Inside Com (Microsoft Programming Series)

Amazon.com

COM (Component Object Model) forms the foundation of OLE and ActiveX as well as Microsoft's vision for componentized, distributed computing. Inside COM explains COM from the ground up, beginning with a lucid overview of what COM is and what benefits it offers programmers, then delving into the details of its actual operation. While Rogerson provides code samples in C++, the book isn't about C++ nor is it overwhelmed with program listings. Rogerson masterfully starts with a high-level view that doesn't get swamped in unnecessary detail then later fills in the gaps and addresses advanced topics. He offers just the right approach for programmers who might be intimidated by COM's apparent complexity.

Customer Reviews:

The best COM introduction book for C++ programmers.......2007-06-15

This book is probably the best COM introduction book for C++ programmers. It walks you through the basics such as the IUnknown and the IDispatch interfaces, the different types of COM servers and the threading models. Everything is explained in clear writing style.

An excellent book on COM.......2006-06-27

This is much more than a COM book. The book spends a lot of time in the first half talking about the more general concept of interfaces, which is more of a software design topic. Then he shows how to implement those interfaces using C++ abstract classes and gives a very good discussion of inheritence, polymorphism, and virtual function tables. Everything is done in pure C++ so you can see what is going on. No wizards or macros to hide the details. The diagrams were very helpful.

Even if you choose to not use the COM architecture for your software the discussion of interfaces will help you write software of much higher quality. Seeing how the interfaces are implemented and the discussion of inheritence and virtual function tables gave me a much better understanding of the C++ language.

The key to understanding COM is understanding interfaces and this book does a very good job explaining them. Eventually when the author gets into the Microsoft specific COM library you can see how those chapters build on the earlier chapters. You can see how a program can evolve from a set of inflexible C++ classes, to some compile-time flexible C++ classes that use interfaces, to run-time flexible components using DLLs, and finally a full blown COM component.

Near the end of the book it is not as thorough with the examples but that is because the topics presented there are too large to fit in a single chapter. The first 8 chapters are worth the price of the book.

Technical, clear and succinct.......2005-08-11

I have been using COM for a while, then finally decided to dig further into its design paradigm and some implementation details. This book assumes knowledge of C++ and a lot of understanding of polymorphism. If you don't understand polymorphism, then it will be very hard to understand this book - but if you do, you will really enjoy reading it.

This is one of the best technical books I have ever read - not just on COM. It does NOT beat around the bush. This is one of those books that can be read cover to cover - concepts are built gradually and one layer upon the next. Of course, this means that you must pause to fully understand a chapter before proceeding to the next.

This book is a perfect balance - it neither goes too much into the code, nor does it hover at a high level. I think Dale Rogerson has a knack for writing!

On the con side - the jokes and anectodes can sometimes get to you :)

Great book uses simple C++ coding style for presenting COM.......2005-07-15

This is an excellent COM starting book. The author progressively builds knowledge and uses a C++ style that does not require you to memorize by heart the function, macro or template presented in page X or in windows.h. This simple, no distractions approach facilitates focus.

I praise the COM reading list posted by another reviewer ("A reader"), the only book I would add to that list is "Inside Distributed COM" as this book covers the network aspects of COM like no other.

Finally: Do not understimate COM's longevity... It will be with us for a long time and is stable so your investment will payoff.

The best way to *really* understand the fundamentals of COM.......2003-12-16

This book begins by assuming the reader knows little more than basic C++. In the second chapter it introduces some simple C++ classes about which the reader will think to herself, "okay, this is simple". From there it builds: adding incremental changes to the original C++ code, gradually making it more useful, explaining each change as it goes. By the end of the book, the original example has grown up into a full fledged COM component, written completely from scratch. No wizards, no templates. At this point the reader will not only be able to recognize the elements of a COM component, but more importantly, she will understand *why* COM works the way it does. The mystery surrounding the ATL and Visual Studio wizards evaporates, and the developer can see them for what they really are: simple shortcuts.

Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture (CCIE Professional Development)

Average customer rating:

Very Good Information - You need this.
What there is is pretty good.
The Book on Cisco Buffers
Deepens your understanding
A good Resource

Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture (CCIE Professional Development)
Vijay Bollapragada , Russ White , Curtis Murphy , and Vijay Bollapragade
Manufacturer: Cisco Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1578701813

Book Description

An essential guide to understanding the Cisco IOS architecture

In-depth coverage of Cisco's IOS Software architecture provides crucial information to:

Prevent network problems and optimize performance through more efficient design and configuration
Isolate and resolve network problems more quickly and easily
Apply the appropriate packet switching method, such as process switching, fast switching, optimum switching, or Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF)
Understand the hardware architecture, packet buffering, and packet switching processes for shared memory routers (Cisco 1600, 2500, 3600, 4000, 4500, and 4700 series)
Understand the hardware architecture, packet buffering, and packet switching processes for the Cisco 7200 series routers
Understand the hardware architecture, packet buffering, and packet switching processes for the Cisco 7500 series routers
Understand the hardware architecture, packet buffering, and packet switching processes for the Cisco GSR 12000 series routers
Further your knowledge of how IOS Software implements Quality of Service (QoS)

Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture offers crucial and hard-to-find information on Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (IOS) Software. IOS Software provides the means by which networking professionals configure and manage Cisco networking devices. Beyond understanding the Cisco IOS command set, comprehending what happens inside Cisco routers will help you as a network designer or engineer to perform your job more effectively. By understanding the internal operations of IOS Software, you will be able to take architectural considerations into account when designing networks and isolate problems more easily when troubleshooting networks. Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture provides essential information on the internal aspects of IOS Software at this level, and it is an invaluable resource for better understanding the intricacies of IOS Software and how it affects your network.

