title: I want to learn COM. How should I proceed?
body: <p>I am a fresh graduate with a bachelor in Computer Science. As most school today, they are no longer teaching students C or advance C++ (only an Introductory course in C++... With lessons up to Pointers). The standard programming language prescribed in the curriculum is C# (.NET stack).</p>
  
  <p>Just recently, I got hired as a junior software developer. 95% of our codebase is in C++ and our products are using COM/DCOM. The other 5% is in .NET. My current responsibility is to maintain a project written in .NET (ASP.NET) and I am not required to study C++ and other technology YET. But I want to learn COM as soon as possible so I can help out on other projects.</p>
  
  <p>So I am seeking the advice of this community on how I can go about learning COM. My current questions are the following:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Any required reading? (Pre-requisite topics)</li>
  <li>A Good Site in Learning the basics of COM?</li>
  <li>A type of Simple Program to really appreciate the "purpose" of COM (A chat program perhaps?)</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Thanks! :)</p>
  
  <p>PS: Should I mark this as a community wiki?</p>