Overview
The Component Object Model (COM) is the foundation of Microsoft's ActiveX technology and has become an integral part of Microsoft Windows. A great deal of modern Windows programming involves COM, so it's important to understand the COM architecture. But where do you begin? You could start with the Microsoft Foundation Class classes for ActiveX Controls, Automation, and OLE, but as useful as those classes are, they obscure the real COM architecture. You've got to start with fundamental theory, and that includes COM and something called an interface.This chapter covers the theory you need for the next six chapters. You'll learn about interfaces and how the MFC library implements interfaces through its macros and interface maps.