Customer Rating: 
Summary: Almost perfect...
Comment: I was recommeded to buy this book by a MFC guru programmer. I was not disappointed. I have 3-4 other MFC books (1000 page +) - but they mainly focus on "plug and chug" techniques that explain what buttons to push to create the code. What they lack is an explanation of what MFC goes does when you push [F5] to run the program. It was "left as an excercise for the reader" to slog through thousands of lines of MFC code, use Spy++ and debug prints to figure it out! This book has nice explanations and nice graphical blocks of what MFC is doing (especially messaging, which can be daunting as messages are flying at you from God-only-knows where). The downside of this book is that some of the explanations leave you wanting a deeper explanation, and for that you get to go back to the aforemented slogging techniques! All-in-all this is a great book and a great value at the price I paid on Amazon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great book to get
Comment: I received the book soon after ordering and found the book in excellent condition(looked new to me). The CD-ROM was still in the unopened plastic in the back which was very pleasing. I am extremely happy about this purchase and have been using the book with a new project at work. It is a great reference and learning tool.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good as a second MFC book
Comment: I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it was published in 1997 and is somewhat outdated now. I purchased it in mid 99 because I liked the other book in the series, Win32 Programming by Brent Rector.Feuer's book is consise and I like his approach of explaining some of the internals of MFC, such as what BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP expands out to. Feuer talks about the Win32 API too and I agree with his philosophy that MFC programmers can't hope to get by without knowing anything about the API.
The sample code applications on the CD are great. They are simple to understand, but show you most of the options possible. For example, there is one app that displays all kinds of buttons, including owner drawn ones. Most MFC books don't even say anything about owner draw stuff. At the end of the book, Feuer shows you how to make a wizard-based install program.
I recommend reading this book after you've read a beginner's book on MFC and/or Visual C++. Also, the author does not reproduce all of the sample code in the book itself. You should install the CD and read the actual code as you read the book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Book - Better than MS offerings
Comment: After making relatively successful forays into MFC armed only with MS reference materials or books written by MS employees and I have finally found a book which explains MFC without marketing it. Very lucid and well-written. I think the Document/View model is a bit less generic and useful than is presented, but at least now I understand most of its underpinnings. One error - Delphi has never been interpreted (p.5);
Customer Rating:
Summary: An excellent first MFC book!
Comment: As a 4th year CS BSc student I might claim to be the owner of the greatest number of MFC books. Most are like the curate's egg - good in parts. It is with regret that I came upon Feuer's book so late in the buying sequence. Had I discovered it earlier my bank account would now be better and that of Amazon somewhat less! My MFC library ranges from the 'Do it in 24 hours' variety (often laughable - but even they often have something to offer) through to MS professional tomes which seem like those job offers where you need not only the ability but a few years experience as well. Another excellent book is Kruglinski but this only proves it's worth once you have nearly got the whole idea well understood. Feuer - much better as a starter - assumes little except a good C++ base and then takes one forward step by step.
I very strongly recommend Feuer for anybody with a good C++ basis wanting to move to VC++ and MFC. This is the one to start with if you want to protect your cash. Kruglinski should come after and then you're ready for the MS serious stuff! Happy coding!
