4 comments about Programming the PIC Microcontroller with MBASIC (Embedded Technology) (Embedded Technology).

1. I own MicroBasic Pro 5.2. Although the BasicMicro's manual is large and informative, it left out too many facets and explanations for features. In fact, knowledgeable users were constantly alluding to 'hidden' features and undocumented commands and/or extensions in the forums. New and intermediate users were operating at a disadvantage for this reason. This book easily fixes all those shortcomings. The contents cover both the present version, 5.2, and the newest yet-to-be-released version, 5.3, represented in the demo version on the CD.
   
   Jack Smith has done a real service to everyone seeking a pathway to develop projects with one of the industry's most popular and best supported processors - the Microchip PIC. He has documented all the compiler's features, in a clear and concise fashion, that allows the user to realize all the power of this compiler. Every chapter clearly explains the hardware and software relevant to the chapter's subject, and provides numerous useful code examples to get the user started.
   The chapter on using ISRASM, MB Pro's interrupt handler, and the chapter that collects together and summarizes all the previously unexplained commands and features, easily makes this book a 'must have'.
   
   The demo compiler supports only the PIC16F876 and its -A version. At present users report that this program doesn't work with Win9x or ME machines, but is OK for Win2000 and XP. This is probably due to the 32 bit nature of the new software. This may change, so refer to their forums and home page for news about this. Basic Micro promises to upgrade from the present version to version 5.3, when released, for free.
   
   After two years of experimenting with different BASIC compilers, I find MB Pro easily the best of the bunch. It has a mix of features and a command set that, for the money, easily makes it a real value. Check it out at basicmicro.com.
   If you decide that MB Pro is the compiler for you, then make it a point to buy this book to achieve maximum return on your investment.



2. This is much more than just a fantastic replacement for the MBasic manual (although it's very good as that). I haven't seen any MBasic tutorials with this much depth anywhere.
   
   It's an AMAZING resource, easily one of the best-written textbooks on any subject that I've seen in a long time. It's laid out in a tutorial format, with each chapter building on the ideas in the previous pages. The book is also easy to use to find specific techniques as you would with a reference book, either with the index, or with the thorough way Jack cross-references related chapters within each chapter.
   
   Jack introduces one or two major concepts in each chapter, such as working with digital outputs, I2C, stepper motors, or HSerial, and then shows how to design the electronics parts of the concept as well, and gives solid reasoning for how he's making design choices along the way. He has a deep understanding of both computer theory and electronics design, but presents both of them in a friendly, non-jargon-y way that I think many experience levels could understand.
   
   It covers everything from the stock MBasic commands, to how to use in-line and standalone assembler where needed, to the undocumented (except in the forums) commands hidden in the language. You even get a CD with a FREE version of MBasic Pro 5.3.0.0 called MBasic876 (It is limited to the 16F876 / '876a parts only, which is not a huge limit). Jack also explains the differences between 5.2.1.1 (the current full release) and 5.3.0.0, AND gives working code for both versions! He even documents all of the mistakes he - and others - have found in the 5.2.1.1 manual, saving much frustration when learning the language.
   
   If you wanted to use this as a textbook, there are "Ideas for Changes to Programs and Circuits" at the end of each chapter, that would make good homework assignments.
   
   The CD also contains all of the code examples from the book (in both 5.2.1.1 and 5.3.0.0 versions, with comments), Linear Technology Circuit Simulation Software\SWCADIII (LTSPICE) circuit simulation tools, and datasheets for all of the parts used in the book.
   
   An extra bonus is the nearly page-long list of references at the end of each chapter, containing information about everything from good 8-bit microcomputer design guides, to where to find current datasheets for the parts used in the chapter, to great freeware resources for the PC.
   
   So far, I have found answers to every question that's stumped me even after reading the Basic Micro forums.
   
   I hope some others can enjoy this as much as I have. It's made me excited again about how much MBasic allows you to do with a PIC.



3. The author did a fantastic job! It's really a shame that MBasic is an OBSOLETE product that hasn't been updated in several years and does not include any new Pic processors that has been released in the last couple of years.



4. What Jack Smith has done in this book goes far beyond what the title indicates. It is an excellent tutorial, AND an excellent reference book AND a great project book.
   
   Unlike many programming books, this one also demonstrates the author's engineering expertise by providing details of circuity including the hows and whys of interfacing to PICs, reasons for component parts and values selection, timing charts, 'scope pictures, etc. His choice of projects is excellent, and touches on virtually every application in which a PIC would likely be used.
   
   He also provides a CD loaded with support documentation, source code for all the projects for both the current release and 5.3.0.0, which is due out shortly. He details the differences between the two versions, and provides lots of info on undocumented commands and errata in the MBasic manual. He also includes a free version of 5.3.0.0 which is limited only in the chip it will support, which is one of the best and most popular ones in use today.
   
   As far as the "obsolete" comment made in an earlier review, all I can say is that MBasic has the best feature set of any Basic compiler for PICs that I have seen for the chips it supports, which includes all the most popular ones, incuding my favorites, the 16F876 and '877. The fact that Basic Micro obviously worked with the author to provide a pre-release version of the next release tells me there are no plans to obsolete the program.
   
   
   

5 comments about Beginning Visual Basic .NET Databases.

