The Way I Work

One comment about the way that I work: with some notable exceptions, I do not use frameworks such as MFC and ATL, but rather I write to the Win32 API. For traditional client applications, the frameworks are often appropriate because these tools are optimized for supporting client applications. In general these frameworks are not as useful for server-based applications. There are exceptions, of course. We can use ATL to create a server-side Microsoft ActiveX control for use with ASP. There is little reason not to use ATL for this task, as the code from the ATL Object Wizard is designed for server-side use. MFC is used extensively in the ISAPI examples, and again there is no good reason not to use the MFC ISAPI extensions. The MFC ISAPI classes can operate without taking the baggage of the rest of the MFC classes along for the ride. Once you know the underlying API or technology, you will be much more effective using the frameworks when it is appropriate to use the frameworks' wrappers around the APIs and technologies. I hope you agree.

I have enjoyed writing this book about the technologies I use almost daily to create server-based applications. I hope that you will find here the grounding you need to create the reliable, robust applications required in the increasingly server-based computing environment of the twenty-first century.