The Active Template Library (ATL) is a set of small, efficient, and flexible classes created by Microsoft that facilitate the creation of interoperable components for developing Windows applications. The latest version of ATL is version 8, released with Visual Studio 2005. While .NET has been getting all the attention recently, there is still a huge base of installed COM/ATL code. Many programmers are dealing with difficult issues adding new .NET code to that installed base. At the same time there are many instances where ATL is still the superior choice for new applications - applications that have to run fast and efficiently on Windows, where the CPU doesn't have the memory or bandwidth to run .NET. This book will be a godsend to developers in both of those situations. As one tech reviewer put it, "Any programmer needing to transition ATL code to .NET will need this book." The first edition was widely praised, and sold close to 20,000 units. While ATL is no longer the cutting edge of Microsoft developer tools, there should still be a strong market for authoritative, complete, deep coverage of the newest version of this standard tool.

本书主要介绍了ATL技术的原理、内部实现和应用技巧，由当今4 位顶尖的 Windows技术专家联合撰写。全书内容丰富，深入浅出，主要涵盖了ATL内部架构和实现方法、运用向导简化ATL开发、C++/COM/ATL中字符串的使用技巧、理解并正确实现IUnknown、充分利用ATL提供的Smart Types、撰写能够暴露COM服务器上COM对象的粘合代码、利用Canned Interface实现来支持对象持久化/COM群集/枚举、利用ATL Windows类建构独立的应用程序和UI组件等的技术内容。本书适合于广大Windows开发人员阅读参考，是ATL开发人员的必备权威参考书籍。

ATL是一组小巧、高效、灵活的类，这些类为创建可互操作的COM组件提供了基本的设施。本书由一流的专家撰写，深入地剖析了ATL中模板类的结构、ATL如何实现COM的各种功能，并且也向您展示了ATL中大量的技巧，同时还指出了当前的ATL中存在的一些错误和缺陷。本书是ATL程序员的权威参考书。 本书适合有经验的软件开发人员阅读，也可供其他有兴趣的读者参考。