1. This is a great book, but it is definitely helpful if you already have some VB.NET knowledge as suggested by the publisher prior to starting this book. I did not, and so some of the examples were hard for me to follow (no fault of the authors). I like the hands-on examples in this book. They are basic but relevant to the real-world. I got a lot out of this book despite my inexperience with VB.NET. It gives you a broad intro to several facets of .NET including web services which look very interesting! I think my experience with the book would have been excellent if I would have been more prepared. I have now back-tracked to fill in some of the basic knowledge I needed. I now believe I could forge ahead with some basic database projects in VB.NET using this book as a reference. I would certainly buy it again and I'm sure I'll use it as a reference for some time to come. Get some basic VB.NET knowledge and then buy this book for learning the database specifics.



2. This book had a lack of examples.
   Poor presentation.
   The little snippets of code it used to navigate through
   the book were very dificult to grasp since there are no
   example to demonstrate that they work.
   I have been thru just under a dozen .net books. This is
   one of the worst alongside ithe vb.net unleashed book.
   It was very easy to give up reading this book since you always
   wonder if the code you type is ever going to work or
   is that the reason why some of the the code was not downloadable



3. Since this book has 3 authors, it would be interesting to know who wrote what parts. Some parts are very good, with understandable examples and clear explanations. Other parts I just scratched my head and wondered.

   It's not that I didn't understand what they were doing, it's that I wondered why they were doing it. It seems they went out of their way to make parts of the code complex and confusing.

   The main program developed in the book, the Product Management System, took 4 chapters. It could have been a great example of a simple program that taught the main points of database programming.

   However, parts of the code was poorly designed and written, resulting in the program being overly complex and not functioning like a professional program should.

   I feel that if you are teaching someone, you should show them the right way to do it. As a beginner in VB I am looking at the whole picture. Just because this book is about database programming, the authors should not ignore the quality of the rest of the language in their example code. Is it too much to ask the professional programmers who write books to write professional quality programs?

   I currently don't have a better book to recommend. I've started reading another book I got from the library, but I don't have an opinion yet. To bad the library doesn't have more books on VB so I could try before I buy.




4. For people with some experienced on VB .Net, this book will serve as a very good introduction on the basic skills on database programming. Not only have the authors done a good job on showing how to use ADO .Net, but they have also done a very nice job of showing how to apply the skills of objected-oriented programming techinques. Base forms are developed and then inherited to develop more sophisticated windows forms.I strongly think that this book is worth reading.



5. The book is generally good for a beginning book. The problem is that you can no longer get the Sample Code as the publisher WROK has been sold and is no longer keeping the old sample code on their site.

5 comments about Win32 API Programming with Visual Basic.

1. First, this seems like mostly a C book, not a VB book as the title implies. Sure, the C structures and function call variables are usually provided w/translations (but not always!). And there is a whole chapter on VB strings. But I got the impression the author doesn't know a ton about VB and why a VB programmer might want/need to concern himself with the API function calls. This didn't phase me a ton because I know C, but I thought a lot of the text wasn't much about VB at all.

   First-and-a-half, the author is running Windows NT, so if you're like me and on Win 95/98 you may at times feel like you're being left out. He does go to some lengths to compare and point out the differences between the two OS's, but (again) I felt like he was a C/NT programmer rather than a VB/9x programmer.

   Second, even though the intro says its for both VB5 and VB6, I use the former and couldn't get the crucial examples on the CD to run without first hunting down and finding the needed DLL's on the I-Net one-by-one. This was a tedious process because after a program would clear past one error message on startup it'd hit the next one. And so on. This was a huge hassle. It probably didn't help that the one bad spot on my CD was the dll.readme file (maybe all this was pointed out in there) -- I probably should have taken the book back, but then I would have had to wait for them to order another one and for it to come in, go back a third time to get it, etc...

   Third, the book is not any sort of complete reference to the API functions. Some of the chapters only mention a couple of the functions relevant to the topic, or at least give you the feeling there's more out there that you might want to know about. The functions that are mentioned sometimes only have one or two of their parameters explained (as if the others don't matter). So if you're looking for an API reference book, this probably isn't it.

   At least most of the typos in the book can be found at O'Reilly's website, though a careful reader can find a couple that haven't been flagged.

   I expected a better book. At least the writing is clear.




2. This is an excellent book to learn about Windows from a developer's perspective. It has the most lucid explanations I've read on the Windows operating system, covering topics such as processes, threads, synchronization, memory architecture, Windows messages, DLL injection and device contexts. There is a whole chapter dedicated to strings where the author cleary explains ALL types of strings used in Windows (there are very few books that include this important topic). For those who complain about not enough coverage of the Win32 API, *READ THE PREFACE!*. The author states very clearly that the book is "...not intended to be an encyclopedia for the Win32 API...", the goal is to present "...enough information to get an overall feel for the Windows OS and the Win32 API...". I think he went beyond the stated goal. As for the reviewers complaining about the book heavy slant towards C, it escapes me how anyone would want to read about the Win32 API without expecting to find C all over the place. This is not a book to learn VB syntax or VB tricks, it's about how to interact with the Win32 API from VB, so it's important to learn the details about the API, not about VB. Last but not least, do not expect this to be a hardcore guide to Win32 programming, that's something you just can't do with VB.

