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Building Powerful Platforms with Windows CE(r)
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Author: James Y. Wilson, Aspi Havewala
List Price: $54.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 020161636X
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co (29 March, 2001)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 56,937
Average Customer Rating: 4.22 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 1 out of 5
A little bit outdated
I was a very disappointed as the book only covers Windows-CE 3.0 and older versions. It does not cover CEC-filer not the new method of component selection.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Thoughtfully Packed with Technical Information
Building Powerful Platforms with Windows CE is a very technical book, which is the whole point. Yet the authors take the time not only to define significant terms, but also to explain the reasoning and philosophy behind an element. The book is written expecting a base level of computer science knowledge, but beyond that it builds the reader up on CE-specific science, from memory management, power management, registry, major libraries, through development tools, CE project management, and even "is CE the right choice for you".If you're already a bright software/hardware developer, but lack CE expertise, this is your book. As is common practice, material is broken into illustrations, tables, sidebars, notes, and so on. This book in particular uses that technique not simply out of necessity, but to make the subject more readable and usable. This careful organization of information is really appreciated. For example, when a CE feature is not applicable or differs in function between Windows CE 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, a version information note is broken out to call attention to the differences. (Gratefully, the authors are careful to balance the number of side comments; other books tend to overuse those elements to the detriment of the primary text.) Figures are drawn to demonstrate power management states, directory structures, boot process, and so on; this isn't a book just of screen shots. And again with source code, short examples are sprinkled throughout the book, not used as filler. One of the things I look for when flipping through a technical book from a store shelf is a sense for the amount of meat. That way, even if not every chapter is immediately applicable to my particular needs, there's still a lot of material that is valuable. This book is striking in that regard for the concentration and depth of high-quality, reliable technical information. You needn't dust off a prominent place on your bookshelf for this book, as it will spend most of the time open on your desk.
Rating: 2 out of 5
tedious, boring, unclear.
I tried to read the relevant chapters on device drivers. The book drowns you in technical terms just so you won't be able to say that it lacks information. It's very tedious to read a book that's written like that. There's seems to be no pedagogic methodology that guided the writers. Just throw in all the information and see how the reader will deal with it.
For example, a considerable part of chapter 6, "Writing Device Drivers: Introductory Concepts", is a list of existing driver files. This is not an introductory concept. This is reference; and reference is what the DDK is for. In fact I found out the that the Platfrom Builder documentation is much clearer and much more readable than the book.
Also, this book is written in such a boring way that it's hard to stay awake and keep track.
The strength of this book lies also in its weakness - It's good for reference: That same table from chapter six proved useful after I've consulted the Platform Builder documentation (and used it as a tutorial).
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