|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When Gary Cornell and I started APress, we each committed to writing a book for the new company. I wanted my book to be something special. I wanted to take full advantage of the freedom that comes from having total control and the final say on editorial content and style. I wanted to write a book that would make it possible for every Visual Basic programmer to answer every Win32 API question for themselves. I wanted to write a book that would help VB programmers really learn and understand how to handle even the most complicated API calls. And I wanted to write a book that was fun. Fun to read. Fun to write. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most books (including my previous books) resemble lectures. They start out by presenting information. They demonstrate how to perform various tasks. They explain sample code. Maybe they ask a few questions or offer suggestions on how to proceed. And most of them double as excellent cures for insomnia. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm very proud of my previous books. In fact, you'll probably need to refer to my API book (Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API) in order to get the most out of this book. As a lecturer, I've tried to be a responsible one, providing information that is accurate and useful and providing it in as entertaining a manner as possible. Lectures are an efficient way to get information across and can serve as valuable references for knowledge. But they're still lectures, and lectures just aren't the best way to truly learn something. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This book is not a lecture. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What it is, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it is a game. Or maybe a toy. Certainly I intend it to be a challenge. I hope you'll find parts of it intriguing, compelling, entertaining, frustrating, and mind-boggling. I hope you'll find yourself learning a lotnot just information and techniques, but also approaches and attitudes. Above all, I hope you'll have fun. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Writing your first book for a new publisher is always interesting. Sometimes it is frustrating. Sometimes it is a "learning experience" (which is usually a nice way of saying that you never want to go through that experience again). When Gary, Bill, and I started APress, we wanted to create an author-friendly company. And that included making sure that the production process was designed as much as possible to serve the needs of the author. And as the first author for APress, I got to be the guinea pig. |
|
|
|
|
|