Since this book is at intermediate and advance knowledge level, I would recommend readers to have introductory concept first before going on to purchase.

Here is how I did it. Re-read my COM books, and brushed up on COM programming. You will need to know COM very well. Read the Syngress study guide, an OK book but not tough enough. Used the Transcenders to test my knowledge and brush up on those areas in the Transcender tests where I scored poorly. Transcenders are a real help, the questions are very representative. Used Braindump's they can be real good if you are carefull to check the answers. Oh, for the practice test at the end of this book I scored a %64.

I passed with ease on the first try with an 813, passing grade is 534.

Here is how I did it. Re-read my COM books, and brushed up on COM programming. You will need to know COM very well. Read the Syngress study guide, an OK book but not tough enough. Used the Transcenders to test my knowledge and brush up on those areas in the Transcender tests where I scored poorly. Transcenders are a real help, the questions are very representative. Used Braindump's they can be real good if you are carefull to check the answers. Oh, for the practice test at the end of this book I scored a %64.

I passed with ease on the first try with an 813, passing grade is 534.

Although this isn't a primer or tutorial type of book, it can also be used to quickly grasp the concepts without a lot of hand-holding. It is a compressed study review with references so you can look up additional information.

Highly recommended.

When you are serious about learning how to code MFC and COM and frustrated with paging through large volumes, buy this little book.

I have to agree that the coverage of COM and Aggregation are about as good as you can can get. I have been recommending his coverage of COM to co-workers who are just beginning with COM and want a clear, consise overview of what COM is all about.

I found the material recommended in the "Need To Know More?" sections to be invaluable. I believe his recommendations to be the best materials available on each topic.

For the Distributed exam I didn't even bother buying anything but the Coriolis cram guide for the exam and one of the database books recommened in the "Need To Know More?" recommendations.

I've probably read 30 computer-related technical books in the last 5 years. I've read four that I was actually impressed with--two of those four books are Mr. Lacey's. His books were useful, accurate and well-written.

Truly excellent books!

The examples are concise and easy to follow, and yet they give you a decent understanding of the subject matter. However, I wouldn't recommend this book to learn C++, MFC or COM, as it doesn't go into too much detail on these subjects (for obvious reasons). I was surprised to find that alot of the exam questions were covered (almost verbatim) in this book. Oh yeah, the pullout cram sheet was helpful for last-second studying in the car before I went into the exam!