No comments about Accelerated VB 2005 (Accelerated).

3 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic .NET Web Programming in 21 Days (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. This book really has it all in a nutshell...excellent dataset and ADO .NET content, session vars etc etc you name it, it generally covers it. It doesnt go into everything as deep as you would like, so its not gong to be the only book you buy, but for starting off it's an excellent launching point into VB .NET that I would thoroughly recommend.
   One note..this book doesnt really cover VB .NET syntax, ie for loops, OO concepts and the like. It does however conatin alot of information about creating web based VB .NET apps, just as the title implies.



2. This book tries to please both the beginner and the experienced programmer coming from VB6, however it does a below average task of both.

   The task of explaining .NET and how to fully utilize VB .NET is not a task for one book, and this book does not claim to do this, instead it jumps back and forth between subjects and forgets some very important topics that are not even mentioned?

   I must say I'm sorry I bought this books, and I have bought SAMS books before that are of much higher quality! This is nothing that will discourage me from buying SAMS other titles, but I would look elsewhere for a VB.NET introduction.




3. If you are new to VB.NET web programming and want to learn it, look somewhere else. The book gives more of an overview of the .NET framework and less actual VB.NET web programming.

   Part of Page 11 Paragraph 1 of the book states it best:

   "At least 90% of the material you need to learn is related to the .NET Framework, not to Visual Basic. We therefore don't try to teach Visual Basic, but assume you have at least a fundamental knowledge of the language."

3 comments about Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET w/accompanying CD-ROM.

1. With so much misinformation and speculation about migrating apps to vb.net, I decided to go straight to the horse's mouth for the word.
   This book does the job. It demystifies the migration story. It shows how to migrate apps to vb.net, and has complete reference material about potential problems and how to fix them. It contained less hype and more fact than I have come to expect from Microsoft. I particularly liked the sections that list the differences between vb6 and vb.net. This is exactly the information that I was looking for and the only place that I have been able to find it. Other notable chapters cover COM Interop, migrating COM+ services and troubleshooting migration problems.
   With the help of this book, I have migrated several of my applications to vb.net, a much easier job than a lot of the reports and newsgroups have made it sound.

   Vb.net is NOT a whole new language for us developers to learn, I believe it adds a new dimension to the same language ensuring that we as Vb developers will still have a job in 10 years when java users are well and truly obsolete! I recommend this book to everybody moving apps from vb6 to vb.net.

   Bring on vb.net Microsoft, I'm ready!




2. When I first got this book, I did not think I would like it very much. After all, how much can one write on upgrading from Visual Basic to Visual Basic .NET?

   While I believe most people will rewrite rather than upgrade, having experienced the wizard's decisions, this book has a lot of good advice to both make this an easier task and to make the right decisions in your current code if you have ever thought of upgrading.

   While you expect this book to have a good deal on Interop, the gem here is the great explanation of remoting. While web services are the talk of the town, the ability to create server to server communication without creating another layer, is very important. For me, this section, alone, was worth the price of the ride.

   For most, the upgrade information will be the most important, which should come as no suprise. If you are currently writing Visual Basic 6, you can learn a lot about setting up your own code to make sure it does not become legacy code when you move to .NET. Even more important, however, is the fact that following these suggestions will help you create better apps, as the suggestions for your current code are good suggestions whether the code will be upgraded or not.

   One more nice gem before I sign off. The section on creating global components in .NET is wonderful. While most of your .NET apps are designed to sit in their own directories, knowing how to create shared components is very important for Enterprise development. If you are developing in .NET currently, this section details how to set up your own global components; this is an area where the documentation is a bit slim, so it makes a nice selling point for current .NET developers.




3. Upgrading to .net is a must have for any developer or company that is planning to use .net.
   I highly recommend this book to any developers or project managers who need to rapidly understand what's involved in upgrading to .net from VB. By purchasing this booking I upgraded a VB 5/6 to VB.Net and I'm about to deliver my first .net project on time and within budget.