   Added Dec 12, 2001: After studying the new .NET platform I realize that this book is sadly outdated. You can still use the Win32 API in VB.NET, but there's no good reason to do that anymore because the .NET framework provides equivalents for just about every API call you can think of, and more.




3. This is a very hard book (for VB programmer with no C experience) BY NECESSITY.
   Normally, you would like the programming book to have some explanation and plenty of code examples. In the case of Win32 API
   for VB programmer, once you get all the intricacies, you just need to find the API function from API viewer applet that comes with Visual Studio.
   Why is the book hard by necessity?
   C and VB have enough differences (e.g. variable type size differences, signed and unsigned type differences etc) to make the interoperability of languages difficult. Add to this the complexity of the Windows architecture itself and C + VB + WIN32
   becomes much more complex, than just C + Win32, which makes me wonder, why use VB at all, if you are planning to make an extensive use of WIN32. Much easier to code in C or C++!
   Back to the book.
   It does excellent job explaining C + VB + Win32 API interaction
   thoroughly. He leaves no stone unturned. If you absorb the book cover to cover, you can consider yourself guru in the area.
   You want need anything else than API function declarations.
   In short, this is a book for ONLY DEDICATED, serious programmer, intending not just to spice up his code with occasional API calls, but ending up with FULL UNDERSTANDING OF ALL ISSUES.



4. This book in no way is a reference book or a how-to book. This book is designed for people who don't have previous knowledge about windows architecture and windows API.

   I find this book as a fantastic tool since it gives me initiative and direction to understand the overall picture. I can use the knowledge that I gained in this book and know what I can do with win32 API. I also purchased the dan appleman's book for win32 api which consists of more examples and it is more a reference book .

   If you have not programmed in win32 before --> this is the book for you.




5. I would beware of ordering this through Amazon. I have had to return this book after several attempts of getting the order right. They keep sending me the book without the CD-Rom.. yet the cover and their site states one is included.

No comments about Visual Basic 2008 for Windows and Mobile Applications: Introductory (Shelly Cashman Series).

5 comments about MCSD Guide to Developing Desktop Applications Using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0: Advanced Topics: Advanced Topics (Mcse & Mcsd Series).

1. I am Certified in VB 5.0 and am close to taking the VB 6.0 test. I have alot to learn, but this book is not for the beginner. I believe this book to be the best overall book for preparing for certification. I read the version 5 of this book and could not wait to read this one also. I will be teaching VB again in the Spring of 2000. I used the Diane Zak book from Course Technology for the Intro to VB. I would like to use this book also for the advanced class in VB. I can not say enough good about this book. With the right teacher, this book would be dynamite. I would like to get our college to switch to this book for the advance classes. I would start in chapter 1 and cover the entire book. I think there is enough material her for 2 quarters. I think that the topics are relevant and not just advanced. I can understand people who may not like this book. This book is not the easiest to read but I do not want an easy book. Number of pages read don't count on certification - only if you know the material. If you want an easier book to read, there are plenty. I recommend this book highly to anyone who will listen. This book also has a 'Teaching Tools' CD that is available from the publisher for an extra cost. This extra CD is pretty neat - it has ready made tests for students, tests that can be put on a network and administrated online, and teaching notes, over heads, and more. Great resource. Even if you are not going to teach, the instructor's notes are a great summary of the points you need to know for your certification. This book and extra CD is an awesome combination. Not for the faint of heart.



2. An excellent book, a must buy for those VB programmers trying to get out of the minor leagues. Congratulations Mr.Ekedahl.



3. I purchased the book recently and enjoy the presentation of thematerial. One item to note, however, is that this book is meant for aclassroom environment. What this means is that there are samplequestions at the end of each chapter but SURPRISE no solutions. Thesolutions are contained in an instructors manual. This fact shouldhave been disclosed in the book's description so that I might havepurchased a diferent one.



4. This book is definetly not useful for continuing to learn VB. I found it poorly written, boring, with various grammatical mistakes and vague examples that are not very practical.



5. EXCELLENT 2000 Publish Date 957 Pages BOOK WITH CD ::: CAUTION : I am not certain, but there may be more than 1 edition of the same ISBN Number. The one I am commenting is the 957 page book 2000 Published with CD with PRIBNTED DATE 2000.
   
   I congratualate Michael Ekedahl for the excellent work done in publishing this book through Course Technology. The Book also includes a CDROM 2000 pub date. The CD includes Transcender Certification Test Prep software.
   
   To complete the chapters and the end of chapter excercise s in the book the accompanying CD has the data files needed. I would Follow the HELP FILES to copy them to your computer.
   
   What I like most is the way the Chapers are arranged. Each chapter begins with a programming related problem that the reader would expect to come across in real world business, immediately followed by a demonstration of application necessary to slove the problem.
   
   All of the teaching tools for the text are found in the instructor's resource kit available from Course Technology WEb-site www.coursetechnology.com and on the CDROM. I suggest you to contact Customer Service of Thomson Learning for most current and up-to-date information. Thomson Learning Customer Service 1-800-347-7707
   
   By Vasant L. Abhyanker, MSEE, MIM, PE Phoenix AZ USA

5 comments about Programming MapPoint in .NET (Programming).

