Essential COM
Essential COM by Don Boxby Don Box
Shares rank 100 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Recommended as a classic that goes through every design decision COM made and the reasoning behind it.
Recommended as a classic that goes through every design decision COM made and the reasoning behind it.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains COM's design decisions and rationale
“If you read Don Box's book on COM he goes through every decision they made and the rationale for it.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “C Isn't a Language” Seen as a classic reference
“see the classic Essential COM by Don Box”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Thoroughly Understanding C++ ABI”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Essential COMby Don BoxThis page | 2 | 1 | 67% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“see the classic Essential COM by Don Box”
“If you read Don Box's book on COM he goes through every decision they made and the rationale for it.”
“I had an outdated book by Don Box”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.