1 comments about Starting Out with Visual Basic 2008 (4th Edition) (Starting Out With...).

1. I have mixed feelings about this book. I do like the clear writing style, the step by step tutorial approach which is at the right pace for a beginner, never too terse , never too boring. I can also easily see the author is an experienced teacher, and for patience and dedication he reminds me of the best in the field, like Ivor Horton. But I do think the general organization of the book, the "teaching plan" is horribly flawed.
   I know VB has a long history of being used to let unskilled programmers mindlessly spit out little boring administrative programs that help your local gym owner to calculate your annual fee, but does it always be like that? I don;t think so, especially now that VB is no longer just a RAD program but a full featured programming language on the same level as C#.
   Then why can't it be taught like any other decent programming language?
   This book does a great job to teach the student how to produce decent windows forms without having as little knowledge as possible of what is actually going on. Believe or not, classes and objects are given a skimpy treatment in the last (yeah last) chapter of the book. For events, no mention whatsoever. Now, even if you really want to cover windows forms, how can the students understand what they are without knowing what objects and events are? They end up thinking that an instance variable is some kind of global variable since it can be seen by all methods in a class. And then you have to make gigantic efforts to make them understand what object oriented programming is all about. Also, since this title is about VB 2008 it shouldn't talk about windows form anyway, but WPF, and how about a little LINQ? Otherwise why do you need a new edition? (apart form having students shell more bucks having to buy a new edition of course..)
   But more importantly, is the heart of programming about producing textboxes and dropdown lists? In a first course of programming I call this killing the passion for programming. Or growing code monkeys. Look at Francesco Balena's book on VB. A through coverage of the language, and hardly a windows form to be seen. Granted, Balena's book might be a bit too dense and not engaging enough for the total beginner, but at least its true to its mission. The ideal book would have the clarity and gentleness of Gaddis combined with the soundness and choice of material of Balena. So my advice to the author is on the next edition he will use his teaching talents to write a book that will challenge the beginner and show him the wonders of object oriented programming in a true, gentle but engaging introduction to computer science.

5 comments about Learn to Program with Visual Basic.NET.

1. John Smiley is a good teacher of computer programming. If you are completely new to prgramming and would like to learn VB.Net then this is the book for you. Smiley's style of class room teaching sometimes becomes a bit tedious yet it is a good method. Though slow, it works. Don't hesitate go and buy it NOW!



2. This is an extremely well written introduction to VB.Net, simulating a classroom setting. It starts off gently
   for novices and builds momentum in a comprehensible way.
   The author is a Microsoft-certified expert but is also
   a teacher by profession with years of teaching experience.
   I also recommend the author's web-based course on VB.Net,
   one of the best Internet training bargains around
   (available at JohnSmiley com).



3. I've never written in a review for a book here before. After reading this book I felt compelled to do just that. I've read more books than I can recall about learning programs. From Access to Photoshop and all things in between. While I learn a lot from these books without fail I hit areas that are just glossed over and I'm left thinking "Okay, but what about ____?"
   
   This book answered every question that came up. I swear it was like John Smiley was reading my mind. Now make no mistake, it is a beginner's book for sure and I did know a fair bit of the material beforehand but all the topics were covered in such detail that without fail I came away with a deeper understanding of things I thought I already knew.
   
   This book wuld be my first recommendation to anyone learning VB.NET. It will give you a solid foundation to build on as you progress into programming.



4. (Sorry for the spelling mistakes, English is not my native language)
   
   This book is perfect for the public it was intended for: BEGINNERS. For those who complain about this book not talking about any advanced (or Intermediate) topic or new feature in VB.Net, they should remember that the name of the book started as "Learn to program...".
   
   It is not like by reading this book you are ready to take a examination for an MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) degree, nor will you be able to work on very elaborated programing projects. But you will be able to understand many of the basics of programing, and you will know how to code or read simple (but yet useful) programs. But most important of all, this book will power you with the basic knowledge to start your learning and development as a programer (a knowledge many books seem to expect you to born whit).
   
