5 comments about ADO.NET Cookbook.

1. This is the indepth example book I have seen for using ADO.NET for getting connected to databases. The examples in the book are just great and will give you a complete view of what goes on with database applications. Starting with the fundamentals of ADO.NET, walks through the basic principals of the new object model, and what you can do with the object model.
   I would recommend this book to everyone - ADO.NET is such a fundamentally different approach to data access from Microsoft, that we will have to learn again from scratch, and this is the book to get the foundations right. I have found this to be invaluable in getting up and running with ADO.NET.



2. I have read this book completely. If you are looking to develop your skills in ADO.Net or not feeling confident about your noesis you must have read this book. Once you finished it gives a huges amount of confidence in you. It doesn't cover each and every aspect of ADO.Net but it explains the various essential concepts behind ADO.Net in a clear way by dividing it into topics and more importantly it doesn't miss anything and it is a must have book for reference.



3. The book explains the ADO.Net concept completely, with examples and also explains the advanced features that would other wise have been difficult to be brought in practice. While designing and developming an ASP.Net application, ADO.net plays vital role.
   
   This book is THE MUST for applications that need large database interactions. This book acts as the bible to the ADO.Net techniques. Great work.
   
   [...]



4. It seems that some Authors don't take the time to run their code...
   
   This book is riddled with code examples that leave out key components.
   
   Example: Ch.7.7 - "Displaying Images from a Database in a Web Forms Control"
   
   The code behind references Web Form objects that were never discussed. (Surprise!)
   
   If you're looking for an abbreviated book on ADO.NET "Concepts", and don't really care about actually seeing working code, then this book is ok. If you need a concise guide, then don't bother. This book requires the reader to take a lot for granted.



5. First let me say pretty much everything in here is written in C# ... I almost think they shouldn't advertise that they have VB in here. I write all of my apps in C# personally, but write both languages. ((and was at one time even an old school asp classic guy)) All of my sites run from asp.net/c# dlls now.
   
   The description says it ... it is a book designed for developers. This isn't designed for people trying to learn ASO.NET. Make this your second book, after you have a firm grasp on it, and have programmed a handful of examples.
   
   OH, AND THIS IS A ADO.NET USING C# BOOK ... there must be a few lines of VB in here somewhere for them to be able to say there is. Can't believe someone else's review hasn't mentioned this.
   
   ANYWAY ... for all of you that are wanting to get better with ADO.NET that are using it already ... but not well. This book is PERFECT. It is a great book to hone in the skills, and have sitting on your desk during development.
   
   =====
   
   NOW .. anyone learning ADO.NET for ASP.NET ... that wants a great book to pickup both. Grab the book ...
   
   Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB
   
   That book is available here on Amazon ... and it will give you nice lead in on ASP.NET using BOTH VB.NET and C# ... and it will get you started using ADO.NET.
   
   =====
   
   On a side note, if you are just trying to learn sql statements, and are really at the beginning at all of this ... Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
   
   Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
   
   Is a great book to get you started writing sql statements, joins, and all that in a flash ... I buy that book for all my friends that are just starting with databases.
   
   Take care all ... hope this helps.
   
   ****
   4 stars because it says it has VB, when it is clearly C# samples.

2 comments about Comprehensive VB .NET Debugging.

1. This book is a must read for anyone doing VB.NET development work. I felt so lucky when I found this book because I haven't found a book like this on the market for .NET debugging. This isn't just a book you read through once, and set aside, as it will definitely become a permanent part of your reference library. The author did an absolutely exceptional job in comprehensively covering debugging techniques and issues from everything from ASP.NET, SQL Server, Windows Forms, Web Services, to Classic VB, and the depth of knowledge this author shares about such things as debugging tools, approaches to take towards a project, and how to really fully use Visual Studio .NET's debugger are never taught in college courses. There is even a full chapter on debugging multithreaded applications, which the author even mentions that most Visual Basic programmers are unfamiliar with. I got this book initially to study Visual Studio .NET's debugger capabilities, and learn about debugging techniques, but I was amazed at the volumes of information. This book is so versatile that you can match the debugging techniques to the type of project your might be faced with, and that's why I say again "It's going to be a great reference book to keep handy by your desk." The detailed information on such things as utilizing Visual Studio. NET's debugger is much better, and easier to understand than information I have seen on Microsoft's Website. So many different debugging scenarios are covered, but just as example, in Visual Studio .NET the author explains how to attach the debugger to a process, or how to debug programs without loading them into the IDE, such as a production component that is currently running, or a Web service running on another machine, and gives a very thorough breakdown on the general debugging options in Visual Studio .NET. This book even offers great insight into why bugs even happen in an application in the first place. What I also enjoyed about this book is that I could jump ahead to any chapter I wanted to read. The writing style is smooth, and easy to follow. The examples given are endless.
   
