i've seen so far. Excellent for the C mediate programmer ready to step into the huge world of Windows. It moves at an average pace and after you complete it, it's a great reference for the Win32 API. I recommend this before taking on any other API programming like DirectX, OpenGL, MFC...(you'd be crazy to start those without learning the inner meanings of Windows first! )
53 The Golden Path....At least for the unenlightened... :)
I have been scouring resources for months trying to figure out how to use my C++ coding skills and turn them into windows applications...This book was a tutorial at first and then just a great handbook for the windows programmer...It used clear and well documented examples that were obvious to me even though I use BC++5.0
Must have for the novice programmer....
54 only one solution on Win32 API!!!
This book is very good to enter into Win32 API programiing world. This book has so many essential material and important backgroud knowledge but is not perfact. To the programmer who has C programming experiance, this book is very good solution. Because of the clear and definite expression, foreigners who are not familiar with English also can understand easily I think.
55 great for learning windows GUI programming
This is a very good book for C/C++ programmers who want to learn Windows programming using the Win32 API. I even recommend it to those of you trying to learn MFC (like myself) because you'll have a better understanding of why MFC is the way it is after reading it.
My impression after reading this book is that SDK-style programs can be compact and highly functional without a lot of code. In addition, they are easier to understand than their MFC counterparts.
The only negative thing I have to say about the book is that some explanations of options to various API functions could be better presented in tabular form, as opposed to being explained in prose. This would make the book more useful as a reference to intermediate/advanced programmers.
56 Este libro deja mucho que desear.
He revisado las fotocopias del libro y veo que es muy escueto en sus ejemplos y no permite llegar mas alla.
57 Great book
This book is great! No other book for windows programming has explained source codes of a book in such details. As a programmer, the best way of learning is reading codes. Unlike many windows programming books, the text in this book is relevant to source codes. This is a truely great book for both experienced and new windows programmers. You should try its source codes on your compiler. I only think the author could mention how to use MS Visual studio IDE run and debug his programs without using makefiles. It works like this: (1) Create a new project as Win32 application in Visual studio IDE. give it a name. (2) insert the .c file into the Win32 project. (3) compile and run in IDE. One can debug the codes in IDE easier.
58 This book rules
If you know how to program in C but not Windows, this is the book for you. To paraphrase Petzold's words, you need to understand two things: basic C programming, and how to use Windows 98 or NT. He covers all of the basic Windows programming topics from creating a simple window to printing, GDI graphics, MDI windows, dialogs, menus, resources, Unicode, threads, DLL libraries, and sound.
59 Edicion en espa–ol/edition in spanish
Por favor necesito saber si existe una version en espa–ol para poder comprarlo
60 Excellent start for Windows programming
This book is a great guide to Windows API programming. Beginners can read it straight through (over 1000 pp.) as I did to start out, using it as a rather extensive tutorial. More experienced programmers can read it as a reference. As a reference, it is best used in conjunction with the Platform SDK. This book can provide examples of how to perform many tasks, while the SDK can give terse explanations of the operation of API functions.
61 Excellent
ENGLISH: This book is a exellent guide to anyone just sarting to program in Windows. Good if you already done console programming. Not a beginning programming book, but made for people who already know how to program and would like to have a complete Windows reference/guide...
62 Great book to get you on your way!
I would reference this book as the "bible" of win32 programming. This book covers many features of the Windows 95/98/NT features including printing, MDI, Mouse, Keyboard, and all the goodies.
This book sits upon my desk as the #1 reference when writing win32 code (without MFC). If your new to programming and are thinking about MFC I would consider starting with this non-object oriented approach so you understand what MFC is doing behind all the objects.
Easy reading (compared to other programming books) and a great deal of learning can be done.
To 4th edition "Programming Windows 95" owners:
1. If you want to use ToolBar's you better hold on to the last revision because it's missing in this one. I was very unhappy about that.
2. It's huge! If you thought carrying that last book was an issue, add a hard cover and a ton more pages and you've better start working out before carrying this around.
3. More usage of UNICODE and "NT" style information that is repeated in each code segment so be prepared.
It's a revision, and it's good. It's the best out there right now, but will not solve every problem you'll have.
Note: If you like object oriented, and uses of all the enhanced features of C++ you're not going to find it here.
63 Great book for beginners...
This book shows basic way to use the Win32 API. If you need to know more you have to search in another books or SDK documentation. It's a good way to start programming in Windows.
64 (Francisco Valladolid ficovh@yahoo.com) desde Pinotepa Oax.
Realmente es el mejor libro en su genero, he comprado la copia desde Programming Windows 95 y me siento satisfecho con el aprendizaje y el estilo de la programacion que Petzold utiliza. Yo he tomado algunos programas y he trabajado con ellos. Muy recomendado OK! Very Good.
65 Low information content; OK as an introduction
This book is OK if all you're looking for is a brief introduction to some of the more commonly used parts of the Win32 API.
If you want more detail, you'll have to go elsewhere. "Where?" is a good question. I'm still looking for a book that covers Win32 GUI programming in any significant depth.
This book shows you the simplest and most common ways to use the Win32 API but if you want to know more (like, what are the meaning of all of those flags that you can pass to the functions but that this book talks nothing about?), you're best bet is probably the documentation which comes with your win32 compiler (like MSVC++).
66 For programming 32 bit, this is the book!
I needed help in porting my 16 bit app to 32 bit and the explanations and examples in this book were essential in helping me figure out how to do it!
67 No HTML version included
I was looking forward to put this "brick" on my lap-tops harddisk (my bags are already to heavy) and the cover said that the CD has a "Fully searchable HTML version of the book" on it, so it should be a small thing to do so. It turns out that there is *no* HTML version of the book on the CD. Instead there is something else that requires Internet Explorer 4. So, unless you're using this particular browser, there is no hope for you. Just thought you should be informed.
Also, if you're interested of learning WIN32 in a "least common denominator" way, I guess the 4:th edition biased towards Win95 is a better choice. The 5:th edition has stuff specific to 98/NT which is only extra work to filter out, if you want to write code for all WIN32 machines.
68 It should have been a better book.
Good book, but still leaves much to be expected.
1. As a book titled, "Programming Windows", it's not complete. Read together with books like "Advanced Windows", "Inside COM".
2. Very little mention of NT features, for example MaskBlt, PlgBlt, world transformation, NT 5.0 features.
3. Bad programming styles, for example, no C++, not much code reuse, every program has a WinMain and registers a class, no assert, lots of static variables which are dangerous in multithreading environment, no exception handling, only single instance of window allowed because use of static variables, no much const where should be.
4. Information not fully updated for Win32 API, for example, use RegisterClass instead of RegisterClassEx, spool file name on p. 599; the warning that you should not delete stock object on p. 162 (which is actually safe in Win32);
69 A reference that I recommend to all Windows programmers
Petzold is still my preferred reference since Windows 3.0. He explains what you need to know clearly and understandably. I learned Windows programming from his books and have gone back to them often.
70 Must have!
As always, this is an excellent reference book. However, I must say that I was VERY disappointed in the removal of the common controls and ole chapters found in the previous edition! I had hoped very much to see updated chapters on common controls and ole.
