No comments about Crisp: Easy English: Basic Grammar & Usage (Crisp Professional Series).

5 comments about Visual Basic 6 Black Book: The Only Book You'll Need on Visual Basic.

1. When buying this book I had assumed it to a pure form of Visual Basic, I have found other "Black Book" titles to be a great reference and also a great starting point. However this book, well how can I say, lacked a point. I found myself half way through the cut, copied, and edited version of msdn's reference manual, that Steven Holzner happened to call a "Black Book" around chapter 7 I found that he was just starting to mention a simple checkbox. I don't believe that anyone needs a book this dull or a book this slow. If your in the mood to search through endless pages in the form of any second rate edited extensive reference manual, then you can have fun blowing your pay check.



2. When buying this book I had assumed it to a pure form of Visual Basic, I have found other "Black Book" titles to be a great reference and also a great starting point. However this book, well how can I say, lacked a point. I found myself half way through the cut, copied, and edited version of msdn's reference manual, that Steven Holzner happened to call a "Black Book" around chapter 7 I found that he was just starting to mention a simple checkbox. I don't believe that anyone needs a book this dull or a book this slow. If your in the mood to search through endless pages in the form of any second rate edited extensive reference manual, then you can have fun blowing your pay check.



3. If you are new to VB6, don't let the size and wide coverage of topics scare you. Between this and google, you can tackle most problems and understand most VB6 code that you read. (Except maybe, very object oriented or API-laden code).
   
   If you are just learning, get this and read it cover to cover even if you don't understand everything. You'll remember that there was an example to do just want you wanted. His examples, while usually VERY simple, usually give you enough to get a good start.
   
   Mine is so worn out the pages are coming out. It is never more than an arms length from my desk.



4. This is a GREAT book that goes into detail on how to use all the major controls and components. It does NOT go into detail about the fundamentals of the language, like functions, routines etc. If you're brand new to the language, this book will show you everything you want to know about controls, but you won't be able to write a program with it. Excellent as a supplemental book.



5. Product was in perfect condition and service was great. I'll purchase again from this vender.

5 comments about Professional Visual Basic 6 Web Programming.

1. I have 4 years VB programming experience, but after read 7 chapters of this book, I'm still feel confusing. Everything are talked a little bit, but nothing is discussed in detail.
   Each chapter is not well connected, this not like a book but like a huge magazine with a bunch of articles -- too many authers can mess up a good name book. They seems never talk to each other before and after writing this book. for examble, in beginning of chapter 9, it says: "By now you have learned how Active Server Page (ASP) use components." -- False! I never learned, at least in this book!
   In chapter 6 -- DHTML Application. The example application is only working in VB IDE even after making the package. It's either the author's problem or Microsoft's problem.
   As a "Professional VB Web programming book", it neither explains how to deploy a Web application well in general, nor teach you programming in detail.
   This book turns me to read other ASP book.



2. I have 4 years VB programming experience, but after read 7 chapters of this book, I'm still feel confusing. Everything are talked a little bit, but nothing is discussed in detail.
   Each chapter is not well connected, this not like a book but like a huge magazine with a bunch of articles -- too many authers can mess up a good name book. They seems never talk to each other before and after writing this book. for examble, in beginning of chapter 9, it says: "By now you have learned how Active Server Page (ASP) use components. In the next two chapters, we will focus on ... (something base on use components)" -- False! I never learned, at least in this book!
   In chapter 6 -- DHTML Application. The example application is only working in VB IDE even after making the package. It's either the author's problem or Microsoft's problem.
   As a "Professional VB Web programming book", it neither explains how to deploy a Web application well in general, nor teach you programming in detail.
   This book turns me to other ASP books.



3. There seems to be a pattern with the books from Wrox. If there is more than one author on the cover, it usually stinks. This book is no exception. They try to cover too much, and end up leaving you mad because you actually spent money on something this bad. This book is nothing more than a door stop!



