Nitty Gritty Windows Programming with C++

In my opinion, this is a very nice book aimed to any user level (may be not for the fully professional and experienced). It goes straight to the core concepts, the code listings are easy-to-try-and-run and it's a cheap book. Recommended if you want to have a quick overview or need quick answers. It's not for the fully experienced, remember.

This is a pretty advanced book. It will definitely help if you have a basic understanding of how windows works. I have Windows XP Pro and Visual C++ .net and some of the programs didn't seem to want to work "as advertised". However, there is a TON of information, and it is presented rapid-fire. This is a GREAT book if you are good at extrapolating information. If you need a step-by-step guide (or are just getting started), this book is not for you. I can't rate this book yet because I have not yet finished using it. I'm still trying to figure out how all the "windows" parts of the C++ program work. (I had to use a step-by-step book to get to that point; however very soon I think I will be able to get back into this book.) If you plan on getting serious about programming and like to know how stuff works, then this is a good book for you (even if you don't use it right away).

Finally, a book which treats programmers as programmers - this book walks through the win32 api for people who already know how to program. Unlike the Charles Petzold book, this book does not go into depth about history of the api and possible uses for it, it lets you, the creative, brilliant, smart, etc. programmer do thinking for yourself. It goes quickly but not so fast that it will lose you. One of the few books on win32 programming that is less than 700 pages long too. I really found this book nice, and I use it as a reference for how to do things now, because the source code provided is VERY clear, clean, and easy to follow. I do not, however, recommend this book to people trying to learn how to program for the first time - this book is not for you. This book is for people who are already programmers who want to write win32 code.

I worked at microsoft for 2 years and the win32 api was some big secret. Well now that I got ahold of this book it's no longer secret. Hansen did an awesome job of explaining how windows really works. Windows is no longer a secret. I would have given it stars but I just started so it will be a while before I can give 5 stars