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This book covers just about everything related to using "unmanaged code" in the .NET Framework, including C and Java.
- Author Adam Nathan is the testing lead of COM Interop for Microsoft.
- No books currently exist that focus exclusively on COM Interoperability or Platform Invocation Services.
- Any programmer buying books about the .NET Framework is likely to want this book.
The focus of the book is COM Interoperability (since it's a much larger subject), and the heart of the discussion is broken down into six parts: 1) Using COM components in .NET applications; 2) Using .NET components in COM applications; 3) Designing good .NET Framework components for COM clients; 4) Designing good COM components for .NET Framework clients; 5) Platform Invocation Services (P/ Invoke); and 6) COM and DCOM in the .NET Framework. Technologies built on top of COM Interoperability are also covered--Interoperability of Windows Forms Controls and ActiveX controls, Interoperability with COM, and Interoperability with Distributed COM (DCOM). All of these technologies are a core part of the Common Language Runtime and .NET Framework, and will likely be used not only as the path of migration for existing software projects, but for new software development for the next several years.
Adam Nathan has worked for the Microsoft Common Language Runtime team-the core of the .NET Framework for over three years. Taking on the role of an external software developer, Adam has worked to ensure the quality and usability of COM Interoperability. Adam has extensively used the features provided by the .NET Framework, and has seen the areas with which people frequently struggle. He has witnessed and influenced the design decisions that shaped the product, and thus is able to give a unique perspective in explaining this technology to the reader. Before coming to Microsoft, Adam was primarily a Visual Basic programmer, so he can effectively speak to the VB community. He is now fluent in all 3 .NET languages that Microsoft is releasing--C#, VB.NET, and Managed Extensions to C.