   By reading this book you will learn in a very understandable way (an also quite complete for a beginers book):
   
   Some things that can be useful to understand programing:
   - Software Developing Live Cycle
   - A very brief explanation on how a computer works (which would cause any Assembler programer to laugh histericaly, but that can be realy helpfull for beginers.
   
   All what you might learn at a beginners class
   - Variables
   - Functions, methods, properties, procedures and events
   - Aritmetic and boolean operations
   - String handling
   - Selection structures
   - Placing objects and menues
   - Using Arrays (one dimension and multidimensional)
   - Creating customized procedures and methods
   
   Some things that due to the rush could not be taught properly in those classes:
   - Disck file operations
   - Error handling
   - Debugging
   - Writing to the windows registry
   - Procedure referencing
   
   However, if your knowledge goes beyond the 50% of this, maybe you should consider chousing another beginners (yet faster) book.
   
   About the classroom format: I personaly liked it. Shure sometimes it sounds as he was underestimating you, and like 60% of the questions might seem too obvious. But it pays in being quite a lot more pleasant to read (as it is your first programing book), and the 40% left of the questions can be really usefull, some few times you would just say: "Hey, I was about to ask that"
   
   Advice?
   
   1.- You are new to all programing forms = buy it, buy it and buy it!!!!!
   
   2.- You are new to windows (and object oriented / object based) programing = strongly consider buying it (you might need to skip 1 or 2 chapters, but you will enjoy the other 13)
   
   3.- You are new to Visual Basic .Net but you come from C++, C# .Net, Java, etc... = You could buy it and you might still learn something from it, but there are better choices in this cases.
   
   4.- You already know to program in VB.Net and you are loking for information about ADO.Net, OOP, ActiveX, ASP.Net, XML = THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU!!!!!
   
   
   Anyway, if you decide to buy it, you should consider buying another book (Intermediate level maybe, or a faster beginner's one) soon, this is only the first step into mastering VB.Net programing.



5. This book is good; I'm a definate beginner although I've read other books on the subject and have played around with vb .net. Really never broke down and really studied to learn. Decided I should; in most technical books I very much doubt that beginners will notice errors unless they are obvious. It was not until chapter 5 that I noticed one. Involved renaming the checkboxes 2-7 if I remember correctly which are in groupbox1. In the book it said groupbox2 which is where the radiobuttons are at. This popped out as a definate error; went online to: (...)
   and yes it was there.
   
   Still recommend this book; caveat, always look up the errata page on any technical book if your a newbie and even if you have some professional background. Didn't realize until after the errata page that there were minor errors beforehand and now I know where to look for those ahead to prevent any difficulties in an otherwise good book.
   
   "see the errata"

2 comments about Creating HMI/SCADA Industrial Applications Using Microsoft Access.

1. This book explains how simple it truly is to pull data from an industrial PLC on the factory floor. In additon to teaching you how to display your data using graphs, the book shows you how easy it is to make a recipe management application.

   The book proves there's an economical alternive to the big buck solutions. It's a good place for any novice to start.

   I'd easly recommend this book!




2. This is an outstanding book, that lets you make an industrial application (HMI), with the use of Microsoft Access. This is for the person that does not have much money, but wants to be an Industrial Programmer for HMI development.

   I highly recommend this book!

2 comments about Beginning VB 2005 Databases: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: From Novice to Professional).

1. It's the Best for Beginners and intermediate in VB.net05 Databases,I have read several Books previously and I Couldn't Understand well ,From Beginning to The end This Book explain step By Step all you Need For starting Programming in Databases using VB.Net 2005 and gives you a guide of Books to continue the next grade.



2. This really is an outstanding book. My background? Years of C and VB development, but no .NET; then tons of SQL Server 2000/2005 work (am MCITP, MCT in SQL Server).
   
