Essential IDL: Interface Design for COM (Developmentor Series (Dm)) - Softcover

Gudgin, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201615959 ISBN 13: 9780201615951

Publisher: Addison Wesley, 2000

Synopsis

Virtually all COM projects should begin with IDL, because defining interfaces is the key to successfully designing any COM project. Essential IDL is the first book that focuses entirely on IDL, providing in-depth explanations of both the language and its applications. Essential IDL starts by explaining why IDL exists, what it is for, and what can be done with it. All aspects of IDL syntax are covered: basic interface definition, complex data types, array handling, marshalling issues, and more. From start to finish, the focus is pragmatic. Expert COM developer Martin Gudgin presents extensive IDL code samples and resulting C++, Java, and VB language mappings, demonstrating exactly how to use IDL constructs sensibly and efficiently in both client-side and server-side projects. Gudgin takes a top-down approach, starting with interfaces, then drilling down into simple data types, complex types, pointers and arrays; and finishing with aliasing and other esoteric IDL constructs. The second half of the book is a complete reference guide to all of IDL's data types, modifiers, keywords and attributes.

About this title

About the Author

Martin Gudgin works at DevelopMentor, where he spends his time thinking about component software and related technologies. A Windows developer since 1987 and a COM developer since 1994, Martin has trained and mentored developers from a wide range of companies, including Microsoft, in numerous technical areas such as COM, IDL, MTS, and COM+.

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From the Back Cover

The core language of Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM), Interface Definition Language (IDL), is an essential topic for all programmers working with COM. Essential IDL offers these programmers a detailed yet accessible description of IDL and its application to COM development projects. The book presents all of the various IDL constructs and offers insight into their purpose and function in interface definitions. In particular,Essential IDL focuses on IDL constructs that support the efficient marshalling of data as performed by the COM interception layer. Taking a top-down approach, this book opens with the basics of defining interfaces and then details data types, pointers and arrays, aliasing, and IDL support for asynchronous COM. Numerous examples of both server-side and client-side programming illustrate concepts and techniques throughout the book. Readers will learn about such key topics as:

• Generating type information
• Building proxy-stub DLLs
• Local and remote interfaces
• Primitive, enumerated, and user-defined data types
• Interface inheritance
• Top-level versus embedded pointers
• Object references and pointers
• Fixed arrays, conformant arrays, and SAFEARRAYS
• Multi-dimensional conformant pointers
• Method and type aliasing
• Asynchronous calls
• Client-side and server-side asynchrony

Also included is a comprehensive and concise reference to IDL built-in data types, modifiers, keywords, and attributes. This combination of comprehensive description, understandable explanation, convenient reference, and practical working guide makes Essential IDL an important resource for all COM programmers.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Addison Wesley
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0201615959
• ISBN 13: 9780201615951
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384