Inide Cisco IOS Software Architecture begins with an overview of operating system concepts and the IOS Software infrastructure, including processes, memory management, CPU scheduling, packet buffers, and device drivers, as well as a discussion of packet switching architecture with detailed coverage of the various platform-independent switching methods, including process switching, fast switching, optimum switching, and Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF). The book then delves into the intricate details of the design and operation of platform-specific features, including the 1600, 2500, 4x00, 3600, 7200, 7500, and GSR Cisco routers. Finally, an overview of IOS Quality of Service (QoS) is provided, including descriptions of several QoS methods, such as priority queuing, custom queuing, weighted fair queuing, and modified deficit round robin.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Information - You need this........2003-07-01

I was looking for this information to supplement the information provided in the support exam documentation and the performance field guide from MG Hill, and online docs. This book has great information but does need to have a different name as I thought this would be more geared toward how the IOS was actually programmed and give a better understanding of IOS versions.

If you troubleshoot networks this is part of the magic bullet needed to help in understanding memory and memory pool allocation, IOS Resource Management, processes, CPU, buffers, and cache. The book spends quite a bit of time on large scale routers and needs to give a bit more focus on smaller scale equipement, also the information on Netflow is only 5 pages long

What there is is pretty good........2002-01-10

There is a lot of good information in this book that I've never seen anywhere else, so I'm going to give it 4 stars...though, it should be called something like "How some Cisco routers switch packets and use buffers". It is far from a thorough treatment of IOS internals- but what is there is well written and valuable. I especially enjoyed the discussions about the algorithms and data structures used by the various fast switching methods.

The Book on Cisco Buffers.......2001-06-06

This book centers around buffer allocations and buffering problems. It will give you a better understanding of when different buffers are used. I think the title should have been "Cisco IOS Buffering, What you need to know".

You definitely have to read between the lines to fill in what all is happening to the data as it flows through the router in different ways. I feel that it is rather limited in it's descriptions of the IOS SW Architecture so don't expect to come away with the full details on how IOS does its job.

This is not a book for beginners.

Deepens your understanding.......2001-04-08

I bought this book and read it cover to cover in about two weeks (which for me is pretty good). It's definitely not for beginners, in fact it really benefits people who are running BFRs like 7200 and bigger. Good detail about 7500 and 12000 architectures.

It also gave me a lot of little bits of knowledge that made sense but I hadn't thought about before. Example - if you have a 7206 stacked with fast ethernet cards but your only using half of them, IOS is allocating buffer space to every interface anyway, so pull those cards.

Other topics are queuing methods like weighted RED and a very coherent discussion of process/fast/CEF/distributed switching.

Pricey book but I thought it was worth it.

A good Resource.......2001-03-22

Book has a lot of good info but it's short on details. For example, the discussion on processes is informative but doesn elucidate on which process is which priority and what scenerios can prempt the priorties. You will have to look at the output of a router yourself to figure this out. Of course getting the same info from Cisco TAC is almost impossible! Good reference on the internal architecture of the the 7500 and 12000 series boxes. Overpriced for the quantity of info but worth-while addition to a reference library. NOT for newbies to Cisco platform.

Inside the Minds: Leading Chief Technology Officers: CTOs from GE, Novell, Boeing, BMC, BEA, Peoplesoft & More on the Future of Technology (Inside the Minds)

Average customer rating:

Highly Recommended-Unprecedented Insights
Incredibly Useful

Inside the Minds: Leading Chief Technology Officers: CTOs from GE, Novell, Boeing, BMC, BEA, Peoplesoft & More on the Future of Technology (Inside the Minds)
Aspatore Books Staff , InsideTheMinds.com , and Richard J. Schroth
Manufacturer: Aspatore Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1587620561

Book Description

Inside the Minds: Leading CTOs is the most authoritative book ever assembled on technology, written by the CTOs from GE, Boeing, Novel, Perot Systems, BMC Software, McAfee.com, Capital Thinking, BEA, Staples, PeopleSoft, Covisint, Finali, eLabor, and Encoda Systems. These industry visionaries share their knowledge on developing, implementing and capitalizing on the best technologies in the world. Also examined are developing proprietary technology, keeping technology skills sharp, interacting with vendors, explaining technology to the rest of your organization/co-workers and using technology to increase the bottom line. An unprecedented look inside the minds of some of the most well known CTOs makes for exciting and highly interesting reading for developers, programmers, techies, CTOs, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in the future of technology and how to take advantage of it on a personal or professional level.