   I specifically wanted a jump-start on accessing SQL 2005 databases from VB.NET, and this book does it. The same method is used throughout the book: (1) briefly explain a topic; (2) write some code to illustrate its usage; (3) explain salient points in the code. The examples are extremely short & simple. Each stands alone and illustrates a specific point about .NET or SQL 2005. The authors do not, as some do, create huge coding projects in which learning points are too easily lost. And, not a trivial point, each example works!
   
   If you are a SQL Server professional, you can skip or quickly flip thru some sections that focus on T-SQL, but if you are already a .NET developer you probably won't want to skip anything, because virtually every code sample deals with database access.
   
   Excellent, excellent book.

5 comments about Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API (Other Sams).

1. it works well as a desktop reference but it also takes a little time to explain some of the more hardcore concepts. i recommend this book to ANYONE wanting to start and sucessfully finish an API project.
   from this book it is apparent that mr Appleman believes VB can do ANYTHING by using a little API and, after owning it for a few months, you'll know it's true and you'll know how to make it happen too. a must-have for any self-respecting vb programmer



2. For as long as there's been an API for VB developers, Dan has been THE source for reference on how to use it. He is the definitive authority. (How many people can earn that title about anything?)

   Use this book FIRST. Then check with other sources of you need to.




3. This book is useless for any work or learning.
   
   All samples are made with authors' functions which are in compiled dll written in C++ !?

   Each chapter has at least 30% about porting from Win16 to Win32.

   And book is filled with listings of forms and projects.

   If you remove all this from book, the rest is less than 100 pages with confused explanations.

   Do not buy this book. There are much better books around.




4. After buying many useless books on the VB API programming I bought this one after I read the reviews, and it is the ultimate reference ever.
   
   If you are thinking of buying it, read the other reviews - they describe it more than I do - and go ahead and get it. It's worth every ounce of its weight in pure gold.



5. This was just what I needed to develop a special VBA program with Access. The Win32 API's let you get a little closer to the Window operating system than most standard languages.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Language Reference (Pro-Documentation).

1. As usual with Microsoft's references, this is the same information that you can expect to find online and in the VB.Net help. That is a good thing for those that like to have a book to refer to while coding.

   The information in this book is essential to experienced VB programmers because of the many language changes from prior VB versions.




2. The VB6 Language Reference included all items of interest to VB6 with "Applies to" references which was very valuable. This is missing in VB.net reference. Also, procedures and event handlers were included in VB6 reference, but are not in vb.net reference. Compared to the wealth of information about VB6 in the VB6 reference and the lack of information about vb.net in the VB.net reference, I consider it a waste of money. A reference should include all the necessary information on procedures, event handlers, etc., much like a condensed version of what is included in the "Super Bible" series of VB books.



3. I am very happy with my purchase. This book is just what it is though, a language reference. It does show simple snippets of code for illustration of most functionality. This book used in conjunction with MSDN should be very helpfull. Having already done a good amount of .NET training with other materials in both vb.NET & C# I found this a good book to spend a few days reading through. No it won't teach you to code, but that's for beginner books. It does however, give an intermediate programmer from other technologies a quick way of getting familiar with common vb.NET functions and syntax. You'll still need to use MSDN or other resources for advanced application, but you can get very a good starting point from this book. For many, that's all you need. Overall I'm very happy with my purchase. If your new to .NET, this should not be your first buy, but definetally a good 3rd - 4th reference or so. Start with beginner book, then maybe coding techniques, Try this for when you think your ready to start developing and need a quick syntax boost. Happy coding.



4. Helpful book, had better examples than some "instructional" books I have seen! Wouldn't purchase as the first book but is handy to have around.



5. No hassles, great quality... What more can you ask for. I recommend this seller.

3 comments about Mastering Visual Studio .NET.

