Summary

This chapter has helped you learn one way to use COM+ in Web application development. Of course, you can interact with COM+ in a number of other ways. For example, we could have developed the example in this chapter using the SOAP functionality provided with COM+ 1.5. (SOAP functionality isn't available to a COM+ 1.0 user , which means the technique used in this chapter might be the only technique at your disposal.) The point is that COM+ doesn't stop at the desktop-it's a valuable solution for Web applications too.

Now that you have some ideas about how to use COM+ for your next application, it's time to try some of these ideas. Try implementing the example in this chapter for other database application types. For example, simplified versions of contact-management databases often provide a good way to try out COM+ technology because they contain data that's relatively easy to manipulate and check. You'll eventually want to learn how to use a number of data types and how to work with multiple tables. However, you should start small and build your knowledge from there.

Chapter 12 begins a new section of the book. You'll learn about the interoperability requirements for working with COM and COM+. Chapter 12 concentrates on the requirements for using COM. You'll learn about the differences between managed and unmanaged code, how to use P/Invoke in your applications, and about various interoperability concerns for specific languages. In short, Chapter 12 is your introduction to techniques for ensuring you can access everything needed to create complete applications using .NET. Interoperability is an essential part of learning to make COM and .NET work together.