Praise for This Book: "By the time the industry is thinking about what the world thinks the technology leaders are thinking about, the truly influential are thinking about something else. Want to know what the real leaders are thinking about now? It's in here." - Dr. Carl Ledbetter, Novell, CTO

"An unprecedented collection of best practices and insight..." - Mike Toma, CTO, eLabor

Inside the Minds (Real World Intelligence From Industry Insiders) was conceived in order to give readers actual insights into the leading minds of business executives worldwide and are written by C-level (CEO, CTO, CFO, CMO, COO) executives from over half of the Fortune 100 companies and other leading executives. Because so few books or other publications are actually written by executives in industry, Inside the Minds presents an unprecedented look at various industries and professions never before available. Each chapter is comparable to a white paper and is a very future oriented look at where their industry/profession is heading. In addition, the Inside the Minds web site makes the reading experience interactive by enabling readers to post messages and interact with each other, read expanded comments on the topics covered and nominate individuals for upcoming books. The Inside the Minds series is revolutionizing the business book market by publishing an unparalleled group of executives and providing an unprecedented introspective look into the leading minds of the business world. Other books include Inside the Minds: Leading Advertisers, Inside the Minds: The Wireless Industry, Inside the Minds: Leading Women, Inside the Minds: Venture Capitalists, Inside the Minds: Leading Consultants, Inside the Minds: Leading Accountants, Inside the Minds: Chief Technology Officers and over 30 other topics on leading industries and professions.

Customer Reviews:

Highly Recommended-Unprecedented Insights.......2003-08-21

This book features about 12 chapters, or articles, each written by a different CTO. I have never read such a great collection of essays from such highly esteemed technology professionals. To have a chance to know what the CTOs from GE, Boeing, PeopleSoft, BMC, BEA, Novell and others are thinking about the future of technology is an incredibly worthwhile tool. I highly recommend this book for every level technology professional, or anyone even remotely interested in technology and how it is going to affect their business.

Incredibly Useful.......2003-01-30

For someone highly involved in technology and technology deals, this was a great look into some of the minds of the best in the business. A great look at the future of technology.

Inside the Minds: The Pharmaceutical Industry: Leading CEOs on Drug Development, Product Differentiation and the Future of Specialty Pharma (Inside the Minds) (Inside the Minds)

Average customer rating:

Inside the Minds: The Pharmaceutical Industry: Leading CEOs on Drug Development, Product Differentiation and the Future of Specialty Pharma (Inside the Minds) (Inside the Minds)
Richard B. Hollis , Gregory J. Mossinghoff , Martine Rothblatt , Anthony H. Wild , Cameron Durrant , Aspatore Books , and aspatore. com
Manufacturer: Aspatore Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1587620464

Book Description

Inside the Minds: The Pharmaceutical Industry is an authoritative, insider's perspective on the ins and outs of this business and the future of pharmaceuticals, on a global scale. Featuring Chairmen, Presidents and CEOs representing some of the nation's leading drug development and specialty pharma companies, this book provides a broad, yet comprehensive overview of the current shape and future state of the industry. Beginning with dispelling misconceptions about the industry as a whole, pulling readers through the exhaustive processes of research and development, discussing how to carve a niche in specialty pharma and addressing the challenges involved in complying with governmental standards and regulative changes, authors raise critical points around the business and offer indispensable advice for success. From the characteristics of an effective product to the processes involved in securing patents and troubleshooting their inevitable expiration, the responsibilities of drug developers to health care and general wellness on a global scale, authors explore all facets of the business - beginning to end. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great minds of today as experts offer up their thoughts around an endlessly demanding and highly rewarding industry.

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Average customer rating:

Outdated technology, but one of the best-written computer books ever
This is a *DEAD* technology
Fantastic Second Book
This is the second best book on DCOM
Not too helpful...

Inside Distributed Com (Mps)
Guy Eddon , and Henry Eddon
Manufacturer: Microsoft Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 157231849X

Amazon.com

Although Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) is one of the most widely used component standards in the computing industry, it has a well-deserved reputation for being rather difficult to master. While many tools (such as Visual Basic) let programmers use DCOM without understanding how it works, C++ and Java programmers who need to know more will want to turn to Inside Distributed COM. This surprisingly readable reference mixes enough technical detail with actual source code drawn from C++, Java, and Visual Basic to show how DCOM really works.

The authors start out simply, identifying the basics of COM running on a local machine, and run through the essentials of what COM objects are and how they promote reuse. They present the basic interfaces of COM and discuss the philosophy of COM's object design regarding containment and aggregation. (Although COM does not support inheritance, it can simulate such relationships in other ways.)

After laying the theoretical groundwork, the book features several excellent nuts-and-bolts chapters that demonstrate how COM works in several programming languages: C++ (including the Active Template Library), Java (which hides many of the details of COM programming), and Visual Basic (which makes using COM transparent to programmers). The short examples drawn from each language show how COM is an essential part of the Microsoft programming languages and tools.

The book moves into more of the technical aspects of COM, such as automation (for scripting COM components), connection points (for event handling), monikers (for identifying COM components regardless of their location on the network), and marshaling (which lets objects send data between objects). The authors mix in a useful amount of theory while consistently holding the reader's interest. A chapter on threading models (a difficult topic) is also particularly clear, and the authors even provide their "ten commandments" for threading models--rules that show when to use single or multiple threading apartments.