1. This is an excellent book on MapPoint that covers everything from architecture through advanced usage. The examples are solid, and the problems that the author chooses to solve are right on target. Not only does it give useful technical examples, it also provides inspiration for how you can use MapPoint throughout your product.
   
   This is a solid piece of work.



2. MapPoint by Microsoft (who else) is an outstanding tool to be able to use all types of geographic/demographic data in a myriad of different ways. Before the book 'Programming MapPoint in .NET' there weren't any good resources out there on the market for learning how to use this amazing bit of code, but now that has all changed. With this text you will quickly learn the ins and outs of MapPoint, from being able to generate maps in your own application to talking to MapPoint web services to be able to output driving directions, demographic data... whatever you can think of!!!
   
   It's quite clear that MapPoint is a tool that will be growing every day, and with the importance of up to date geographic data, it's a niche that Microsoft was smart to get into. My only "complaint" about this book is that it seems a little light in the source material (API calls, examples and such), but I don't think this is any fault of the author or the programmers. Simply MapPoint is still a fairly new tool and it will take time to document and create examples for all the cool stuff that this application can do. If you use MapPoint, you would be wise to pick up this book and read it cover to cover.
   
   **** RECOMMENDED



3. As a mapppoint developer , I spend most time to programming the function of the application. The book does give some samplese , but most of them are over complexed, and the if you read the source code , you will found that the Author , Cthota, didn't put all the dataset in the download zip file , which is a major regret.



4. OK, that's relatively easy to say since there aren't a whole lot of them. So why did I give Chandu Thota's book five stars?
   
   Because of both what is included and what isn't:
   
   - Breadth of coverage. The author manages to cover every single Microsoft mapping technology (of interest to the programmer), including the CD-based MapPoint 2004, the Location Server, the Web Service, and the new Virtual Earth control, and do so well.
   
   - Concise code snippets. They are plentiful, well explained, and never longer than a page or so. All of those I tried _did_ work.
   
   - No marketing fluff. Although Chandu Thota works for Microsoft, we don't see any of the "product brochure" type of language that maybe convinces execs but fails to impress developers.
   
   - Focus. The author assumes that we can program, know C#, and have at least a basic grasp of maps and such things as lat/lon, and spares us lengthy introductions on these subjects.



5. Do you want to develop a location-based application? If you do, then this book is for you! Author Chandu Thota, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that provides an integrated set of products, servers, and services that helps enterprises improve their customers' experience by applying mapping and location.
   
   Thota, begins by introducing the MapPoint suite of products and technologies, setting the stage by discussing the basics of each technology and usage scenarios. Then, the author covers programming with the MapPoint 2004 ActiveX control and MapPoint 2004 object model for rendering maps, finding places and addresses, and calculating routes. Next, he covers dealing with business data, rendering data maps, and adding thematic shapes using geographic data. The author then covers integration with GPS for obtaining real-time location and extending MapPoint capabilities by writing add-ins. He continues by introducing the basics of programming with MapPoint Web Service. Then, the author shows you how to create applications using the Find APIs of the MapPoint Web Service, including techniques for finding places, addresses, and nearby points of interest. Next, he covers programming with the Route APIs, such as calculating routes and getting driving directions. The author then covers programming with the Render APIs available with MapPoint Web Service, including rendering maps, routes, LineDrive maps, and polygons. He continues by covering the basics of programming with Microsoft Location Server and deployment scenarios. Finally, he covers programming with the Location Server Web Service to get real-time location using mobile phones.
   
   This most excellent book provides a jump-start for working with the preceding technologies, with in-depth discussions about the core concepts and sample code provided in C#. More importantly, this book covers the most common application development scenarios with the MapPoint platform.

5 comments about Definitive Guide to Excel VBA, Second Edition.

1. This is a great book for the intermediate to advanced Excel VBA user. It covers many fine details missed by other Excel VBA texts. This does NOT make this text better than others that focus on basic skills for VBA Application programming. Beginners may get lost in the depth of the details but experienced users will be very happy with the depth of knowledge that makes the difference between a good application and a great application. Buy this book after you master the fundamentals. Highly recommended.



2. This is an excellent guide to Excel VBA. I have programmed in VB for 12+ years, but have barely dabbled in VBA. I needed to develop some tools for Excel using VBA. I asked expert friends on Experts-Exchange (www.experts-exchange.com) and Open IT (pub21.ezboard.com/bopenitforum) and they gave me three highly recommended books. I look on Amazon and came up with about five to consider, include those three previously recommended. I looked at copies of those and others and chose this book as the one most likely to fit my needs. So far, I am not disappointed.



3. If you only plan to buy one book on Excel VBA (and trust me, one may be enough for most people!), then this is it. Mr. Kofler gives a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter that is structured in a logical and progressive manner. New, intermediate, and even advanced programmers are sure to find nuggets of valuable information in these 900+ pages.
   
   Several chapters are directly related to database applications within Excel which is a strong plus for me. I haven't found another book that covers Excel databases so it was a welcome addition.



4. I like to break programming into two different categories: scripting and application development.
   
   These categories have little to do with the programming language, and more to do with the intent and style. "Scripts" generally aren't very robust: they have minimal error handling, they don't cleanly fail when unexpected data is encountered, etc. "Applications" are supposed to be more robust.
   
   All of the VBA programs (and programming books) I've seen are mostly focused on getting the programmer from Point A to Point B without regard to any problems that may be created along the way.
   