   As with all VB releases I was both excited and daunted by the release of .net.
   Being a developer who has worked from basic to VB 6.0 I was suspicious of the learning curve involved and the bombardment of books about .net. In early February my manager informed me that a client of ours was insisting on moving their VB 6 app to use the .Net framework. Instantly before my eyes I saw late nights and busy weekends whilst adapting my VB knowledge to expand into the .Net framework.
   Like many developers before me, I smiled with confidence and told my project manager this upgrade could be done. As soon as his back was turned I searched the Internet and instantly got presented myriad of books about .Net.

   Scanning the list I saw a familiar name "Ed Robertson", I remember this guy from a developer day's conference. He was concise and accurate whilst presentation technical and conceptual information on how to upgrade from VB to .Net

   Needless to say I purchased the book and in 10 days it arrived. By resisting the temptation to start programming and actually reading the book first. I was very quickly able to upgrade one of the smaller Apps involved in system and then with planning
   I tackled with confidence the main application

   This book will teach you how to upgrade and more importantly what applications can be upgraded well providing you with an in depth view into the .net framework

   My recommendation is that anyone who going to use .Net should purchase this book.
   It will save you hours of programming and frustration as the authors drawing on there own wealth of .net experience cleverly guide you through the stormy waters of system upgrades.

5 comments about Programming Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Microsoft Programming).

1. Like most people, I appreciate humor. But when I'm pressed for time and need to learn the nuts and bolts of a programming language, I'd rather an author save his chuckles for his own time. Or her own time. Whatever. Dobson's book is right up my alley. It's serious, but not complicated. The pages are filled with good, technical information, supported by concise examples and efficient diagrams. No wasted space, no wasted words.In contrast, Karl Moore's book (VB .Net: The Tutorials), though quite informative, was annoying in its silliness. This tome served as a refreshing antidote. Of course reasonable people can disagree on the humor thing--the disagreeable can go to Moore's work. In this book, multiple topics are covered well: SQL programming, including the all-powerful stored procedure, Windows application programming, XML programming and ASP.Net programming. Dobson's treatment of SQL in concert with VB .Net should help anyone get up to speed writing DB applications in no time. It is a wonderful text that successfully paints with a broad and serious stroke.



2. Be warned that the "Programming Windows Solutions with ADO.Net" chapter (chapter 10) presents only toy applications.

   Developers looking for real-world solutions will need to look elsewhere..




3. Rick's book is the best one I read on VB.NET with SQL Server. The flow of the book is unbeatable. Every chapter is clearly written and well planned to backup the chapters that will follow it. Executing stored procedures from VB.NET is the best part of the book because when I ran the code it worked. Other books I bought (too many of them!!!) do not compare to this book.
   The other thing about the author is that he replied to my email about an issue not mentioned in the book as soon as he received it. I strongly recommend this book.



4. I have read this book about SQL2000 and VB.NET. (Spanish Version)
   I don't have words to say the wonderful that it's this book.
   It' s the best programming book that I have never read.
   Thank you to write it.
   I wait a new version soon.
   Best regards from Canary Island, Spain.



5. This book is a solid introduction to SQL Server 2000 & VB.NET. I found this book to be both informative and easy to understand. That is missing in numerous books I have bought and found difficult to read and understand. The one item I had some problem with, Rick Dobson pointed me to the correct page in the book and that solved the issue. Great work Rick.

5 comments about Programming ArcObjects with VBA: A Task-Oriented Approach.

1. It is a quick starter, it is a phenomenal reference book, and it gives you real examples with plain English explanations! Everything that you need in order to start tweaking your ArcGIS environment!



2. Good examples. I wish more depth of knowledge with more application oriented examples required.



3. The book is out of date, covering ArcObjects in ArcMap v 8.x.
   
   Even if it were current (up to ArcObjects 9.x), I did not find the book particularly useful or interesting, covering only the rudimentary basics of programming ArcObjects.
   
   Code is very poorly documented and explanations are thin.



4. First-off, there is a new edition of this book coming out. So, i won't judge this one on 'outdatedness.'
   
   This is a very good follow-up to the 'getting to know arcpbjects' book from esri (which are the only 2 guide books to arcobjects out there).
   