4. If you are just starting to use ASP and have access to a MS SQL server, then this is a good read. However, don't even consider it if you have any previous APS experience or don't have access to a SQL server. In fact, there is no mention of MS Access in the entire book! It is pratically usesless as a reference for ASP and just sits and gathers dust.



5. I rated this 5 stars because it has the most useful writeup on writing Server Components in VB for use with ASP - chapters 9-11. I wanted to do this and had trouble getting working samples and explanations. I feel that industrial strength ASP is very ugly and unweildy if you don't encapsulate the code into components. MSDN has lots of reference material about this but little, if any, useful "how to" stuff that i could find.

   This book showed me how to do exactly what i wanted to do.

   Other than that, it is a good introduction into a good number of web concepts, old and new. The first 3 chapters were a good overview of Microsoft web concepts and techniques. The writeup on web classes, if you like them, is good. I really liked the CGI case study including how to implement standard input/output via the win32 API.

   The relatively free use of various win32 API functions in VB help overcome a general fear of mixing VB and CC++ functionality.

   The book was a bit large but was well organized. In general it gave me a much higher opinion of Wrox books.

4 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Introduction to Programming.

1. this is one of the greatest books published for the VB newbie. it is not only informative but walks you through each lesson providing you with 1 or 2 example projects so that you quickly capture the point of each lesson. Read it now if you are intrested in learning Visual Basic!



2. You really must be having trouble getting your G.E.D to find this book helpful, everyone starts somewhere but Phillips starts in the gutter, try another book



3. This is quality stuff! After endless hours of reading my teachers useless notes that make no sense in logical english and don't work in the program anyways, i actually learned how to do something through the aid of this book. If this book is lame, my teacher is even worse. Count your blessings!



4. My son needed this book for school and we received in time for school. Great service!

2 comments about Mobile Application Development with SMS and the SIM Toolkit.

1. Because 3G is on the verge of being rolled out in the US by major carriers I purchased this book to explore how to best integrate the next generation cell phone with system management information for our data center. Although this book will work with GSM phones as well, our company is standardized on a carrier that will be making 3G available, so if you're using GSM my comments will also apply.

   This book will get you started in mobile development quickly if you're using or going to use the SmartTrust toolset, which I highly recommend. This book is about those tools, so if you are not going to use them don't get this book.

   The authors do not mess around. They introduce the basics, then very quickly jump into design, development and testing. If you're a developer you'll appreciate the lack of fluff and the fast pace. The book lives up to its title in all respects and is outstanding for anyone who needs realistic information about developing mobile applications using proven tools and techniques.




2. Very good introduction to SMS (Short Messaging Service) and its interaction with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) in mobile devices, as of c. 2001. If you know nothing of the field (as I didn't), you can get up to date in a good day's reading. In that regard it was exactly what I was looking for.
   
   Sure, lots of the technology has moved forward since this edition was published, but since the authors give plenty of well-organized references to the enormous body of standards covering mobile networks (not just GSM but 3G), SMS, SIM, etc. it should be easy to follow from where they left off to what's current using online resources. So I would not say this book is outdated, by any means.
   
   While it's great that actual code examples are provided, the code is all MS Windows-based. Even the examples using web interfaces use VBScript. So if you're not savvy on MS/Windows programming (from what I read on Linux forums, there are actually some people out there like that!), you might not find the examples too useful.
   
   A gripe about the book is the sloppy copy editing/proofreading. There are lots of typos and glitches - far more than a reputable publisher like McGraw-Hill should have let through.
   
   For example, there's a chart (p. 123) showing the hex file names on a UICC smart card. Some of them have don't care bits in the file names, and are correctly shown as "4FXX" but one is shown as "4FSS." If you were new to this type of notation, this kind of error might cause some confusion.
   
   And here's a real brain-twister, taken verbatim from p. 129: "No matter whose application it is, the subscriber can't figure out how to use it will call their network operator."
   
