| The Awesome Power of Power++ Tim Hatton 1998 | 416 pages ISBN: 1884777546 |
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| Out of print | $43.95 | Softbound print book | |
RESOURCES
DESCRIPTION
Note: This book is available only as an electronic ebook in PDF format. It ships as a CD with the book included on CD.
The Awesome Power of Power++ is for the beginning to intermediate Power++ programmer. It assumes that you have little or no knowledge of the C++ language but that you do know programming constructs. The purpose is to teach you how to use Power++ to build C++ applets and applications even if you are not a C++ expert. To this end it takes a hands-on approach and makes liberal use of figures and code snippets.
The Awesome Power of Power++ is for:
- IS Managers who are investigating C++ and C++ environments
- Developers who are wanting to learn C++ and build C++ programs
- Any developer who has a C++ project that must be finished quickly
ABOUT THE AUTHOR...
Tim Hatton is a developer with over 6 years experience writing real world client/server applications using Powersoft products. His company, CreativeSoft, Inc., was one of the early adopters of Optima++ (now Power++). He has written two other books for Manning Publications, PowerBuilder Questions & Answers and The Awesome Power of PowerJ.
Introduction
C/C++ has long been the mainstay of the professional programmer. Look at almost any professionally written commercial application and you will find that it is written in C/C++. Examine the major operating systems and development environments and you will find that they are written in C/C++. Pick up the classified ads of any major newspaper and you will find more C/C++ requirements available than any other language.
So, what's wrong with the C/C++ world? It's hard to write C/C++ code is all. If you want to write graphical applications in C/C++ you are forced either to write large amounts of code to handle the graphical tasks or use a Foundation Class Library such as the Microsoft Foundation Classes or Borland's Object Windows Library. And each of those is in itself difficult to master. And you have to completely master them in order to maximize their benefit. All that on top of learning and gaining competency in the C/C++ syntax, no easy task in itself. These are the reasons that other development tools such as Microsoft's Visual Basic, Borland's Delphi and PowerSoft's PowerBuilder have gained inroads in the developer marketplace.
Now all that has changed. Much as they did for client server programming with their PowerBuilder product, PowerSoft has redefined the C/C++ programming world with their introduction of Power++ (formerly known as Optima++).
What's So Great About Another C/C++ Tool?
The world is full of C/C++ coding environments. Microsoft has Visual C++, Borland has their own tool, PowerSoft's Watcom Division even publishes a tool of their own. So why another?
Simply speaking, because Power++ takes the pain out of C++ programming. Entirely. You can write C++ applications in Power++ even if your C++ skills are limited. This is possible because Power++ uses a unique drag and drop programming interface that actually builds C++ code for you. Many applications can be written without you having to actually type in a single line of code. And I am talking about some pretty sophisticated, database aware, applications.
Who should read this book
This book is for beginning and intermediate C++ developers who want to learn or get up to speed on developing C++ applications using Power++. It is also for those who do not know C++ very well, but still want to be able to deliver C++ applications. Power++ excels at teaching you C++ as you go.
Aside from the C++ basics chapter, little time is spent teaching you the syntax of the C++ language (many books have been written about that) and most of the focus is put on how to accomplish a task using the Power++ product.
If you are a beginning C++ programmer you should start your reading with Chapter One, the C++ Basics chapter. If you already know C++, you should start with Chapter Two, which is an overview of object oriented and event driven programming concepts used to develop Windows applications.
If you are already familiar with both C++ and object oriented programming concepts you can start with Chapter three, which is an overview of the Power++ Integrated Development Environment. And if you are familiar with both C++ and the Power++ environment, you can start with Chapter Four which begins the in-depth exploration of how to use Power++ to develop ++ applications.
Using the mouse
In this book, when I say click something, I mean to use the left mouse button. When you need to use the right mouse button, I always will say to right click. Doubleclick always means use the left button. Of course, if you have a left-handed mouse this is reversed.