A careful reading of this book will reveal that Windows is not so much the environment of the future as it is an environment that provides considerable advantages to both users and programmers over the conventional MS-DOS environment. For users, it provides a multitasking, graphically based windowing environment that runs programs designed for Windows. For program developers, Windows provides a wealth of built-in routines that allow the use of menus, dialogue boxes, scroll bars, and other components of a friendly user interface.
This book is one of the many that aid programming using applications frameworks like OWL, Borland’s ObjectWindows Library. The author says that “ObjectWindows from Borland International can be described accurately as revolutionary. It makes Windows programming an exercise in pleasant learning instead of a dreaded, hair-pulling task. With this class library, even a beginner will be building Windows applications in ten minutes.” Thus, much of the laborious coding has been packed into class structures that are straightforward and relevant.
The book shows step-by-step how to create simple applications using ObjectWindows and Windows. Each example answers the most commonly asked questions about how to do something simple in Windows--questions such as how to create text, use the mouse, or use graphics applications; how to use fonts and text orientation; and how to use bitmaps. Most of all, this book is for beginning Windows programmers. They should read the whole book and then test the examples from the included disk.
Experienced programmers will not find much useful here; the book concentrates on the basics of Windows and ObjectWindows and, as its subtitle indicates, it is intended to be a primer in using OWL. The examples presented form a small but significant base for further developments into sophisticated Windows programs. By expanding the examples and continuing to experiment with new and more elaborate applications, readers will become more efficient in writing Windows programs.
This book does not go into depth on the topics covered. While it contains the information needed to write the most common ObjectWindows applications, it does not discuss all aspects of Windows programming, and excludes the more powerful ones. It does not delve into those aspects of Windows that are masked by the ObjectWindows class library.
The book presents two ObjectWindows classes that are fundamental to the development of a Windows application: TApplication and TWindow. The first class creates an ObjectWindows application, and the second class creates an ObjectWindows window. They are important because all ObjectWindows applications must define an application and at least one window. Based on these two classes, this book, like many other books about Windows programming, develops an ObjectWindows framework that provides the features that all programs have in common.
The book also contains examples showing how to write an editor in less than 30 lines using OWL.H, OWLRC.H, and FILEWND.H; examples that show step-by-step how to print; and examples that show how to handle input from the mouse. This last example is important, since Windows is to a great extent a mouse-based operating system.
The book lacks an example that shows Windows 3.1 improvements. C++ and object-oriented programming have introduced a whole new methodology that includes such concepts as inheritance, polymorphism, and overloading. Since all of these are major traits of an object-oriented programming language, I believe the book lacks some basic information.
These criticisms aside, this book is a good primer for beginners. If novice readers wish more information, however, they will have to go to other sources. It provides concise background information on ObjectWindows. It does not answer all questions or solve all problems concerning ObjectWindows.