Later chapters discuss distributed computing and the problems that need to be solved as COM moves to distributed systems. These chapters include the advantages to in-process servers versus stand-alone processes in distributed architectures and a full discussion of the Microsoft Interface Definition Language (IDL), which allows components to talk to one another.

The book closes with new technologies, including how developers can benefit from using Microsoft Transaction Server for robust transaction management and how the emerging COM+ standard will add even more to the mix, with services that rival CORBA for enterprise-wide distributed computing. Inside Distributed COM may be the best guide to understanding COM, whether you are running it on a single machine or multiple machines. The authors succeed in highlighting what you should understand about this important technology in order to become a more effective developer or information services manager.

Book Description

With Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), developer's can create powerful new multitier business solutions and distributed applications. Inside Distributed COM presents the information you need to get a coherent picture of DCOM and to tap its full power. Inside you'll find a strong conceptual blueprint of DCOM and related technologies, combined with valuable samples in C++, Visual Basic, and Java.

Customer Reviews:

Outdated technology, but one of the best-written computer books ever.......2006-04-25

Yes, it's outdated technology, but it remains a shining example of what technical writing should look like.

I'm not saying it's easy to read. I'm saying that at some point in this book, you'll have an 'Ah ha!' moment where you finally get how COM actually worked behind the scenes. It ranks with Aho's compiler book as one where when you finally understand, you Understand.

Let's hope the Eddons are hard at work writing another book that does the same job explaining Microsoft's Next Big Thing.

This is a *DEAD* technology.......2003-11-12

Micro$oft is famous for its ability to push out new development technologies. The reason behind this planned obsolesence is obvious, every time they come out with something new people will have to open their wallets to "keep up."

DCOM is just another disposable technology. As such, it was a complete failure; one that the marketing folks at M$ have tried to bury as quickly as possible under an avalanche of .NET hype.

DCOM was hard to port because, like COM, it is based on a binary standard (i.e. a standard that changes when you leave x86 and go to 64-bit RISC). Not only that, but DCOM doesn't support distributed transactions. Worst of all, DCOM is a very, very complicated technology to use. Three strikes... YOU'RE OUT!

The half-wit MBAs at Micro$oft realized their mistake and have abandoned DCOM, leaving it forever in the backwaters where the only record of its sorry existence are stupid books like this.

I have no idea why someone would want to buy this book. Folks, this is a dead technology. It is no more. It is an ex-techology. If you buy this book, you are lying to yourself. This book will sit an gather dust, unless you can find more productive uses for it...like burning it to stay warm.

Fantastic Second Book.......2001-01-01

great book for those that already know the workings of com/dcom, but want a better understanding of how things work under the hood (and way under the hood). this book is not VC++ 6.0 or ATL3.0 oriented - but you'll need to be pretty proficient in both or this is not your best use of funds. if you want the rest of the story behind marshalling, esp custom, std, and type lib, then is the best book i have found. certainly not a replacement for grimes - but certainly a notch or two above many of the WROX/Grimes products in both completeness and correctness.

This is the second best book on DCOM.......2000-07-01

The best of course is Richard Grimes, professional DCOM programming.

Not too helpful..........2000-05-17

If I hadn't already had some COM knowledge, this book would have been extremely frustrating. I found the topics poorly, and in many cases, inadequately explained. I often had to refer to other books to get the full picture. I would not recommend this book. There are better ones out there.

Inside COM+ Base Services (Microsoft Programming Series)

Average customer rating:

Diving into the details of COM+
To buy or not to buy, it isn't the question
COM+ in pieces
The best way to learn COM/COM+
Very good book with no Mambo Jambo and detailed explenation.

Inside COM+ Base Services (Microsoft Programming Series)
Guy Eddon , and Henry Eddon
Manufacturer: Microsoft Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0735607281

Amazon.com

Inside COM+ Base Services examines many aspects of Microsoft's Component Object Model+ in depth. The book provides a great deal of information well-suited to experienced C++ programmers, as well as thorough explanations and useful code examples.

As with most books from Microsoft Press, this volume comes with a well-organized CD-ROM that contains complete source code for the examples presented in the book. (Most of the examples are actually code fragments, but the CD-ROM contains the code in its entirety.) One very nice feature of the CD-ROM is that it includes the contents of the book in Microsoft Electronic Book format, which makes searching for passages and copying code fragments very easy. Not limited to the C++ audience only, the book presents COM+ implementations in Visual Basic and J++ too.

It should be mentioned that this book targets a lot of information at those who know C++ and have some background with the Windows API (and preferably some with OLE or COM.) For those with only a Visual Basic background or who want an overview, this book is probably too C++-specific. Also keep in mind that this book is an update of Inside Distributed COM. Several topics that are new to COM+, such as message queuing and transactions, are not covered in this book (the next book in the series, Inside COM+ Component Services, due out in spring 2000, might cover these topics).

