What You Should Know Beforehand

The features of Active Directory are accessible from several programming languages and environments, but to get the most from this book, you should be able to at least write basic scripts with JavaScript or VBScript. Having a basic understanding of Visual Basic or C++ would also be helpful.

The programming interface to Active Directory used in this book is provided with the Component Object Model (COM), so the more you know about COM, the better you'll understand this book. Because Visual Basic and the scripting languages hide many of the details of COM from the developer, understanding COM is less important if you work in these environments. Still, knowing the concepts involved will help you design better applications for Active Directory. Don't worry if you are unfamiliar with COM. I provide a COM primer in Chapter 3 to help you get started.