1. The book deals with mostly an overview of VS .Net features. They give a general guideline on how to write VS solutions / projects - components - scripts, amd how to debug programs. I bought the book mostly since it's the only one I found that discusses VSIP. I did not find a lot of information on VSIP 7 pages long chapter which barly discusses an overview. The book authors tried their samples on both VS 2002 and VS 2003. I would not recommend this book to people who are brand new VS users or experts on VS. I would recommend it for some users how are looking for some extra shortcuts / functionality here and there. I'm giving this book 3 stars since I would have expected a bit more in debth analysis and more samples.



2. I have to admit that when I picked up a copy of this book, I was expecting a rather out of date re-hash of much of Microsoft's Visual Studio documentation. I was pleasantly surprised. Even though Visual Studio .NET 2003 only recently became commercially available, this book is written for the new IDE (rather than last year's model). The book goes through the basics of projects, debugging, and even macros (in addition to a wide range of other topics).

   This book follows the basic flow a programmer would follow when setting up and creating a project in Visual Studio, which makes it easy to follow along (especially if you are new to VS.NET). After a discussion on setting up a project (including the differences between the various project types), the reader is presented with a discussion on debugging tips and techniques (including debugging configuration in the project's properties). Since web projects are a little different from creating a Windows application, there is a whole chapter dedicated to configuration and debugging of a web application. Other chapters include a discussion on how to perform database work through the IDE, and instructions on developing installation projects.

   My absolute favorite chapter, however, was on Automation, Macros, and Add-ins. In this chapter, the reader learns the basics of creating macros that integrate directly into VS.NET. If you are familiar with recording macros in the Microsoft Office applications, you will be pleased to learn that the syntax and functionality is similar (although instead of writing macros in VBA, they are written in VB.NET). There is then further discussion on automating the IDE to perform scheduled tasks (like automated builds).




3. It covers many topics around Visual Studio.net. Its coverage of Debugging(Chap 3), Macros(Chap 8) are good.

   One missing piece is Web Services with Visual Studio.net. I didn't find any related information in it. Also, serveral times, when I needed some information about Visual Studio.net, I couldn't find it in this book. Though I've been using VS.net for several months, I never needed most of the information in this book.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Programmer's Guide.

1. If you are a programmer and looking for a good guide and/or reference, do not buy this book! The examples are few and not very good. The book does not go beyond VB in explainations, or lead you to additional reference material. Don't waste your money.



2. I started doing VB back on Win 3.1 and had lost touch with it after severals years. I had to begin to relearn the new improved versions of VB now for a summer job i had received. I picked up this book, and for the most part the information was very good. However the main problem i have with this book, is that if you are ever looking for more indepth information into it, the book refers you to "the Language Reference" or one of the other reference library books. I understand that you cannot have all the info in this book, but being refered to another MS book just bugged me. I mean the knowledge being online, they could have given the exact URL to find the info, instead of trying to get you to buy a 70dollar reference manual.

   THe information in this book is more of an overview of all the different components, and have helped me out of a lot of binds over the time. This book is not for someone new to VB or to programming in general, there are plenty of books and online refs for those.

   I have since bought the reference library, and without that as an accompanment to this book, it would have been very difficult to get most of the knowledge I have needed for my programs.

   If you are looking for a good standalone VB book, look elsewhere, if you are looking for a good reference book for a outside assistance, this could be your answer.




3. This is a good step-by-step book for learning Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition. There are some minor mistakes in this book but overall it is a very good book. If you follow along, you should not have a lot of problems. Please note, this book is geared toward the "Professional Edition", you will need to have a strong understanding of the features of "Enterprise Edition" in order to pass the certification exams. Subjects such as the Visual Component Manager, Visual SourceSafe, MTS/COM+ are not covered or bearly covered. You will need other books in order to get a more thorough knowledge of these subjects. Visual Basic Professional Edition and/or Visual Studio Professional Edition are excellent for SOHO (Small office, home office). I have Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Edition installed on my home PC and I use this book to solve some of the issues that arrises.



4. If your a newbie to Visual Basic do not buy this book! This book in geared towards the intermediate to advanced programmer I have been using VB for several years and take it from me, don't buy it. Even for the intermediate programmers this book makes numerous references to the Library Reference, If your serious on vb then get it too otherwise don't bother, try a website.