   I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about doing .NET development work!



2. Really enjoyed the discussion on traps and pitfalls, and the differences that the VB.NET language has with C#. Coming from a C# background and having to deal with VB.NET in a later project, had to confront many subtle differences. This book goes very well with ".NET Gotchas"

5 comments about GDI+ Programming in C# and VB .NET.

1. I'm currently writing a comprehensive review of the VB.NET books for the visualbasic.about.com web site (you can see the full review of Nick's book there after November 20) but I wanted to respond to the anonymous reviewer who said that the book was lacking in quality right now in this forum. It most certainly is not lacking in quality. APress consistently publishes quality books and this is no exception.

   I downloaded the source files and ran several at random just to check whether there were any problems. The examples I ran worked perfectly. The content is well formatted with clear examples and great organization. And further, Microsoft really doesn't have that much documentation of GDI+ on MSDN and what they do have isn't really helpful as a tutorial. (Actually, the best alternatives to Nick's book right now are chapters from some of the comprehensive VB.NET books.)

   Full disclosure: Other than a friendly relationship, I don't work for APress and I don't even know Nick. I've just read his book to allow me to review it.




2. Just a rehash of the material on MSDN. Not much to this -- don't waste your money.



3. For anyone interested in VB Graphics, the book provides information, but then immediately jumps to the same information in C#, causing an almost total loss of concentration. I presume the same occurs for anyone interested in C#. If the writer were to remove all reference to C#, it might be a good text on VB Graphics, vice versa would probably do the same for C#. I'll just keep looking for a good graphics text for VB.NET elsewhere. I can produce excellent graphics with VB6, I just hope I can eventually do as well with VB.NET.



4. If you know how to read MSDN documentation, this book is worthless for you. Otherwise is a good beginners introduction.



5. This book is a good introduction to GDI and GDI+ programming. If you are a novice in GDI (as I am) and things like device contexts and selecting objects are unfamiliar to you, then this book should be good for you. (Note: I'm a novice when it comes to GDI. I've more than 30 years programming experience.)
   
   I had purchased this book so that I could do one thing: Copy a window from the screen to the printer. It turns out that this is a surprisingly complicated operation. That, of course, is not the book's fault but Microsoft's.
   
   A sample program (downloadable from Apress's website) allows you to copy a window to the printer ... but!
   
   The "but" is that the image that ends up on the printer is stretched and deformed.
   
   The book does not even mention device independent bitmaps (DIBs). That's a surprise for an introductory text on graphics.
   
   I also had a lot of trouble following his explanation on the various coordinate systems.
   
   OK, enough of the negatives.
   
   The positives are that this book is well written. The author appears to try hard to impart useful information in a breezy and easy to read manner. I really did learn a lot about GDI and GDI+ and graphics. I learned more about this subject in the few hours that I spent reading the book than I learned in several years of fumbling.
   
   Some reviewers complain about having to bounce between VB and C#. I found this not to be a problem.
   
   One reviewer said that this is a rehash of the information in the MSDN. I found this not to be so. More to the point, the author of this book organized this subject in a manner that is comprehensible to the novice. Such is not the case with the MSDN which is "a prerequisite for itself."
   
   In conclusion, the book simultaneously disappoints and delights. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could.

5 comments about Visual Basic 6: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series).

1. No doubt, they have something useful for me. I found its contents quite incomplete though. In fact - I bought Wayne Freeze's "Expert Guide to Visual Basic 6" and it suites me better. I would not recommend this book to any one who have more than 3 years experience programming Visual Basic - but if you are new to VB E-commerce applications - check out the last 2 chapters. Almost tempted me to buy it before I found the other book.



2. Noel Jerke's book should not be called a 'reference' book in any sense of the word. However, it does cover a lot of VB6 content. Jerke takes a 'teaching by example' approach. Although none of the concepts (objects, collections etc)are really explained in detail, his show how you can use them. Another excellent feature is his step-by-step approach to real-life system development. There are several excellent projects that he has developed from start to finish using production-type databases (SQL server 7). This is definitely not a beginner's book. You need a real reference book like Microsoft's Visual Basic 6 Programmer's Guide in order to totally understand and complete the examples. The programming styles that Jerke has used are consistently those recommended by Microsoft. You can learn a lot from the book provided you have the time and patience.



3. I have found this book to be next to useless because of the poorly implemented index. As examples, "Data Types" and "Call" are not included in the Index. Programmers using Visual Basic need to have quick access to looking up data types and specific verbs. Without this, the reader is on his own to dig through the book and hopefully spot what he is looking for. I have gone to this book countless times and rarely find the subject matter I need in the index.