Overall, if you are a C++ programmer, are using the Windows API, and are interested in learning about DCOM and COM+, this book provides clear explanations, useful programs and code fragments, and a lot of detailed examples. --John Keogh

Topics covered: Introduction to component software; interfaces; CLSIDs; GUIDs; registering components; templates; interfaces; references and reference counting; v-tables; implementing COM+ with Java and Visual Basic; type libraries; threads and apartments; automation; errors, exceptions, and error handling; connection points; type information; persistence and structured storage; naming and monikers; DLL surrogates; location transparency; DCOM; standard and custom marshalling; executable components and in-process components; interprocess communication; Interface Definition Language; asynchronous calls; COM+ security, including the COM+ security model, platform-independent security, and configuring security; cloaking; COM+ networking; remote activation; object references; and RPCs.

Book Description

INSIDE COM+ BASE SERVICES is a new edition of INSIDE DISTRIBUTED COM that builds on the strengths of that book as it moves it into the mainstream of Microsoft's NT-based distributed computing strategy. The book provides an architectural overview of COM+ base technologies with a developer focus. This new edition has been fully updated and expanded and includes several new chapters, including one on asynchronous calls.

Customer Reviews:

Diving into the details of COM+.......2001-08-07

This book delivers tons of programming knowledge. It dives into the details of COM+ and provides deep understanding of what is going on when you create components. I recommend this book to developers that want in depth COM+ knowledge.

To buy or not to buy, it isn't the question.......2001-07-10

If you knew COM/DCOM, you don't need this book; if you want to learn COM+ and have no interest in old COM stuff, this book offer a lot what you doesn't want, and no much what you want;if you only want to learn old COM, get "Inside COM" instead, more clear and cheaper-besides MS might be working on a better book on COM+.

COM+ in pieces.......2001-04-10

This book breaks COM+ into little pieces and makes it look easy. I have a significant amount of books on COM/COM+ and this is definitely the best. I got it at half price but I think that is too much of a bargain.

Note: You must know C++ and a bit of COM to appreciate the value of this book.

The best way to learn COM/COM+.......2001-03-16

As people have stated below, this is an updated "Inside DCOM" book. Why are they complaining though? It states that on the back cover!! It's true, this book does not go into the nitty gritty of anything specific to COM+. But if you want to know the "Base"-ics then get this book. After looking through many many COM+ books this is easily the winner. No BS. But you need to be a C++ programmer to understand a good deal of it.

Very good book with no Mambo Jambo and detailed explenation........2001-02-15

I have read a coupple of books about COM and ATL but this is definitely the best!!! It explains ATL in details from the bottom and up, you don't need any earlier XP to read it and you don't need very much fill in afterwards (except the OLE DB stuff which it doesn't explain at all...)

In fact if you're eager to learn COM it's also probably one of the best books around since it's detailed explenation of COM in the early chapters are very good and easy to understand.

If you're going to learn ATL you probably can NOT manage withouth this piece of paper.

Amazon.com

The tale of Amazon.com is well known to anyone who follows the stock market, the book business, the Internet explosion--heck, it's hard to imagine not knowing at least a piece of this extraordinary story. But few, it would seem, know the entire story, and it's these gaps that Robert Spector's Amazon.com: Get Big Fast attempts to fill (or at least the information available in early 2000, when the book was published). For example, those who know about Amazon.com's paradigm-shifting influence on the book business may not know it wasn't even the first online book retailer, or the second or the third. (It was preceded by clbooks.com, books.com, and wordsworth.com, the last of which beat Amazon.com to the Internet by almost two years.) Those who've heard quirky stories about Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos--for example, that he built his own desk out of a door, and that his mother bought the desk at an online charity auction in 1999 for $30,100--may not know that he was a studious overachiever from an early age. As a 12-year-old in Houston, he was even profiled in a book on gifted education in Texas. And those who marvel at the company's multibillion-dollar stock valuation may not know that it was broke and nearly out of business in the summer of '95.

Put it all together and you have a book that should be interesting to many different readers. As a pure business read, it certainly provides a blow-by-blow account of an important company's critical decisions. And anyone looking for a brief history of e-commerce will see how one idea--Bezos's realization in 1994 that Web usage was growing 2,300 percent a year--set the entire online retailing phenomenon in motion. If nothing else, that last fact should propel parents to pay very careful attention to their kids' math scores. Had Bezos, a summa cum laude Princeton grad in computer science, not realized the implications of exponential growth ... well, let's just say you wouldn't be reading this review right now. --Lou Schuler

Book Description

In Amazon.com Jeff Bezos built something the world had never seen. He created the most recognized brand name on the Internet and became one of the richest men in the world. He was recently named Time magazine's Person of the Year and was crowned "the king of cybercommerce."

Yet for all the success and all the media exposure, the inside story of Amazon.com has never really been told. In this revealing, unauthorized account of Amazon's astounding rise, Robert Spector, journalist and bestselling author, gives us the fastpaced, behind-the-scenes true story of the company's creation, its tumultuous present, and its uncertain future.

By talking to friends, confidants, early employees, rivals, publishing executives, stock analysts, and venture capitalists, Spector goes beyond the "official story"-the glib, polished, media-savvy statements that Bezos feeds to the press-and presents in unprecedented detail the real facts of the company's beginnings, innovations, business practices, and strategies, and its vision of the future. Further, he explains what the Amazon story means for conventional business, e-commerce, and ultimately the consumer.