   Trying to decipher these oddities (I finally figured out the word "who" is missing between "subscriber" and "can't") can bog you down. If it were once or twice, it wouldn't be a big deal, but there are many of these throughout the text.
   
   So if you can breeze past those annoyances, this is a great survey book to bring you up to speed quickly.

5 comments about Jeffrey McManus' Database Access with Visual Basic 6 (Other Sams).

1. I often refer to this book when I need some assistance. It covers everything I need to know as far as what i'm doing, you couldnt ask for a better book, both as a learning tool and as a reference.



2. What a wonderful book! You can't seriously start writing professional VB application if you don't have this book. Any intermediate user should get it ASAP. Keep in mind, it's not for learning VB, you should first get an introductory book for that. However, I can't give it 5 stars. First, the book's first printing is from Jannuary 1999, it favors DAO a lot more than ADO (which is Microsoft's actual leading technology in data access) and he consistly uses ADO with ODBC (which is a good way to slow down a perfectly running application). Good overviews offered regarding SQL Server and Active Server Page, but just overviews. Get it, read it, use it. After that your application will be much better and you'll know in which field of databases you want to focus. If you want DAO then you are fine. For ADO, ASP or IIS you'll need something for more advanced users.



3. Even though this book is a little old, and still shows some already unused techniques and resources, as DAO, it brings a good starting for basical VB-60, and good ideas over database accessing, either local or remote. If you are thinking about starting, this book is fine. But, be sure, you will need other titles, when you intend to go deeper in the subject, or you need newer techniques, as ADO.



4. Jeffrey writes extremely well and the previous edition of this book was the definitive book on the subject. This wasn't quite as good and lacks a degree of detail that a professional developer could need if messing about with data access but don't let me sound as if I'm putting you off...its a must have on your book shelf compared to some of the junk written on this subject.

   He's also unique amongst authors in that he actually replies to E-mails you send him...




5. I worry that there may be multiple editions of this book; mine was published in 1999. ADO, the key database technology of VB6, isn't treated until Chapter 10, followed by a quick jump to IIS in Chapter 11. Had problems getting some of the examples to run; the website offered hasn't been up for quite a while. This isn't a bad VB6 database book, and in fact I'd recommend it for students developing their background in the historical development of Microsoft's Universal Database Access technology -- its presentation of the older technologies is great. This text won't, however, solve any problems you'll encounter trying to develop VB6 database applications.

5 comments about VBA for Modelers: Developing Decision Support Systems Using Microsoft® Excel.

1. The biggest problem that I see with learning VBA is not trying to figure out topics such as object hierarchy, syntax, or "if" statements (there are plenty of excellent VBA guides for that!) No, figuring out what to do with all of the "stuff" you just learned is the bigger challenge.
   
   That is where Mr. Albright's book really stands out. While the first few chapters do provide some basic treatment of VBA, it's the other half of this book that really shines! Here you will find 16 full-blown programs that cover everything from industrial applications (process blending, product mix, production scheduling, etc.) to financial analysis programs (stock trading, portfolio optimization, etc) and much more.
   
   In these 16 chapters is where you will learn to use all that "stuff." And not only use it, but get creative with it. Mr. Albright has done a brilliant job at not only walking through the code step-by-step, but also imparting to the reader the all important "why component." After spending some time with this book, you will undoubtedly be a better technical, and equally important, creative programmer.



2. I am a little surprised at the high rating that this book seems to get from the current 13 reviewers but, then again, these are probably memebers of the books target audience. When Albright refers to "modelers" in his title he is constraining the definition very tightly to those in the business world who develop models for "management science". This book has little to do with the more general concept of modelling as it might be found in the physical sciences, engingineering, the social sciences and anything else you can think of outside of management science.
   