   This book goes into great detail about how to automate Excel, but it does not teach you how to make an Excel "Application," nor does it provide the necessary deep details about how VBA behaves for a programmer to be able to figure it out without turning to other references, and mostly experimentation.
   
   In short, this book teaches you how to effectively create reams of unmaintainable spaghetti code.



5. This book was originally published in Germany. Kudos to Apress for picking it up and translating it. The translation is the reason many have called this book cryptic. But make no mistake, this is a fantastic book that covers many things that others do not. This is a great addition to any Excel library.

4 comments about Enterprise Application Development with Visual C++ 2005 (Programming Series).

1. For programming enterprise level applications the Microsoft .NET framework has grown to some 30% marketshare (J2EE has about 40%). While originally .NET was developed to compete with the Java Runtime libraries as part of the breakup of Microsoft that was ordered by Judge Jackson, it has become a major thrust within Microsoft to help maintain their dominant position in the marketplace.
   
   For developing applications Microsoft has developed the Visual Studio integrated development environment which supports the programming of applications in four languages: Visual Basic, C#, J# and of course C++. While Microsoft would prefer that you use their propriatary languages they still support C++ which is arguably somewhat more powerful than the other languages.
   
   This book is a complete and detailed text on programming in C++ using Visual Studio 2005. It is highly oriented to the .NET Framework 2.0. The book is more in reference format than tutorial which makes it easier to find what you are lookin for when you go back to confirm what you've read. It is intended for both experienced and novice C++ programmers, but I don't think that it is suitable for the total beginner to programming. Some work beforehand on a beginning C++ book would be desirable, a lot of the minor details like language structure are not explained at the absolute beginner level.



2. Max Fomitchev's Enterprise Application Development With Visual C++ 2005 comes from a Moscow Ph.D. and covers the best practices for coding and C++ development. Plenty of practical real-life examples pepper instruction on how to use compilers, enhance and change database applications, and more. The fundamentals of successful coding and application development practices are imparted along with coverage of the latest Visual C++ 2005 features, making this a top reference for applications developers.



3. I bought this book because I'm a long-time C++ developer (mostly Gnu) and wanted to come up to speed fast on VC++ 2005. This book was good for that, although I'd not recommend it as a way to learn C++ from the ground up.
   
   The book has two rough edges: (a) occasional proofreading mistakes (sometimes amounting to fairly serious errors of fact, more often just typos), and (b) continuous "moose and squirrel" grammar that omits definite article. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_(grammar) ) With those caveats, I'd recommend it for the same purpose I used it.



4. I cannot find this book useful. It's a heap of shallow text, harmful for beginners and unuseful for any other. It lacks of substance and it's full of errors and imperfections. Who want it?!

5 comments about Word 2000 Developer's Handbook.

1. I bought this book because I needed to learn VBA for my job. The author does an excellent job explaining things and doesn't wander off into theory like many other books do. There are plenty of examples to learn from and after about three days of reading I had enough of an understanding of VBA to begin using the book as a reference to look up things I wanted to do. I saw another review state this book was her bible, I have to agree because this book stays by my side and has helped me learn what I needed to. If you need to learn VBA quickly and you don't have a background in programming buy this book!



2. I'm a (relatively) beginner in VBA and I like learning by examples. Guy Hart-Davis promises dirty hands early in the book, but reading close to 200 pages before staring with codes is not my game. For me this book has too much theory. But for students or others that already has been working with VBA it's probably a great book. I will probably pick this book up later.



3. I bought this book after doing some serious VBA programming for Excel and having been in and out of software development for many years. It's tough to write a book for all users, novice and experienced. This book falls in between those two extremes.

   If you've never done any programming, you'll likely be frustrated by the slow start into actual programming. Some readers will need a "Hello world" routine up front. On the other hand, if you're an experienced programmer, you'll find that 60 to 70 percent of the book is way below your level and needs. But wait a minute, we're talking about a 1200+ page book! If just 10 percent is on target for you and you can find what you need, it's a steal.

   The content of the book is far, far, far beyond what Microsoft provides with built-in menus and help. Anyone who claims otherwise simply hasn't done any serious VBA programming. A large percentage of the commands and structures covered here absolutely cannot be generated by automated recording. For example, I wrote a code that scans a document, finds all the acronyms, determines whether the acronym definitions are provided, and builds and/or updates an acronym table at the end. It flags all undefined acronyms and it color-codes duplicate definitions and out-of-order definitions. It includes a toolbar for helping navigate the document. It also includes a capability for combining acronym tables from multiple sources. You have to really get immersed to code a task even as conceptually simple as this one, and this book is what you need to get through it.

   The most challenging thing about being productive with VBA is the horrendously large object model. Some of the best programmers I know -- and I'm talking guided-missile engineers and the like - have turned away from VBA because the object model required too much of a learning curve. This book does a good job of laying most of the object model out in logical order. (If you're unfamiliar with the term "object model," don't be intimidated - it's not that it's all that hard to master in small steps; it's just big; and you may be able to find what you want and apply it quickly.)

   The book isn't perfect: I've found two errors, but that's not bad, considering its size. Overall, it's very authoritative.

