Rick Grehan
THE COMPUTER EDUCATION SERIES PROGRAMMER'S BUNDLE RoundBook Publishing Group, Inc., 5617 Scotts Valley Dr., Scotts Valley, CA 95066, (408) 438-8732
As I write this, the Programmer's Bundle from RoundBook Publishing Group is a set of three CD-ROMs that are being sold separately. However, RoundBook has learned that the public is buying the CDs together, so it has decided to release them as a package.
The three CDs--C/C++ Programming Reference volumes 1 and 2 and the Windows Programming Reference--hold 15 books, including all the associated tables, figures, and listings. The vehicle for accessing the titles is Microsoft's Multimedia Viewer.
Combined, the books give excellent coverage of C and C++, particularly if you are using a Micros
oft or Borland product. One book does describe some features of version 9.01 of the Watcom compiler. The Windows CD contains books on OLE, ObjectWindows, serial communications, resources, and more.
My biggest gripe is with the operation of the Multimedia Viewer. Here's an example. You're reading one of the books and the text says: ``See listing 2.'' The words listing 2 are in green, so you can click on them to open a dialog box displaying listing 2. Do that, and all you can do is look at it--you can't cut it or copy its contents into the Clipboard. To get listings, you have to issue a separate series of commands that copy all listings onto your hard disk and then look for what you want.
Also, you can't search for a word or phrase from the table of contents screen. You have to click on a chapter and then on a topic. This gets you to actual text, and only then does the toolbar with the ``search'' button on it become available.
Still, this is a remarkable resource. Although the price for the
bundle has not been set (the CDs retail for $79.95 each), I suspect it will be stunning when you consider what the books would cost separately.
Rick Grehan is a BYTE senior technical editor. You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at
rick_g@bix.com
.
A Remarkable Programming Resource
