Beginning Atl Com Programming

The book covers programming the latest version of the Active Template Library ( ATL ) which is currently in version 2.1. The book uses Visual C++ 5 as the programming environment. Earlier versions of VC++, back to 4.0 may be used in conjunction with the ATL additions that can be downloaded from Microsoft. VC++ is increasingly used to develop ActiveX components for use elsewhere, for example in VB or on the Web. These components have to small and light, and be able to interoperate with whatever their host application is. COM is the Microsoft technology that allows the components to interoperate, while ATL is a tool that simplifies the creation of these components. Where VC++ programmers use MFC to create stand alone applications, ATL is a lighter, faster substitute for creating just components.