   While using this book, I occasionally needed to turn elsewhere for additional information. My favorite companion book is Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic for Applications 5, which has a strong orientation towards Excel. The bad news about both of these books is that they're getting old. I wouldn't yet call them "dated," but the authors/publishers will need to produce updated editions in the next few years. I, for one, really hope they do. That's the (selfish) reason for writing this review. I have to wonder, though, how many Word users will ever need a book this advanced.

   I'm giving the book five stars, because it is, by far, the best ever written on its subject. I wouldn't want to do without it.




4. I cannot give this book enough stars. It is really excellent for someone who is relatively new to programming (and or Word) but who is motivated to make VBA work for them in Word. The first time through the book (like all software books that I use) was an attempt to try to understand how VBA works and what it can do for you. I got lost in his explanations many times and my first impression was like the reviewer above (Ovma) who gave it only 3 stars. I could understand what the Author was saying, all of the paragraphs were easy to understand but I often got lost in the differences between "strings", "Variables" "Variants" "Objects", "Methods", "Arguments" "Constants" and the different types of variables. Guy Hart-Davis seemed to explain each term quickly and then assume the reader now understood each term as he moved on and referred back to the term. It wasn't until I started back through the book the second time that I realized that because the subject is so large, he often didn't address these terms in enough detail until later chapters where he explained them in more detail.
   
   The second complaint I had (and the negative reviewer above had) was that the Author seemed to use very few examples of macros, often only having one example per chapter. Often he would explain one element of a process or command and then show a table and say: "Here are the other 500 commands that go with this one process" I thought that this would not be enough to address the millions of commands each function in VBA used. I did notice, however, that the examples he did present in the book were types of macros that I would find extremely useful. This book is already 1200 pages and I understood his need to be brief. The trick to learning VBA for Word was not to read the examples in the book presented, but to actually type them and run them. (Math is like that too. You can't watch the teacher work a problem on the board and expect to understand it. You HAVE to work the problems!) After I did that, I realized the examples were sufficient for me to master the process and make it work for me under any particular circumstance that I needed. As it turned out, the seemingly scarcity of macro examples that I thought existed was a strength. Just about any macro a reader might need could be subsequently created merely by using Word's macro recorder and adapting the commands proferred in the example.
   
   This book did not have a CD. The codes in the examples were not available on the Author's web site. As it turned out, I did not miss any provided code in the slightest. The examples were just plain too easy to duplicate just by typing and recording and, really, learning to become proficient at recording macros was a skill that a reader/student MUST master right off the bat if they have any expectation of becoming skilled.
   
   This book is for Word 2000 but I have Office 2007 and the interface is different. Many times I had to use help in 2007 to see the differences with Word 2000 but I was able to overcome the confusion and this book is not outdated in that respect.
   
   About the last 1/3rd of this book covers things that are way too advanced for me. That part is still useful because occasionally you need something obscure for code and you can find it there.
   
   This book is written for "WORD". Largely, variables that involve integers or decimals or functions that involve complex logical code are not addressed here as it would be in a book about Excel. The idea behind VBA for word is to create input boxes or autotext type macros that make typing automatic and easy. This book will allow you to master it and it makes the subject about as easy as it could be made. It takes an extremely large confusing topic and makes it (relatively) easy for someone new both to Word (as I am) or to programming.
   
   After I had read this book but before I had worked through any of the example macros, I decided to order "VBA Developer's Handbook, 2nd Addition" by Ken Getz and Mike Gilbert. That book claimed to have a disk with Reusable Code for "more than 300 Programming Goals" There wasn't a single usable line of code in that entire book. It covered the most obscure and worthless processes I could possibly imagine. While I'm not fond of bashing someone's 1000 page work product, I have to say, that after trying to skim that book, I realized just what an excellent book "Word 2000 Developer's Handbook" was. After that, I was more inclined to look at the text harder and realized all of the things that I thought were lacking in the text were actually there for me to master with just a slower and more detailed effort.
   
   It took me several full days reading the book and playing with macros to get the hang of VBA as it was intended to be used. I did already have some experience with WordPerfect for DOS macro language and I already knew what IF statements and GOTO statements were and how to manipulate the 50 commands that came with that crude code to make elegant and complex autotext type macros and documents. (Before that, in the late 70's I had used Fortran in College with card readers. You talk about useless!) I still think that anyone without that type of programming experience, someone with no experience can get the hang of VBA for word with this book. In fact, this book is probably the easiest way (if not most novices only option) to get the hang of it. Probably the hardest thing about it is that the subject is so dull. You really have to have a need for it. It is much more interesting when you do and that is what would give someone who has never had any experience at all with computer code the motivation to get through the text.



5. This book is listed on Amazon twice! Once as "Handbook" and once as "Paperback". I have bothered to duplicate my post on both listings because I thought the book was so good.
   
   I cannot give this book enough stars. It is really excellent for someone who is relatively new to programming (and or Word) but who is motivated to make VBA work for them in Word. The first time through the book (like all software books that I use) was an attempt to try to understand how VBA works and what it can do for you. I got lost in his explanations many times and my first impression was like the reviewer above (Ovma) who gave it only 3 stars. I could understand what the Author was saying, all of the paragraphs were easy to understand but I often got lost in the differences between "strings", "Variables" "Variants" "Objects", "Methods", "Arguments" "Constants" and the different types of variables. Guy Hart-Davis seemed to explain each term quickly and then assume the reader now understood each term as he moved on and referred back to the term. It wasn't until I started back through the book the second time that I realized that because the subject is so large, he often didn't address these terms in enough detail until later chapters where he explained them in more detail.
   
