ERCB: Zen of Windows-95 Programming

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Vital Statistics

Title	Zen of Windows 95 Programming
Author	Lou Grinzo
Publisher	Coriolis Group, Inc. http://www.coriolis.com/
Copyright	1996
ISBN	1-883577
Pages	546
Price	$39.99

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lou Grinzo's hefty new book. But do not be too far misled by its title. There's no Zen to be found within, either literally or in the more diffuse sense of inductive, minimalist coding. (I guess the Coriolis Group just likes the ring of the word "Zen" -- goodness knows they've used it enough). For that matter, there's not all that much Windows-95 to be found within, either. Zen of Windows-95 Programming is mainly about software engineering, with just enough Windows-95 thrown in to give the book that certain je ne sais quoi when competing for shelf space.

The first few chapters of the book are quite general -- discussions of tools, choice of languages, testing and debugging, respectful user interfaces, and so on. Then a brief diversion into a highly Windows-specific area: DLLs. Several more chapters on widely applicable concepts: tamper-proofing your programs, smart data files, and virtual machines. And lastly, a return to the trials and travails of Windows-95 programming, with special attention to API bugs, holes in the Microsoft documentation (big enough in some cases to sail the Enterprise through), and inconsistencies in API behavior between WIN32S, Windows-95, and Windows/NT.

Although the author's style is direct and entertaining, Zen of Windows-95 Programming is not without its minor flaws on an organizational level. The book occasionally slips and slides directly from cosmic levels of abstraction to microscopic levels of programming detail, or juxtaposes completely unrelated topics. Nevertheless, the whole book has that ring of authenticity and wisdom-earned-in-the-school-of-hard-knocks that sets it apart from the Windows-95 pulp paperbacks churned out by the likes of Schildt and Jamsa. The "Not-So-Short Discourse on Long File Names" is plenty of justification for purchasing the book all by itself. Once you've sprung for Petzold and Prosise, make this book the third addition to your WIN32 reference shelf.

-- Ray Duncan

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