Microsoft Makes Available New ActiveX Template Library for C++ Programmers

Microsoft Provides Developers C++ Templates For Building Lightweight COM
Objects for the Internetv

REDMOND, Wash. - April 29, 1996 - Microsoft Corp. announced today it is
making the ActiveX Template Library (ATL) freely available to C++
developers on the World Wide Web. This new library was created to provide
developers with a convenient mechanism for building lightweight and fast
component object model (COM) objects. COM is the technical underpinning of
all Microsoft ActiveX technologies.

Templates are a code-reuse feature of the C++ language that allow
developers to define a specific software implementation without yet
knowing the data types. In the ActiveX Templates, Microsoft has defined
the specific software implementation for generating the smallest COM
objects. Developers will define the types of data that are specific to
their application. By exploiting the power of C++, the ATL templates
provide a standard way of writing code for every combination of COM
interface and data type in an ActiveX component.

According to Denis Gilbert, general manager of the visual languages
business unit at Microsoft, ATL is a by-product of Microsoft's full-court
press to bring its technologies to the Internet. "One of our developers
came up with this idea of creating a C++ framework for fast and
lightweight dual-interface COM objects," Gilbert said. "This framework is
now incredibly popular within Microsoft. Because COM, high performance and
low overhead are synonymous with ActiveX, we wanted to get this technology
into everyone's hands as quickly as possible. The World Wide Web is a
fantastic means of doing so."

The ActiveX Template Library comes with a white paper describing the
technology, a technical note describing its use, several samples and a
wizard that can be used with the Visual C++ development system version 4.x
for generating applications using the new templates. It is available free
of charge from the Microsoft Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/devonly/

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of
products and services for business and personal use, each designed with
the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take
advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
 
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