5. For 90% of the VB questions that I have I can find the answer in this book. It is a great programmers reference. Of course it is just about the Visual Basic language itself and really doesn't delve to far into using VB to program databases or anything like that. Just a good solid reference to the basics of the core language itself.

1 comments about Visual Basic .NET All in One Desk Reference for Dummies.

1. hi
   well I have tons of "for dummies" books(from spiritual to graphics and programming and the like) and this is the first that isn't good.

   problems:
   just some i'll like to mention.
   -the author writes code for you to copy and doesnt include the "_" between the lines (other manuals/tutorials/books at least tell u to put "_" , since they dont have space to write the full code in one line), so if you go by his code format you will keep getting errors.
   -on one hand the author seems to write nothing about certain vb.net code and on the other hand he writes tons about the difference between vb6 and vb.net.
   he devotes tons of the book on stuff that is new to vb.net compared to vb6, while not actaully describing vb.net stuff in the first place.

   in conclusion:
   if your coming from vb6, this is a great guide/reference for u. if your not, using the help(references/tutorials/info that u can get on controls/commands) that actaully comes with vb2003.net is far more effective.

5 comments about .NET Gotchas.

1. I got this book as a gift. I'm not sure that I would have bought it myself. Pros: good technical information, one of the few books to give both VB.NET and C# versions. Cons: very dry writing style and the topics seemed disconnected somehow. So, I give it a 5 for technical and a 1 for writing, for an overall of 3.0. I think this is a book you'll like a lot or dislike a lot.



2. Are you among the many programmers who have come to appreciate how powerful Microsoft's .NET Framework can be as a platform for development? If you have, this book is for you! Author Venkat Subramaniam, has done an outstanding job of writing a great book that shares his .NET experiences with developers, to help them avoid the gotchas!
   
   Subramaniam begins by discussing the features in the CLR and the Framework that can impact the behavior and performance of your application. Next, the author focuses on Visual Studio- and compiler-related gotchas. Then, he delves into gotchas at the language and API level of the .NET platform. The author continues by discussing the issues of language operability gotchas. In addition, the author next focuses on concerns related to garbage collection, and how to write code that handles it effectively. He also discusses, the things you need to be aware of in the areas of inheritance and polymorphism so you can make the best use of these important concepts. Next, the author addresses the general problems with threading, the thread pool, asynchronous calls using delegates, and threading problems related to Windows Forms and Web Services. Finally, he focuses on details you should be aware of to make interoperability work for you.
   
   With the preceding in mind, the author has done an excellent job of writing a book that focuses on the .NET Framework and language features that have consistently exhibited behavior that is not obvious to the programmer. So, why should you be interested in learning about these unexpected features? Because, knowning these little gotchas will help you avoid mistakes!



3. ... for many reasons, foremost in my mind - the format makes for very efficient reading - and if all you have is 30 minutes a day, a gotcha or two a day and in a month you are done. That being said, I found some of the topics rather esoteric, so chose to revisit those at some point in the unknown, er, future.
   
   Superb succinct read.



4. I made the mistake of buying this book based on recommendations I had read here on amazon.com -- don't make the same mistake. If you are looking for practical techniques that will help you write .NET applications, this is NOT the book you want. Now this book is sort of interesting and points out weirdnesses of .NET but nothing that I hadn't seen online. So, check this book out first by browsing through a hard copy in a bookstore to see if it's what you want. I wish I had.



5. This book is written with determination and care. Every aspect is explained at length and the examples are abundant.
   
   But this book is not for everyone. If you want to learn .NET, C# or VB.NET programming from it, you won't be able to do it. Also, if you have time to search through zillions of MSDN pages in order to seek various details on .NET and/or .NET languages, then this book is not for you either.
   
   But if your time is tight and you want to have many .NET common mistakes at your fingertips with no effort from your part, then this book is for you.