   It is fairly easy to read, and i like the code given in the text and on the cd, especially on the cd, because you can copy and paste it right into your ArcGIS.
   
   Overall a good instructional book on various arcobjects technics.



5. The Arcobjects model is so complex and puzzling that it is no wonder there are few authors that can spare time from actually trying to understanding it, to write a book as good as this one about it, hands down the best in this topic to date. Some criticize it is too basic, but its closest rival, Getting to Know ArcObjects (With CD-ROM) is far simpler. I actually was dissapointed with that one. With this I'm actually learning something. If someone thinks "Programming Arcobjects with VBA" is simple, then they should write a book themselves. We can only hope the incoming GIS Programming: Concepts and Applications is even more informative than this one.

5 comments about Microsoft Access: Visual Basic (Step By Step (Redmond, Wash.).).

1. I love this book. I learned more in 3 hours with this book than I did in a month of wading through various Access and VBA tomes. It is a perfect fit for the fairly technical Access user who is new to Visual Basic. Is your database dying under the weight of its macros? You need VBA and this is the book to teach it to you.



2. Mr. Callahan provides a well-organized, easy-to-follow tutorial on application development in Microsoft Access 95, emphasizing Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This book is an excellent introduction to Access programming. Hands-on training is provided on the accompanying diskette.



3. Great tutorial with specific examples that walk you though customizing Access DBs with a business purpose in mind. Really great book, I highly reccommend it to anyone who is planning to learn how to build customized access applications. Worth every cent you spent on it.



4. I have worked with Access97 for several years now, but the person designing the databases worked strictly in macros. I had read enough of the developer's books to realize that isn't the proper way to go, but those books were over my head since I had never had any programming experience. This book fit the bill because it assumed I knew nothing else. I think if I master this book and the Access Macro & VBA handbook by Susann Novalis that I will then be ready for the developer's books. Novalis described it as: intro books - walking; intro VBA programming - running; developer books - flying. I really want my databases to fly, but I have to learn to run first.



5. Best Access VBA book I have ever bought, and I have bought several.
   
   Callahan is a great author, knows his application, and is great at explaining something that looks complicated, making it very simple to start programming your access forms and objects, jumping right into the nitty gritty.
   
   Useful even if you use Access 2003. I have not bought Access Vista, but it's as good and still functional for Access 2003.

No comments about JavaScript: A Programmer's Companion from Basics through DHTML.

5 comments about Visual Basic.NET How to Program, Second Edition.

1. When I first got this book, I was impressed with all the code and the fancy layout. But around half-way through I realized the following:
   1. A lot of the output was in something like DOS-boxes! Can you believe that. With such a powerful system as VB.NET, they're outputing to DOS-boxes!
   2. The rest of the time output was to MessageBox.Show(), which is just a very simple standard IO dialog box. I finally got disgusted when the book got to geometric output and, instead of drawing circles, I was still just printing out the values of the radius and diameter in dialog boxes. I thought to myself "What the hell is the purpose of this? I'm not learning anything!"
   3. I took a cursory examination of subsequent chapters and throughout the whole book the authors use those stinking MessageBox.Show() functions.
   
   Now the book does cover a lot of territory, but I can't believe the authors couldn't do a better job. Keep searching-this book stinks.



2. I am still not very far into this but the instructions and examples are clear and easy to follow. It is a bit pricy but a great book for this subject.



3. Remember when you had to read classical literature, and it seemed like the author wouldn't change paragraphs for pages at a time, and it was hard to keep your place, pay attention, or care? Well, this book is exactly like that. It is chock full of "information", I'll give it that. Problem is, their examples DON'T WORK. I'm trying to do SQL database management using the code from the book for a template, and it doesn't function whatsoever. I've wasted hours because this book is worthless as a reference, even worse as a textbook.
   
   Also, if you're not a fan of heavy formatting, skip this book. There are more than one bold words per line. Just for kicks, I flipped to a random page (663) and counted 16 bold words in the second paragraph, which is only ten lines long. There's only one paragraph out of six that doesn't have any words bolded. It's almost like they couldn't decide which words were important, so they just went ahead and bolded/italicized everything that seemed even remotely important. This detracts from legibility and readability immensely, and is seriously infuriating when you're trying to scan for a particular keyword. Some people apparently like this style, but I think it's utterly painful to read, much less learn from.
   
