Is there a pocket reference book for winapi?

Question

I'm told that Programming Windows (Charles Petzold) is the most recommended full text for using C++ in the Windows API, but is there an O'Reilly-like pocket reference equivalent?

Answer 1

Given the proliferation of internet connected devices that can fit in your pocket, MSDN could be a potential solution. :-)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee663300%28v=VS.85%29.aspx

HTH

Answer 2

Microsoft used to sell an API reference in hard copy form. It was five volumes, each about 3 inches thick. If memory serves, that was for Windows NT 3.5. One that was current today would obviously be a lot larger (triple the size, at least?) Of course, the size would depend to a degree on what you decided to include, and how you organized the data.

While I'm pretty sure I'd never use such a beast directly, I do think it would be good if they still did it. It seems to me that having to commit the documentation to paper gives people a lot more incentive to clean up the documentation and make sure it's really fit for publication. The last time the docs were published on paper was probably also the last time they were (even reasonably) thoroughly inspected/QA'd...