Bezos's first employers tell how the experience he gained at their firms prepared him for creating Amazon.com. Early investors reveal the details of Bezos's initial pitch for money. Former company insiders divulge how painstakingly Amazon.com's internal systems were put together.

And the story becomes more compelling all the time as Amazon finds itself under attack by the formerly Internetchallenged behemoth retailers, by online startups trying to eat Bezos's lunch, and by impatient investors waiting for the company to turn a profit. (Amazon lost an incredible $720 million in 1999.)

Amazon.com's emergence as an e-commerce powerhouse has set off tremors around the world, jolting the "bricks and mortar" retailing giants, and forever changing the way everyone does business. But has Jeff Bezos finally run out of time? Will his great achievement be remembered as a footnote to the opening era of the Internet age? Or will this wily, overachieving self-described nerd triumph once again and surprise fans and foes alike?

Customer Reviews:

The story of Amazon.......2007-04-12

I love Amazon.. both to shop and to analyze, but I found this book to be a little slow. Regardless, Jeff Bezos is someone to stand in awe of. I wish my mind were that sharp.

Fascinating Story.......2006-07-10

This book really conveys the drama of the creation and building of Amazon.com by Jeff Bezos. Its really a biography of Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, through about 1999, ending before the .com crash.

There are a couple parts where the story drags, but generally, there was much more drama and interest than I expected. The story is skillfully told and the writing is clear, and after reading this book, I intend to look for the others that this author, Robert Spector, has written.

I strongly recommend this to anyone who wants to track the rise of Amazon.com. It was published too soon to provide the author with the opportunity to analyze the aftermath of the fantasticly overheated internet marketplace that led to the dot.com bust, but you can see how he examines all the elements from the perspective of 1999. Spector doesn't forecast the fall, but you can see all the excess and unmistakable signs of what is to come. I would love to see a Second Edition.

A SHORT HISTORY OF AN E-COMMERCE GIANT.......2005-12-20

Amazon.com is probably the most cited online business of all times, and it will certainly be the case for the next ten years or so. Therefore, this little yellow paperback book is a must-read for those who do not know that the "e" at the beginning of e-commerce does not stand for "easy". Indeed, similar to its counterparts, Amazon.com was also born in a garage and then became an e-commerce giant in less than five years. This extraordinary story also proves that the industry clock-speed of e-commerce markets is really high, as demonstrated by Haim Mendelson in his novel book "Survival of the Smartest".

In his book, Robert Spector starts the history of Amazon.com from where it all began-the garage, and takes the reader smoothly to where it stands now-the peak. After reading this book, the reader learns about the customer-centric view of this company, the advantages of the so-called "get big fast strategy" in e-commerce, and finally why profit should not be the first priority of an online company during its initial years of operation.

Although this is intended to be a leisure book, it can well be adapted as a supplementary book for undergraduate and/or master's business students at universities. It will certainly make the course more enjoyable and down to earth.

Dr. Yasin Ozcelik
www.misworld.org

Good book, needs updating again.......2005-09-28

This book does a great job at telling the Amazon.com story. Nice to hear that an entrepreneur actually planned their business and didn't just get lucky.

Now that we've hit 2005, it would be great to get another update (the current final chapter is a bit of an update from couple of years ago). What is the story behind their profit? Stock? The door desks?

Overall....a good, quick read.

well-written and thoughtful, but pulls its punches.......2005-08-26

More than 4 years after the dotcom crash, we should be getting some perspective on internet companies. Perhaps most fundamentally, what does it take to build a highly profitable internet company? Which companies are still overvalued? Are they 50% overvalued, 10x overvalued or what? Sadly, books offering such wisdom do not seem to be around. There are plenty of books about the disasters, but much more interesting would be an analysis of the handful of successes or maybe-successes.
In the absence of such a work, this is respectable. It is well-written and carefully researched. It was finished in 2000, when things were starting to fall, but still had a long way to go. So you had to be unusually perceptive to see things clearly. Spector does seem to have seen most of the issues, he just does not push them far enough.
There is much fascinating detail and much to learn, although you sometimes have to read between the lines. For example, Amazon's software should be an engineering case study in the difference between effective and efficient. It was incredibly inefficient, because the original designers (by their own admission, according to Spector) knew nothing about the finer points of relational databases, but it was effective - it rarely went down. Since Amazon was able to raise money on absurdly favourable terms, the fact that poor software design gave a huge hardware bill maybe did not matter much.
I guess I have found Amazon the single most puzzling, most confusing, and hence most interesting dotcom company. I have fairly consistently been wrong in my predictions. I thought it would be mainly a back-catalogue business (because that is what I mainly use it for); I was wrong - although it currently seems to be making renewed efforts to expand that segment. I thought its costs would be far lower than Barnes & Noble; I was wrong. I thought the attempt to sell everything was just a cynical move to fool investors; I was wrong, in one quarter electronics outsold media.
But the jury is still out on long term profitability etc, so this is an interesting source of information.