4. I cannot believe the number of basic errors in this book. It looks like the author wrote it from memory and didn't test it or even proofread it. You must rely on previous knowledge of VB to fill in the gaps. If you are a beginner, forget it.



5. Don't expect to learn much using this book. However I will judge it as a reference and it is poor at that. The indexing is [bad] and, when you do get what you want, concepts are explained in a confusing manner, just a sea of abstractions. This person has little talent as a teacher. The good thing I can say is there are lots of examples (i.e breifly explained code and pictures) that might be useful to you (which I found learning ADO). Otherwise don't get this book unless you like to be frustrated and bored.

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 Writing Excel Macros.

1. The author refers to his book as "An introduction to programming in Excel VBA". This is totally a misleading description. This is NOT a first book in programming. If you are new to this subject and looking to read a first introductory book then stay away from this book. Otherwise, you will be totally confused and will give up in frustration way before you finish the book.

   Having said that if you do have some experience programming and playing around with Excel Macros then you will not be disappointed. The author provides you in a compact and succint manner with the fundamental concepts necessary to carry out the programming projects in Excel VBA. This is not a reference book to look up things. This book is meant and written to be read starting from first chapter and on. It is probably useless if you have a specific project or task in mind but it is great as far as giving you a general map how all Excel VBA projects should be organized and be tackled.




2. I bought this book and I am not satisfied because the examples are not clear, the index is not complete. The contents are not bad and quite complete. I think the author want to make the book as a reference book but fail because it is very difficult to find even the keywords.



3. I find this book to be an indispensable resource in my work customizing Excel for a global financial institution. Being a self-taught programmer, I find some of the text a huge bore and mainly use the code examples, rewriting it to fit my needs. I do not waste my time going through his exercises because they seem laborious and I need fast answers. For that, however, it has proved itself invaluable. I will admit that the examples are so plain vanilla in here that you have to know how to use Excel and VBA to apply them to actual situations. Without this book, though, just having those manuals isn't enough. It really fills out the missing info. When you find yourself stuck, you'll be glad you have it.



4. I'm adding to my review of 2 years ago because I'm amazed that even though I'm now using XP with Microsoft Office 2002, this book is still useful. Although some of the actual code is unusable (and was unusable with 97), it still points me in the right direction. I can't believe I still find information in here that can't be found in other VBA & Excel programming reference books. I have so many of them, and I always find that this book keeps me on the right track where others drop off. It's definitely true that one must keep several Excel & VBA books on hand because they all have incorrect info here and there, and no one volume covers everything. But while I will probably be letting go of a few others now that my firm has (finally) upgraded, this is one I'm gonna keep.



5. Another well organized reference by Steven Roman. I bought this book after reading his Access Database, design and Programming book, which was also very good. I like most others am self taught and refer to these books in order to develop a solution to a particular problem I may be having. Indispensable.

5 comments about Visual Basic .NET Bible.

1. I only read two chapters of this book for ADO.Net and Multithreading. I would have to say that the ADO.Net section was good. On the otherhand, the Multithreading section was very skimpy, but it does show the reader where to start.



2. I was first amazed at the size of this book. It is large, 1240 pages and not only covers vb.net ... but everything you want to use vb.net for (ASP.NET, Windows forms, webservices, etc). If you want to be a .net developer who uses vb.net, then get this book. As someone said earlier, it also makes a awesome desk reference.



3. After reading VB.Net by Fransesco Balena, this one was its poor cousin. If anyone were to get into the ADO.Net chapter, that persons database access knowledge is bound to get scarred for life. Majority of the samples dont work. take a rain check.



4. This is by far the worst book I have ever read on any programming language. I would have to say that 90% of the code examples are wrong. I have been programing in VB.NET since the beta's and thought this book might be good for some reference. I was totally wrong.
   Seems to me that it was written too fast by to many blind people who have no idea what they where doing. Its almost as if they where making things up as they went along! If you want a good book dont get this one.



5. I like how this book has attained a good balance of being a tutorial and reference book. It has many great examples and does a great job of explaining how to better understand how to develop in .NET!!!

No comments about Programming Basics: Using Microsoft Visual Basic, C++, HTML, and Java Activities Workbook.

4 comments about ARC/GIS Developer's Guide for VBA.