   The second complaint I had (and the negative reviewer above had) was that the Author seemed to use very few examples of macros, often only having one example per chapter. Often he would explain one element of a process or command and then show a table and say: "Here are the other 500 commands that go with this one process" I thought that this would not be enough to address the millions of commands each function in VBA used. I did notice, however, that the examples he did present in the book were types of macros that I would find extremely useful. This book is already 1200 pages and I understood his need to be brief. The trick to learning VBA for Word was not to read the examples in the book presented, but to actually type them and run them. (Math is like that too. You can't watch the teacher work a problem on the board and expect to understand it. You HAVE to work the problems!) After I did that, I realized the examples were sufficient for me to master the process and make it work for me under any particular circumstance that I needed. As it turned out, the seemingly scarcity of macro examples that I thought existed was a strength. Just about any macro a reader might need could be subsequently created merely by using Word's macro recorder and adapting the commands proferred in the example.
   
   This book did not have a CD. The codes in the examples were not available on the Author's web site. As it turned out, I did not miss any provided code in the slightest. The examples were just plain too easy to duplicate just by typing and recording and, really, learning to become proficient at recording macros was a skill that a reader/student MUST master right off the bat if they have any expectation of becoming skilled.
   
   This book is for Word 2000 but I have Office 2007 and the interface is different. Many times I had to use help in 2007 to see the differences with Word 2000 but I was able to overcome the confusion and this book is not outdated in that respect.
   
   About the last 1/3rd of this book covers things that are way too advanced for me. That part is still useful because occasionally you need something obscure for code and you can find it there.
   
   This book is written for "WORD". Largely, variables that involve integers or decimals or functions that involve complex logical code are not addressed here as it would be in a book about Excel. The idea behind VBA for word is to create input boxes or autotext type macros that make typing automatic and easy. This book will allow you to master it and it makes the subject about as easy as it could be made. It takes an extremely large confusing topic and makes it (relatively) easy for someone new both to Word (as I am) or to programming.
   
   After I had read this book but before I had worked through any of the example macros, I decided to order "VBA Developer's Handbook, 2nd Addition" by Ken Getz and Mike Gilbert. That book claimed to have a disk with Reusable Code for "more than 300 Programming Goals" There wasn't a single usable line of code in that entire book. It covered the most obscure and worthless processes I could possibly imagine. While I'm not fond of bashing someone's 1000 page work product, I have to say, that after trying to skim that book, I realized just what an excellent book "Word 2000 Developer's Handbook" was. After that, I was more inclined to look at the text harder and realized all of the things that I thought were lacking in the text were actually there for me to master with just a slower and more detailed effort.
   
   It took me several full days reading the book and playing with macros to get the hang of VBA as it was intended to be used. I did already have some experience with WordPerfect for DOS macro language and I already knew what IF statements and GOTO statements were and how to manipulate the 50 commands that came with that crude code to make elegant and complex autotext type macros and documents. (Before that, in the late 70's I had used Fortran in College with card readers. You talk about useless!) I still think that anyone without that type of programming experience, someone with no experience can get the hang of VBA for word with this book. In fact, this book is probably the easiest way (if not most novices only option) to get the hang of it. Probably the hardest thing about it is that the subject is so dull. You really have to have a need for it. It is much more interesting when you do and that is what would give someone who has never had any experience at all with computer code the motivation to get through the text.

5 comments about Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas.

1. This is the best book I have ever read on how to assist people to learn for themselves. Papert began his work by collaborating with Jean Piaget, and then applied those perspectives in a self-programming language designed to help children learn math and physics.

   Papert explains Piaget's work and provides case studies of how the programming language, LOGO, can help. He provides a wonderful contrasting explanation of the weaknesses of how math and physics are usually taught in schools.

   I learned quite a few things from this that I did not know before. People are very good at developing theories about why things work the way they do. I knew that these theories are almost always wrong. What I did not realize is that if you give the person a way to test their theory, the person will keep devising new theories until they hit on one that works. What is usually missing in education is the means to allow that testing to occur.

   An especially imaginative part of this book were the discussions of how to create theory testing solutions that are much simpler and easier to apply than any school problem you ever saw in these subjects. Papert works from a very fundamental and deep understanding of math and physics to reach the heart of the most useful thought processes for applying these subjects. It is thrilling to read about what you have known for many years, and to suddenly see it in a totally different and improved perspective.

   Another benefit I got from this book were plenty of ideas for how to help my teenage daughter with her math. She is very verbal, and Papert points out that math seldom teaches a vocabulary for talking about math. As a result, she memorizes a lot and gets dissociated from the subject. I got a lot of ideas for how to encourage her to personalize the concepts and problems by moving her own body. From that I realized that I often solve the same kinds of problems by recalling physical situations I have been in. But I have failed to help her make that connection because I was unaware of it on a conscious level.

   If you want to improve as a learner, help others learn better and faster, or simply want to understand more about different ways to think, this is a great book. I hope that all teachers get a chance to read and apply it.

   Enjoy learning more!