   However, all that said, I would definately recommend this book to the following people: masochists, professors who hate their students, people who have never read a halfway decently written/formatted textbook in their lives, and people who like to flush money down the toilet. Also, if you enjoy going to the dentist, this book might be for you. I'm not just someone off the street, either. I've been programming since the days of QBasic, and have read dozens of books on the topic, and this is by far the worst. If I can repel just one person from buying it/choosing it for their class, the world will be a better place and I can die fulfilled.



4. 
   This book covers so much ground it is hard to find any criticism. I did read the other reviewers and found that what was disliked the most was the bold font and things of that nature. Hey, I like the style, but that's me. I think my only criticism is always their first chapter in which it describes "What is a computer". But despite that chuckle, the book rocks, bottom line.
   
   I am a professional software developer and I still read this book often. You can't go wrong with authors like David Sceppa (ADO.NET) or Francesco Balena (Visual Basic 2005: The Language) either, but never will you go wrong with Deitel.
   
   It is that good.........



5. I had to buy this book for a programming class in Visual Basic.Net. I've previsously had a course in Visual Basic and got an A so I am not new to programming. I say all that to say, this book falls far short of what I hoped I was getting for $100. I've typed in some of the example progams word for word and cannot get a simple program to work, generating random numbers, for example. I'm at the point now where I'll have to go shopping for another book in this subject, the Deitel book is nothing but frustration to me!

5 comments about Microsoft Access 2000/Visual Basic for Applications Fundamentals.

1. Before I started I knew some VBA and some Access. This book helped to me learn the things I needed to know. Well written, organized, accurate.

   It's NOT a good tutorial on either VBA or Access, tho.




2. This book helped me a lot. I was at the point where I knew the basics of Access, but nothing about writing code. This book is excellent for taking you by the hand and helping you to start learning VBA. Another feature I really like is that the examples are examples that you are likely to find useful for the application you are developing. So I was able to got a very practical use out of this book (the Access 97 version is very similar).
   On the negative side, sometimes the book gives poor explainations. For example, they never really explain why create variables, what's the advantage. There are several similar areas where the author simply never thought of explaining something that, to a beginner, is very confusing without an explaination.
   So, by itself, the book is very helpful but you need other books to fill in the gaps. However, as far as I've seen, it's the best book I've seen to get you started in VBA.



3. So you have created your Access database and have exhausted every wizard and control that you can use without actually coding. You still need a little something, but aren't sure how to get a little (or a lot) more out of Access - then this is the book for you.
   This book will ease you into writing come code while jumping right in with both feet. The examples are simple enough to understand, but you are given enough information to make them work for you. Many times when you are beginning, the example is exactly what you want to do, but you are not given enough information to insert it into your project and make it work - this is not the case here. I had this book (and its predicessor) open on my desk regularly during my first Access project and still crack it open for ideas and reference. (Sure I could look it up in an advanced book - but why?)
   If you can only buy one beginner book on VBA - this should be it.



4. I have many books on Visual Basic for Applications, none of them explain the concept like this one does. Mr. Evan Callahan breaks things down in laymans terms. I have learned and accomplished more using his book than any I own. I will not buy books written by other authors-Mr. Evan Callahan has all of my business from this day forward. Hat's off Mr. Callahan and am looking forward to a 2003 visual basic for applications.



5. I am not a programmer - not even close- but am responsible for developing complex Access & Excel applications. Most books are written as if the user understands programming concepts. This book did not. It explained EVERYTHING in detail. It was exactly what I needed. If you need a book that assumes you KNOW NOTHING - this is the book for you. I am so so so glad that I read user reviews. I am so happy, and excited about writing modules rather than avoiding it like the plague.

1 comments about Visual Basic and Visual Basic .NET for Scientists and Engineers.

1. This is an excellent text for the .Net users, very clear and very deep and the information presented is in a professional way.