This book is for developers who want to develop .NET applications using Visual C++ 7.0 as the programming language. It covers the new features of Visual C++ which support .NET while lightly covering the new MFC and ATL enhancements as they relate to the .NET architecture, but focuses heavily on developing for the .NET framework. The book takes the reader through a simple .NET application, a more advanced application, and Internet development in .NET. The reader is also shown the differences between managed and unmanaged Visual C++ code and how to integrate them--critical information for migrating legacy C++ applications to the .NET architecture.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary, Q&A, and Workshop.) Introduction. Audience and Organization. Conventions Used in This Book. Get Started! I. GETTING STARTED WITH VISUAL C++ .NET. Hour 1. Using Visual C++ .NET. Getting Familiar with the New IDE. Application Types with Visual C++ .NET. Working with Solutions and Projects. Compiling and Debugging. Hour 2. Special Features of Visual C++ .NET. Using the New Language Keywords. Creating User-Defined Attributes. Pragmas, Compiler, and Linker Features. Hour 3. Writing a Simple C++ .NET Program. Building an MFC Application. Building a Managed .NET Framework Application. Comparing the Differences. II. UNDERSTANDING .NET. Hour 4. Understanding the Basics of .NET. Understanding the .NET Framework Namespaces. Commonly Used .NET Classes. Deploying .NET Applications. What Is the Common Language Runtime? Hour 5. Understanding Managed Versus Unmanaged Code. The Relationship Between Managed and Unmanaged Code. Using Managed Code for Easy Memory Management. Migrating Unmanaged Legacy Code. Hour 6. Integrating with Other .NET Languages. Integrating .NET Component Assemblies. Building the Project. III. IMPLEMENTING A USER INTERFACE. Hour 7. Working with Windows Forms. Creating a Simple Windows Form. Creating the Windows Form. Building an MDI Interface with Windows Forms. Hour 8. Working with Resources. The .NET Managed Resource File. Creating the .NET Resource File. Integrating the Resource File. Reading Resources at Runtime. Hour 9. Programming with Graphics. Understanding GDI+. Building a Simple GDI+ Application. Hour 10. Printing with .NET. Modifying the Toolbar and Menu. Working with the PrintDocument Object. IV. SERVER DEVELOPMENT. Hour 11. Creating Web Services. Overview of Web Services and .NET. Creating a Simple Web Service. Using a Web Service Within an Application. Hour 12. Creating Web Services with ATL. Creating an ATL Web Service Project. Uncovering the ATL Web Service Implementation. Building a Test Application. Hour 13. Working with .NET Error Handling and Diagnostics. Understanding the .NET Error Handling Classes. Understanding the Exception Class. Overview of the Trace and Debug Classes. Creating and Using Custom Exceptions. Hour 14. ATL Servers. Why ATL Server? Creating an ATL Server Project. ATL Server Sequence of Events. The Server Response File. Creating the NumberGuess Server Response File. Implementing the Replacement Functions. V. LANGUAGE FEATURES. Hour 15. Attributes. A Step in the Right Direction: Attributes Simplify ATL Development. Attributes and the Build Process. Attribute Programming with ATL. Creating an Attributed ATL Object. Where's the IDL File? Creating the MFC Client to Access Your ATL Object. Examining the Injected Attribute Code. Hour 16. Collections and Arrays. .NET Framework Collection Class Design. The Collection Classes. Hour 17. Interfaces. Interfaces Explained. Implementing .NET Framework Interfaces. Creating Your Own Interface Hour 18. Events and Delegates. The Unified Event Model. Working with Delegates. Creating and Handling Managed Events. VI. ADVANCED PROGRAMMING. Hour 19. Threading and Synchronization. Threading and Synchronization Explained. Creating Threads. Creating the ThreadSynch Project. Thread Synchronization. Creating Consumer and Producer Objects. Events and Timers. Hour 20. Database Access. Connected vs. Disconnected Clients. Redesigning ADO for the .NET Framework. Creating the Authors ADO.NET Application. Connecting to the Data Source. Displaying and Navigating Through the Data. Inserting and Deleting Table Records. Hour 21. COM with .NET. COM Interop Design. Using COM Objects within .NET. Using .NET Objects Within COM Projects. Hour 22. Mixing Managed and Unmanaged Code. Unmanaged and Managed Code Together. Unmanaged Code Can Introduce Memory Leaks. Platform Invocation. Using P/Invoke to Call the MessageBox Function. Using P/Invoke for Custom Data Types. Specifying Specific Data Types for Marshaling. Hour 23. Control Class Libraries. Controls Within the .NET Framework. Creating the Custom Control Project. Using Custom Controls in a Managed C++ Application. Strong-Named Assemblies and the Global Assembly Cache. Using Custom Controls with C# .NET. Stock Properties. Creating Custom Control Properties. Hour 24. Serialization. Binary and XML Serialization. Creating the ObjectSerialization Class and Windows Form. Serializing with Attributes. Customizing the Serialization Process. Serializing and Deserializing Objects. Appendix A. Quiz Answers. Hour 1. Hour 2. Hour 3. Hour 4. Hour 5. Hour 6. Hour 7. Hour 8. Hour 9. Hour 10. Hour 11. Hour 12. Hour 13. Hour 14. Hour 15. Hour 16. Hour 17. Hour 18. Hour 19. Hour 20. Hour 21. Hour 22. Hour 23. Hour 24. Appendix B. Visual Studio .NET IDE Reference. Source Window. Reducing Window Clutter. Help System. Index.