Learning to Program OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager by Exampe - Stephen A. Knight

The introduction of the Personal Computer (PC) has changed our world in many ways. Not only has the PC revolutionized the way many people work, but it has also changed the way computer buyers assess value. Just a decade ago, masses of people were very willing to buy a personal computer with a relatively slow processor, a non-graphical display, a single diskette drive, limited memory, and a dot matrix printer. Today, for approximately the same price, consumers can buy a system with a very powerful processor, a high resolution color graphical display, both diskette drive and large hard file, several megabytes of memory, and a laser printer with color and graphic capabilities. Today's consumer has more options available at a lower cost. Intense competition enables the consumer to be more demanding than ever before, and buyers are choosing their systems with care. As PC hardware is available at competitive prices, and more tasks are being done by computer, it became clear to all types of users that new software needed to be developed to keep up with hardware capabilities. A robust system that would allow users at every level to perfomi tasks on their computers faster, easier, and more effectively than ever before. OS/2 is that new system. On the desktop, individual and corporate users will have power and function heretofore available only on large, mainframe and minicomputer systems. Users can be separated by desks, by rooms, or by continents; the power of OS/2® and networks will bring them together. Presentation Manager for OS/2 was designed to help software developers provide a consistent user interface for all their applications. It includes a large set of functions that reduce the amount of complex specialized code usually needed to resolve divide dependencies and advanced graphics techniques. The programming techniques are therefore easier, but the PM is so different from other, older systems, that new programmers, and programmers new to OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager alike, need a guide. Knight's book, Learning to Program OS/2® 2.0 Presentation Manager by Example, provides an excellent introduction to leaming OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager programming. He provides information in an interesting, fun, and productive way. Once you have mastered the information in this book, you will move on to advanced topics in Presentation Manager without feeling intimidated. You will come to appreciate the function and power of OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager and discover potential you had not imagined was available!