Inside Relational Databases: with examples in Access

Average customer rating:

Explains relational databases in plain English
Very little substance ...
Great Book!
Understanding basic database concepts well
Inside Relational Databases

Inside Relational Databases: with examples in Access
Mark Whitehorn , and Bill Marklyn
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Databases | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 354076092X

Book Description

Database books currently tend to fall into two categories: highly theoretical and detailed textbooks and manuals which teach how to use the software but not the underlying theory. Neither type of book explains why the reader would want to do many of the things they describe. Marklyn and Whitehorn cover essential relational database theory and explain how to build databases securely - without bogging them down into too much detail and endless formulae. They start by explaining interface components and letting you build working databases. Along the way the authors guide you through potential disasters and provide the techniques to avoid them. Inside Relational Databases is aimed at equipping students with the necessary skills to build practical databases in the 'real world' as well as ensuring that they have a sufficient theoretical grounding in the subject.

Customer Reviews:

Explains relational databases in plain English.......2007-03-09

The authors of this book don't avoid the more difficult concepts in understanding relational databases but they do a great job of explaining things in simple English. This is a good book for anyone who finds themselves having to work with relational databases but haven't understood why they're built the way they are. I've never read anyone before who tackled E. F. Codd's writing (the "father" of relational databases) and translated it so well into readable English.

Very little substance ..........2007-01-25

I did not find this book very useful. I suppose I was looking for more of a book on Access and the application of relational databases. I should have picked up "Grover Park George ON ACCESS" and avoided this one.

However, even if I only had only wanted to learn the basics of relational databases, I should not have bought this book. It has about 25% of the substance that I would expect from a book of its length. The author explains every little thing over and over, and explains why he's explaining things, then provides more examples than necessary. To me, this book was an unfortunate waste of time.

Great Book!.......2005-09-30

This author is great. Makes for fun reading. Makes sense of databases whereas other books trying to explain databases cannot. I will buy all his books that deal with database now. Really helped me and I was completely clueless before this book, but CLUELESS NO MORE! Trust me, get it.

Understanding basic database concepts well.......2003-12-13

This book is excellent! At the time I read this book I had been working with Access, Sybase, & Oracle for 7 years. However all of my database knowledge was product-oriented and I did not have a really firm grasp of general database concepts and principles: primary & foreign keys, tables, joins, and other basic concepts were never explained thoroughly. Sure you can read about these concepts in the documentation for whatever database product you're using, but everyone glosses over these important basic concepts and assumes that "someone else covered it", when in fact no one has. This book changes all that. Although it is written for beginners, I suspect that even intermediate administrators and developers will get a lot out of this book; it's the kind of book where just when you think you already know the material, you come upon some nugget of information that clears up a concept you'd always had trouble understanding. That's what makes this book valuable. The fact that the author is british doesn't surprise me; I've noticed lately that when it comes to technical writing, English authors do an excellent job of covering the basics before going on to the more technical material, whereas American authors tend to focus more on writing books and articles that are product-specific. Now that Mark Whitehorn has covered the basics in this book, I hope he will consider writing an Oracle book.

Inside Relational Databases.......2003-11-17

This is for beginners and has little substance
beyond the obvious. If you're interested in database design,
don't buy this book. The introduction claims: "you shouldn't read this book if you're looking for a 'How to use Access' book". This is a misleading statement

Average customer rating:

Great for programmer, not the administrator
very worth reading for programer!
Definitely worth the purchase price

Inside the Windows 95 Registry
Ron Petrusha
Manufacturer: O'Reilly
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1565921704

Amazon.com

To take full advantage of 32-bit Windows, programmers need to know their way around the Registry, the centralized repository for information about the PC, operating system, and applications. With sample code in both C and Visual Basic, Inside the Windows 95 Registry explains how you can use the Registry to store application-specific data, add options to the File/New menu in the Windows Explorer, register OLE components, and support dynamic changes to hardware configuration via Plug and Play--and much more.

Book Description

What Windows 95 developers have been looking for! An in-depth examination of the Windows 95 registry, the new central "storage facility" for settings that replaces most of the old SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI settings found in Windows 3.x. This book covers remote registry access, differences between the Win95 and NT registries, and registry backup. You'll also find a thorough examination of the role that the registry plays in OLE, coverage of undocumented registry services, and more. Petrusha shows programmers how to access the Win95 registry from Win32, Win16, and DOS programs in C and Visual Basic. VxD sample code is also included. The book includes a diskette with registry tools such as REGSPY, a program that shows exactly how Windows applications, libraries, and drivers use settings in the registry.

Customer Reviews:

Great for programmer, not the administrator.......2000-07-06

I needed to find a book that delved into the Win9x registry in the same amount of depth as this one, but this book is almost totally VB & C oriented. I bought it looking for a tools I could use within the command shell that's native to Win9x, but even though it didn't have what I was looking for, it's still a great book, but it's definitely a programmers guide, not an administrative tool. Since I got it, some friends have told me how a combo of Kix & Rexx scriptinig is actually what I'm looking for.

