5 Responses for "Windows System Programming"

1. Derrick Chua March 14th, 2010 at 9:10 am 1

   Nice book that touches on in depth issues of win32 programming such as file handling, registry, memory issues, etc.
   Rating: 3 / 5

2. Shaun Bedingfield March 14th, 2010 at 9:41 am 2

   The good
   1. This book has a coding style that is very reminiscient of some code one might find in UNIX books(perl, etc). If you are transitioning, this might be a help. I am not sure. I am not a big Unix programmer.
   2. Many things are discussed in this book that are not discussed in other texts. This book has a good focus on console code which is nice for a beginner. Windows programming is not hard but like motif or tk, a solid understanding of the basics is good before delving into heavy UI programming.

   The bad

   1. The code examples are extremely buggy and littered with potential buffer overflows and other mistakes which often make this seem like a guide on how not to program(especially in our security conscious society).
   2. The code examples are often efficient but rarely self-documenting. Efficieny is usually best gained by better algorithms and gaining efficiency by tricks which make code harder to read should be left to after profiling the code and finding the bottlenecks. Furthermore, things like synchronous I/O are the focus of these over optimizations (especially for a beginners book). I/O programs are rarely CPU dependent and rarely gain benefits from brute force logical optimizations. This is not the Zen of Assembly language and TINSTAFC (There Is no such thing as the fastest code) are not necessary here. Books like Writing Solid Code by Steve McConnel should be required reading for any programmer.

   Both 1 and 2 do get better as the book progresses but be aware that the code is designed in ways that make buffer overflows likely.

   3. This book should not be called Windows System Programming. The title is misleading and you will not find in depth kernel programming here. Microsoft Windows Internals is much much better here(though it is by no means an introductory book). System programming is often taken to mean internals programming.
   4. Most windows programs do not look like the code here. Unfortunately, console programming is vastly different from programming using the standard Windows interface. It is different on unix toolkits like XWindows or TK too. I am not sure just focusing on console development is where a beginner should go.

   I am still reading and will probably update my comments later but so far this is what I see.
   Rating: 2 / 5

3. Wallace Chan March 14th, 2010 at 11:02 am 3

   A true ‘bible’ of system programming on windows using C++ with process, thread, socket, synchronization method etc. Technical architect of related project should possess all the skills and aware all the essential techniques mentioned by this book. Intermediate level.
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. Coder March 14th, 2010 at 1:58 pm 4

   Even though this book is broad in scope, I breezed through it in just a few days without feeling overwhelmed. The author keeps the descriptions short and to-the-point. The book is focused on the practical application of the Windows API and no page is wasted on excessive detail. (You can always look up the full documentation in the Windows SDK after all. )

   I especially appreciated the material on multithreading. Threading may be a difficult subject, but the author makes it seem almost effortless. You should be able to write reasonable multithreaded applications after studying the three chapters in this book.

   The praise for this book is well-deserved. Highly recommended for every Windows programmer!
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. W Boudville March 14th, 2010 at 4:03 pm 5

   So much of this book has the flavour of unix systems programming. Part of the reason is the presentation. Hart has deliberately pitched his book towards programmers experienced in unix. But the bulk of the material is inherently not too dissimilar anyway.

   The code examples are in C, as they usually are in unix. Plus, the book stays away from user interface issues, where there seems to be greater divergence between Microsoft and unix.

   The discussion of network programming may have the greatest overlap with its unix counterpart, out of all the book’s sections. Mostly because both use TCP/IP, so optimal designs tend to converge. Those of you used to Berkeley Sockets are shown an easy port to Win Sockets. Very little rewriting or relearning here.

   All this in the book is good news for you, if you come from unix programming. It means your skills are very transferable.
   Rating: 4 / 5