   What is good about this book is that it provides a fairly basic introduction to VBA in the first part in a nicely laid out fashion. It then goes on to develop example code targeted very specifically at the management science student or professional. I think this is an admirable approach and this book is probably very useful to the "management scientist" who wishes to learn VBA as it is implemented in Microsoft Excel. It is also quite nicely written. I think that within its target market this is a book that could be recommended. However, if you are not into business modelling or don't make extensive use of the Solver Add-In that ships with Microsoft Office then this book is probably not for you.
   
   Again, I wish to emphasise that this book is very tightly focused on a particular type of VBA developer: i.e. the "management science" specialist who makes extensive use of spreadsheets. As I said, the introduction to VBA programming is well laid out but there are better texts and this one is really very basic (excuse the pun). The scope of the book is not broad so don't expect to learn a lot about much of VBA that does not fall within the fairly narrow constraints of business modelling.
   
   For a general introduction to VBA programming that is far more wide reaching than this book try one of the editions of Walkenbachs "Power Programming with VBA". If you are already competent in VBA or VB programming and want a good reference book on VBA with excellent examples and a very far reaching scope then there is nothing better than the Wrox books by Bullen et al: my "Excel 2002 VBA" serves as an irreplacable reference bible even after 4 years and an upgrade to Excel itself.
   
   I am not a "management science" professional. I have been developing a number of fairly extensive specialist VBA Add-Ins as a scientist/engineer for several years now and I can honestly say that this book taught me nothing new. I didn't actually find anything wrong in any of the text or code that I studied but from my point of view the code examples are highly repetetive and very simple (definitely aimed at the novice VBA programmer). Possibley a great book for management scientists wanting to learn VBA but others can find far better in terms of both introductory texts and advanced programming texts.
   
   For mangement scientists wanting to learn VBA I would give this five stars but for all other Excel users, or potential users, of VBA I can only give it one star.



3. This is not an advanced book. Most of the references are very generic in nature and utilize approaches that I've have used previously. I didnt get much out of this book.



4. In a class where learning VBA was a sink-or-swim endeavor, this book is a real life-saver.



5. I have an earlier edition of this book (when it was only 35 bucks.) And it tells you just what you need to know about modeling with VBA, concisely and with clarity. The author's OR model examples nicely demonstrate how functionality can be built into a closed form modeling application.
   
   Another reader lamented the lack of models applied to the physical sciences in the book. For those readers, don't worry about that. Anyone interested in modeling will be able to take the author's programmatic guidance and transparently apply it to models in their own domain.
   
   The one tutorial I missed not having in the first edition are examples of calling external analytic engines using the Windows API. A common model development practice is to use Excel as the model management interface for the end user, and have VBA call an optimization or simulation engine to do the actual hard work. If that material is in the current addition, that would be a real plus.
   
   But all in all - a great book I refer to time and again.

No comments about The Visual Basic.NET Coach.

5 comments about User Interfaces in VB .NET: Windows Forms and Custom Controls.

1. It is interesting to compare this book to the one by Petzold which I also regard as a "must buy" - but for different reasons. Macdonald's book is much more manageable than Petzold but still seemed to contain everything I wanted to know about Windows forms.

   Petzold on the other hand is roughly twice as long and thus far more complete. Petzold is also perhaps a slightly more interesting writer than MacDonald - but then I am not sure everybody needs the details provided by Petzold...

   In sum if you can afford only one book and need the definitive reference, get Petzold as it is *so* complete. However if you want a book you will turn to on a day to day basis and likey read from cover to cover get Macdonald.




2. This book is about the details of form building. It is not about the details of backending a form to a database or website. It has a very specific remit and if you are not an experienced VB.Net programmer you could be badly caught out here. This is not a book to cut your UI building teeth on. There are introductory texts to do that. It is also not a UI design book. So don't expect lashings of advice on usability theory, design and test. They are just not here.