1. Only one word I can think of to describe this latest offering from Razavi and OnWord Press: DISAPPOINTING.
   I pre-ordered this book months ago because this topic is not covered by any other current books and Razavi's tome on ArcView programming is well written and informative. Unfortunately, he did not rise to the occasion in this instance. I received this book on a Monday and by Wednesday I was done reading it and ready to sell it off. First, the book is NOT 256 pages as the Amazon description says it is. At a scant 188 pages this ... "book" reads more like a pamphlet with a cursory introduction to the basics of programming that barely caters to ArcGIS specifically. When the book finally starts to get up and running with some useful coding examples (at page 80!), Bam!, it ends appruptly with no closing section, no advice for further research, no additional help tips. It almost seems as though the thing had to get off Razavi's desk to make it to the publisher so he just spit out the index and sent it off.
   I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. If you are just starting at programming the intro sections are far to shallow and brief to be any help. If you are working at a more advanced level and would like to cater your programming to ArcGIS you had better keep your dough and wait it out.
   Unless half of my book got lost in the mail, this one is useless to those of us starving for a volume to fill the hole in programming this new software. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}



2. I too was disappointed with this book. There's not much substance here, especially if you already know a bit of VB/VBA programming. Half of the book reviews basic VB/COM concepts, syntax and programming practices. I bought this book because I already know VB and I am starting an ArcGIS programming project. I learned more looking at the ESRI provided samples and poking around their excellent support forum and sample code web site... Just by tinkering around with ArcGIS in the time it took for the book to arrive, I built sample applications that are way beyond those presented in Razavi's book.
   The book doesn't really give you enough information to begin to grasp the ArcObjects data model. If you're going to do any serious ArcObjects programming, you'll need the ESRI reference book "Exploring ArcObjects" ... which is also included in electronic format on the ESRI CD's, but it's so big that the paper version is easier to use. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}



3. In the introduction of this book it states that "you do not have to be a seasoned programmer to understand this book". Not true. Razavi's treatment of the subject is superficial, and does not cover the fundamental bases well enough to give beginning programmers what they need. If you do not know how to program in VBA before you read this book chances are you won't know how to after reading it. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}



4. Other reviewers have done a good job of stating the flaws in this book. I'll also throw my vote in to say that this book is awful, hoping that people read these reviews when deciding whether to purchase the book. My opinion was so negative of this book, that I returned it for refund. The book is full of too many typos, incomplete code samples that won't run, and incomplete logic that it is essentially more confusing than helpful, in my opinion. Definitely not recommended.

   If you want to learn to program ArcGIS, look for Robert Burke's book instead. It is a real winner.

5 comments about Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 with VB.NET 2003 (Beginning).

1. I am amazed that Wrox (AKA Wiley Publishing) would title a book in such a deceptive manner.

   Purchased the book and first thing I did was read "What you need to use this book?" - it clearly states "You do not need Visual Studio.NET in order to use this book." Instead - they expect you to download something called a Web Matrix...

   Sure - it uses the .NET framework 1.1 but to me, and I am sure the vast majority of developers, if one sees "with VB.NET 2003" they are not expecting to be taught how to write code in Notepad...

   Wrox - You have disappointed me




2. Not sure why some folks say the title is misleading, the book indeed is specifically geared towards the beginning ASP.NET/VB.NET developer. No where does it mention learnig VB Studio. In fact I have VB studio, but I downloaded the Web Matrix software (free from MS) and I find it very easy to use and a good development environment.
   
   I found the book to be very accurate and moves along at a very good pace, not trying to overwhelm the reader with too much detail early on. If you like to learn by coding (getting your feet wet) then this is the book for you. I like this approach, because you sort of figure things out as you go along, and at some point you begin to see the "big picture".
   
   The exaples are very well thought out, and appropriate for the concepts being discussed. This book has enough examples to make it a good refrence book.



3. This book is very good at teaching the concepts, but there are many mistakes that will really keep you on your toes. You can work around them, to be sure, but just be forwarned. The mistakes are everything from spelling (not really a big deal) to code errors, like semicolons where they dont belong and malformed code. One exercise involves a database that is supposed to be included in the download (from their site) but is not. The "errata" page on Wrox's site suggests you do a Google search in order to find and download the database.
   It is a good book for learning ASP.net as well as a good lesson that proofreading is important.



4. I found it very interesting! I would indicate this book for people that have previous knowledge in ASP and web technologies, beceuse if you don't, the content of the book will appear too difficult, but it's not. It gives you a good overview and introduction to .Net plattform. I recommend!



5. I'm used to read books about technology. My career (Computer Programming) involves constant actualization and besides that, I love reading a software book.
   
   But this specific book, have kept me trying for more that 14 months, even when I usually read books off this kind of subject (Web Development) in something between two weeks and two months.
   
   I finally decide to dump it, since I can't spend more time. I just got another book for the subject. And I did it after convince myself of the fact that this book is so slow, redundant, and poor that it can kill my enthusiasm.
   
   This book has probably 50 pages (if you filter from the 863 printed) of good information.
   
   If your time is valuable for you, and you need or want to learn the technology, this book is not for you.