In this chapter, you'll take a look at the second framework (MFC being the first) now included within Microsoft Visual C++—the Active Template Library (ATL). You'll start by quickly revisiting the Component Object Model (COM) and looking at an alternative method of writing Chapter 24's CSpaceship object, illustrating that there is more than one way to write a COM class. (This will become important as you examine ATL's class composition methods.) Next you'll investigate the Active Template Library, focusing first on C++ templates and raw C++ smart pointers and how they might be useful in COM development. You'll cover the client side of ATL programming and examine some of ATL's smart pointers. Finally you'll check out the server side of ATL programming, reimplementing the Chapter 24 spaceship example using ATL to get a feel for ATL's architecture.