   The focus on the book is on form controls creation and the various arcana in .Net that support them. Many interesting and useful topics are raised in the book (there is an overlap between some of these and the coverage in other books, e.g. MDi and GDI+). However, the extent to which they will generalise for the 'average' programmer is another question. I am not convinced that the book has sufficent novel content over an above other more general texts of the market.

   Unless you specifically need detail about form controls, form splitters, personalised system trays etc, this book may be overkill. A good deal of topics in the book is covered in Deitel and Deitel (and more besides),and Balena. So if you are learning VB.Net be careful in your choice.




3. I found this book to be excellent. It isn't 100% comprehensive, but it is full of real, practical code and suggestions for using controls. It's the only book I've found that dealt with the treeview, listview, and imagelist in enough detail. Particularly noteworthy are the descriptions on how to create custom controls based on these controls that have built-in application meaning. For example, the book explains how to create a treeview that has a hard-coded "structure" and exposes custom methods for adding/navigating your type of data. Similar advice is given with validation, drag-and-drop, form inheritance, MDI workspaces, and data binding strategies. Basically, the book is a solid guide to mastering .NET controls. Note that this book isn't the best place to learn GDI+. Although there are two excellent chapters on the subject and the basic charting control, both Apress and Wrox provide dedicated GDI+ books that focus more closely on custom drawing.

   Probably the best example in the book is the document-view architecture with the print preview--simple, elegant, and worth the trouble. Overall, high-content, well-written and genuinely **USEFUL**!




4. For someone who has already used other languages for GUI design, this is a great book to get quickly up to speed in the .Net view of Windows forms. It didn't cover everything in enough detail for me but good enough to get me started. I would of liked more on data grid (how about a whole book on it as it's complex enough) and context menus but I eventually figured it out on my own. I could go for an advanced version of this book too.



5. I'm a fairly new programmer in vb.net(finished vb.net II) and I found this book to be VERY good. Yes it is very theory intensive but the examples it gives are fairly straight forward and if you aren't the world's best programmer they show you how to make controls to make some really slick looking programs.

   There are a few .net 1.0 examples that will not work in the new 1.1 (notably the xp theme visualizations) but this book is well worth it if you are interested in making some "professional" looking forms for your application.

4 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Programmer's Guide (Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Reference Library).

1. VB5 is truly significant in that, for the first time, the deep and rich object-based roots of Windows 95 are exposed to Visual Basic programmers. No short course nor book can reveal this depth, and Microsoft's 900 pages afford little waste in covering the points. From their current version of object-oriented terminology ("OLE out, ActiveX in") to the subtleties of project management, this book maps out the full scope of VB5 with enough depth to assure that you won't miss out on any of the system's significant new capabilities. Beware: this book is for the seasoned programmer. Its programming examples are designed only to demonstrate specific points, and otherwise provide no tutorial for developing your own applications. The good news here is that this book is authoritative in showing you the Microsoft vision of how VB5 is ideally intended to be used. The only bad news is that VB5 is not ideal in all ways, and you shouldn't depend on this book to point out the pitfalls or workarounds.



2. Also it doesn't have many pages, but it does contain many useful concepts and information.



3. For a Microsoft manual, this book is extremely well-written. I think had the author penned this for any other publisher, it might well be a best seller.

   The book tackles the major new features of VB5 using some humorous examples in some caes to make its point.

   I teach VB for a living, and I think for the money it's a valuable resource. I recommend that my students read it within the first few weeks of class.




4. While this book is a fairly good reference, it certainly is dreadful as a programming guide. Little things annoy throughout, such as the author constantly mentioning new topics only to cop-out and say "see Chapter X for more details". Some sections have this at the end of every paragraph, which makes is read like 'stereo instructions'. Also, while most programming books are quite dry, this one takes the cake for most 'sleep inducing'- it is a stream of information with no mention of possible uses or implementation. As an ASP/VBS developer I thought it would be easy to move from VBS to VB, but not with this book. Avoid if you are new to visual basic!