2. This book provides an introduction to Papert's thinking concerning the learning and teaching of math. Prior to developing the LOGO language described in this book, Papert worked closely with Piaget in Switzerland for 5 years. While in Switzerland, Papert observed many of Piaget's experiments with children and the development of their understanding of mathematical concepts. Following Piaget, Papert believed that the math learning that the child comes to know best and that stays with the child always comes from experience and cognition, not from explicit teaching or rote practice. He noted, however, that there were certain mathematical concepts that children should come to know, but that they wouldn't ordinarily learn from experience alone because they might not come across these ideas in ordinary life. This is why he invented the programming language LOGO--a toy that children could play with, experiment with, manipulate, and through doing so, gradually come to call their own the mathematical concepts needed for their games.
   
   To make LOGO attractive to kids, he included a "turtle" as the central figure of the language. The turtle carried a pen that could be used to trace the turtle's movement through the play area or on a computer screen. The challenge was for kids to write programs in LOGO that would instruct the turtle how to move and when to use the pen so that it would draw shapes in the forms that they wanted. When the turtle didn't make the shapes they wanted, they were instructed to "be the turtle," in order to understand the turtle's perspective, and to figure out how they needed to adjust their programs. According to Papert, even kids who showed no interest in math in the regular classroom began showing dramatic improvements in their math skills when given a chance to play with the turtle. Unfortunately, when turtle math was first introduced, many teachers tried teaching a turtle math class the same way they taught regular math class, with lectures and assignments. In doing so, they lost the playful aspects of the program, and kids didn't relate to it as well as they might have if the teachers had followed Papert's guidelines.
   
   When turtle math was first invented, Papert's team created a small robot turtle that kids could play with and program. In the years that followed, the programmable turtle eventually developed into the Lego Mindstorms programmable brick, which doesn't quite sound as cute and fuzzy, but actually allows even more creative play than the turtle, since kids can choose what kinds of forms the robot should take. One of the more fascinating aspects of this book is the historical documentation it provides of Papert's thinking at the time, and his reasoning behind LOGO and turtle math. When an idea for a revolution in teaching methodology goes from just an idea, to a system that is being used for teaching engineering and science in classrooms around that world, and is even being sold successfully in regular commercial channels as a toy, it's worth getting to know better, as can be done through reading this book. Teachers in classrooms using Lego or other robots could benefit greatly from reading this classic book detailing the early history behind programmable robots and the way Papert envisioned them being used for learning.



3. This is a book that anyone interested in present-day education of children everywhere should find time to read. For a few weeks, in the summer of 2001, I introduced teenagers in the W. E. B. DuBois Scholars' Program, held on the campus of Princeton University, to the Logo computer programming language invented by the author of this book, MIT professor, Seymour Papert. A leader in the DuBois program sought me out to congratulate me and quoted the students as having repeated over and over that they were ecstatic about what they were learning in my class and that it alone was worth their live-in participation. Indeed, I saw the glow in their eyes and a strong desire to be explorers with Turtle Graphics. Ditto for when I joined fellow volunteers from the MIT Alumni Club of New York City to employ Lego to guide the learning of robotics at Hunter College Elementary School for gifted students in upper Manhattan.
   
   There is something engaging about the constructivist learning philosophy advocated in Professor Papert's books, beginning with the first edition of this book, [1980]. The open secret was that these students directed their collaboration with the computer in their own journey to discover knowledge and this book explains the confluence of ideas from science, mathematics and modeling that brings about this immersion. When a child can learn, in one week, how recursion works in mathematics, a topic normally taught in graduate courses in computer science, someone has donated a gift!
   
   The challenge to teachers looking for traditional instructions for students in this setting is that this approach is relatively rule-agnostic and that makes some people feel uncomfortable. There is a chapter titled "Instructionism versus Constructionism" in a book, The Children's Machine, Papert's follow-up progress report on learning, after more than three million computers had been employed in American elementary schools, thirteen years after the ideas in Mindstorms were first published. For more adventurous K-12 students, opportunities to use legions of turtles, acting simultaneously, to model and simulate complex, dynamic systems like traffic jams are provided within a related language, StarLogo, and the results are startling and sometimes paradoxical.
   
   At the risk of being immodest, I volunteer that one of my sons started his education in an atmosphere implementing Papert's ideas -- MIT's Tech Child Care Center -- in 1977 and went on to graduate from Stanford University in 1996. This environment galvanizes and sustains the curiosity, creativity and imagination of children - preach it to all who would listen!



4. Mindstorms is not just about the programming language called Logo. It is about Turtle Graphics and it's application to education. The author explains Turtle Graphics which is combination of programming and geometry. He then puts Turtle Graphics to use explaining how to do draw complicated shapes with it. Finally the author explains the theory behind his insights which is built on the contributions of Piaget a important researcher into the way children understand the world. I greatly enjoyed this book. Papert explains how to combine the process of programming with the process of learning. He shows how to make what is cerebral into a concrete process that children can understand.



5. This truth about how to learn still stands, while so many notions have drifted away and died. As someone who adores children and has mentored many, I've observed again and again the demonstration of Papert's points. And because he's such an odd duck -- having expertise in both technology and learning/development -- the book can offer practical examples of how this understanding can be actually applied. I'm so grateful that people are still seeing the value of this landmark book.