.NET Framework Solutions

Book excerpt: If you've begun programming using Microsoft's .NET Framework, you've discovered a lot of new and improved functionality. But, more than likely, you've also discovered a lot of missing functionality. Indeed, a third of the functions supported by the old Win32 API are not yet supported by .NET. Although you may not at first notice the loss of Win32 API functionality in .NET, the more you program, the more you'll realize how essential it is. As a programmer, you will not want to do without these solutions. .NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API is one more thing you can't do without: a complete guide to your options for dealing with the functionality missing from .NET. As you'll learn, some functions are handily situated within Visual Basic or C#. In most cases, however, you'll need to access the old Win32 API from the .NET Framework. This is demanding work, but this book makes it easy, walking you through every step and paying special attention to the work of managing memory manually--the most error-prone part of the process. The topics covered inside are as varied as the missing functionality: direct hardware access, low-level security control, certain aspects of OS access, support for multimedia and utilities, and DirectX. You also get hard-to-find information on COM access, plus a collection of examples--dealing with DirectX and the MMC Snap-ins--that unite COM and Win32 access in especially illuminating ways. Over time, you can expect to see the .NET Framework expanded to include much of what it now lacks. But your programming tasks can't wait, and .NET Framework Solutions makes you productive--today.