COM attributes, C++, and MS's fail
Attributes... simplified programming model, hides the complexity of COM, allows easy specification without obscure syntax, must be a good idea, right? Nope, FAIL. The problem lies in the failure of documentation and ubiquitous support for the other MS libraries. Specifically, are you using MFC (and really, most native C++ Windows programmers probably are, duh)? Sorry, attributing breaks your application. Not that you could tell, since converting to attributed leaves all the other files in the project, and creates new hidden files with the current interfaces. Um... UTTER FAIL. Not to mention the attributes themselves. How do they work? Oh, don't worry about that. Where can I see the source? You can't, it's compiled into DLL's which inject it. How can I see what it's generating? Compile with a special flag, and look for the hidden, undocumented files it might generate. How can I debug issues? Um... online support forums maybe? UTTER FAIL. Nothing pisses off native dev...