I still give it four stars because I can't knock it for not having what I want, because what it has is very, very good.

very worth reading for programer!.......1998-05-05

If you are going to program with registry, this one is your must have. There are in-depth explanations of backing up, restoring and accessing to the registry, plenty of examples in the book. The author also address the registry(key)difference between WindowsNT and Windows95, though not very thorough. Except some functions are "obsolete" (i.e. getwinflags()) and all of them are used "old fashioned" c, the codes in those examples are well tested. More over, there are two charpters are dedicated to "VB" programers and whenever possible, the author tries to show the example in both "C" and "VB". I would like to see the second version of this book explaining more about WindowsNT registry and using MFC.

Definitely worth the purchase price.......1998-02-24

This was the first "registry" book that I bought and I measure all of the others by it. If you are a programmer, this is *the bible* of registry programming as far as I am concerned. My only disappointment was the lack of a "reference" to most common registry entries. There are a number to be found, but they are scattered through-out the book and there aren't enough.

Inside Directx (Microsoft Programming Series)

Average customer rating:

DECIEVING
good intro, lacks follow through
A lot of phaff and only directX 5.2
Ok, but...
this book is useful for me

Inside Directx (Microsoft Programming Series)
Bradley Bargen , and Terence Peter Donnelly
Manufacturer: Microsoft Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1572316969

Amazon.com

Today, the most popular PC games all run on Windows 95--not DOS. No doubt Microsoft's DirectX gaming platform is the reason. Inside DirectX delivers you to the world of building games on Windows 95 and NT using Microsoft DirectX technology.

Bargen and Donnelly walk beginners through the features of DirectX, beginning with its underlying COM architecture and basic concepts for all DirectX programmers, such as surfaces, double-buffering, and "blting" (or copying) graphics. The rest of the book explores the fundamentals of programming with the various aspects of DirectX. These include DirectDraw (for 2-D graphics), DirectSound (for sound), DirectPlay (for multiplayer gaming) and DirectInput (for mouse and joystick input). Also included are the basics of Internet gaming. Direct3D, the part of DirectX that handles 3-D rendering, is wisely omitted here in the interest of simplicity.

The samples in the text are small and manageable enough for any experienced C programmer to handle; the accompanying CD includes a copy of DirectX 5.2. DirectX has a well-deserved reputation for being tricky, but Inside DirectX has all you need to get started on writing games and other high-performance multimedia applications. --Richard Dragan

Book Description

This is the definitive guide to programming with DirectX, Microsoft's advanced, high-performance multimedia libraries. Written and thoroughly reviewed by members of the DirectX team, this title contains a wealth of previously unpublished information about DirectX and the programming techniques that take advantage of its libraries. INSIDE DIRECTX isn't another rehash of gaming topics. Rather, it delves into programming techniques that help readers grasp the details of properly using DirectX functionality.

Customer Reviews:

DECIEVING.......2001-11-30

When i bought the book i had only the intention of learning directX. That's it. But after buying th book, i got stuck after the first example because it uses MFC and the Win32 API. It throughs you for a loop because it barely describes those concepts. This book is completely USELESS to me untill i learn the Win32 API. That wouldn't be a problem except that I DON'T WANT TO!!! Hope I was able to warn at least ONE person

good intro, lacks follow through.......2001-01-02

First off, i liked reading the book. It was something that was well written and i could follow all the way through. It was an excellent introduction the the basic api and a good primer for some of the basics of directx applications. However, it didn't even touch d3d (i know they tell us this ahead of time) and they didn't go beyond the basics. Also, i had some difficulty using their examples and they didn't always work right out of the book. In conclusion, this is a great into and basics reference for the beginner, but not for someone who is serious enough to be able to just read the info in the sdk without someone holding their hand.

A lot of phaff and only directX 5.2.......2000-11-09

First and foremost this book was written when directX 5 was the standard. Now we are up to 7/8 and I assume there have been many changes, at least there are some examples in the DirectX 7 SDK which use functions not covered in this book. The lack of complete code examples or exercies means this is definately not a tutorial and there are no tables to indicate it is a reference book. In fact, the book seems to be a collection of ramblings about directX and computer graphics in general. Maybe this was never intended to be a reference or a tutorial, but either would have probably been more useful.

Ok, but..........2000-09-29

This book doesn't deserve high ratings. There are NO complete samples -- just code excerpts -- and the ones on CD are confusing. There is 1 sample for every subject, so if you don't understand that, you just don't learn. For example, the joystick sample uses complex dialogs to set attributes, making it impossible to understand. Maybe it's a good reference for _beginners_, or introduction to the concepts, but definately not a learning book. It is hard to quickly find things. Throughout chapters, concepts are unorganized and not step by step -- basically, all incomplete explainations and no solid code. This is obviously thrown together. Try Andre Lamonthe's books.

PS: Remember, #define INITGUI at the top of code or Sys_ device constants will be unresolved -- the book does not mention this.

this book is useful for me.......2000-08-04

I think this book is helpful for me. I read this book because I want to write a programe to record sound and use it on the Internet. I think the third part about Directsound is most suitable for me. But I am not very skilled in C, especially in the fundermental field. And I know there has been a DirectX 7 package in Visual Basic. So I think it will be good if there are more examples written in VB.

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