5 comments about Visual Basic .NET Programming.

1. I bought Harold Davis's "Visual Basic 6: Visual QuickStart Guide" because I've always wanted to learn to program. And I did! Now that VB .NET is here, I've been at a loss as to how to proceed. Thank goodness, Mr. Davis has written a book about this latest (and greatest!) version of VB. This book has everything I've been needing to get going with tips on migrating my programs and what's new or just changed from the previous version. I really don't understand the one star review from "The Geek" down below. He's comparing this book which is for novices and intermediate programmers with books for experts. Sounds like apples and oranges to me. If you're looking for a great book to get you started with VB .NET, then buy this book!



2. This book is both a waste of time and a waste of money. Why?

   1. The book tries to be too many things to too many people, and fails miserably on all accounts. If you're new to programming, "nondeterministic finalizers" are introduced on page 6. If you're an experienced object-oriented programmer, OOP isn't introduced until Chapter 15. If you're a VB6 programmer, I couldn't find a clear attempt by the author to demonstrate the differences between 6 and .NET.

   2. In my understanding, the most important update to VB.NET is its uptake of object-oriented programming principles. The back cover of the book says that the author also wrote "Visual Basic 6 Visual Quickstart." I have not read that book, but would not be surprised if its contents were similar to this new book. The author has basically ignored all of the important updates to VB.NET, and has provided a tutorial for VB6. If you're a new programmer, this book will teach you the wrong things right from the start. If you're an experienced programmer, you'll be frustrated by the mickey-mouse approach which doesn't make use of your prior knowledge.

   3. Chapters 16-20 (the last 5 in the book), which "introduce" ADO.NET and working with XML, among other things, are pretty obvious page-fillers. If you're looking for pages 90% filled with screenshots, this is your place to find them. Appendices A - E are also page-fillers. Appendix A tells you how to use the VB Help System. If you need help using help, what are you doing programming?

   4. The author expressly states that his favorite update in VB.NET is the ability to use windows of any shape. That about sums this book up.

   Let me restate - this book misses just about every target audience I can think of.




3. First and foremost, let me say that this is a **GREAT** book! I don't know who that guy (or gal) is that blasted this book on November 24th, but I'd bet that s/he hasn't even read it and obviously doesn't understand the target audience--people like me who want to learn how to program using VB.Net. This book is one of the clearest books about VB.Net that I have found. I own 3 other VB.Net books and I wish I had found this one first.



4. I have been programming since IBM produced the 7090/7094, with the first symbolic assembler/compiler. I have not completely adapted to object oriented programming yet (but am commited to modular, well-documented code that avoids arbitrary assumptions that prevent smooth future growth).

   The first time I got one of Harold Davis' books, I was impressed: "Finally, a book for programmers that is really accessible!" I was tired of voluminous books of "how to"s that did not provide a good conceptual structure. (Some of us need that to help the memory, and sense of mastery.)

   He writes in an easy-to understand style in which the basic concepts are included along with the clear and straightforward "how to"s. It is clearly a book suitable for beginners and for experienced, moderately advanced, programmers at the same time. (Something I formerly did not believe was possible.) As one reads and occassionally rereads the material, it becomes evident that the content is really quite dense. One can read simply, follow the instructions - that are clear and easy to follow - and, if a deeper understanding is desired, then go back and re-read the material, more slowly. It is all there.

   In this latest book, he has brought this style to a very fine level. I was intending to "retire" with Visual Studio 6. After, reading the first few chapters of this book, I am eager to take his "journey" into VB .net.




5. I have finished reading this book for a long time, but I still use it with the task at my office. Now I design my database application using VB.NET as the interface. Whether this book guide in overall concept but the explaination style is very good and easy to uderstand. I recommend this book for the other people who want to learn VB.NET from the beginner should try to use this book.

5 comments about Expert Guide to Visual Basic 6 (Expert Guide).

1. I generally like Sybex's books, but this one kind of faked me out... flipping through it in the store I was intrigued by chapters like "Using Virtual Basic Functions" (was just instruction on how to use Date functions and the resource editor) and "Optimizing Visual Basic" (was just the usual things most programmers know, like doubles are slower than singles, longs are slower than ints, etc.)

   So this is not an expert book like "Hard Core Visual Basic" is. But it does document VB quite thoroughly, and if you don't have the hardcopy VB docs from Microsoft, it's not a bad what-it-does and how-to-use-it reference.




2. This is really one of the most horrible books, that I have ever read. Throw this book out event if you get it as a gift from your' boss ( If possible throw your Boss out too). The topics in this book dose't cover anything, you would probally be better off staring at the computer doing nothing. The sample code given in the book dosent work, this book is probally for a real 'Expert' who probally can figure out why the given sample programs dont' work. Moreover the authors style of coding is really horrible, there aren't any coding conventions followed. Not even a single topic is covered in detail. Please do your self an favour and buy any other book, except this on. If you sill have to buy this book, make sure that you read this book in a room that has many windows.



3. I have read a dozen VB books and this is one of the better ones. The author, Wayne Freeze, is obviously a seasoned programmer whose experience comes through in more ways than just the sample code he offers. The examples in this book reflect solid programming methods in a succinct fashion. It might seem that the book isn't that broad because the author usually leads directly to the best way of getting things done, rather than taking a length review of all ways to do something. The coding style and approaches he takes display a lot of wisdom. The book is excellent at providing a good foundation for VB programming and has one of the best no nonsense Inet and FTP summaries I've seen. It also has something uncommon... a summary of working with Windows animated agents. In spite of its lack of database programming, this is a valuable book that will benefit any newcomer to VB as well as those wanting to strengthen their existing VB skills. I give it a strong recommendation.



4. I'm pretty impressed with this book. I have several VB books on my shelf but this book has quite a few gems that are strangely missing from many others. The Status Bar, for example. This book explains how to provide feedback to your users through the status bar, while the topic is blatantly ignored in other VB books. It also has a great chapter on communicating with other programs. After reading this chapter, I successfully wrote an app that would launch Outlook and log me in automatically .

   You're not going to learn VB from this book. It does make the assumption that you are familiar with VB. Fortunately, it doesn't assume that the reader is a very advanced programmer - there isn't much in the way of object-oriented programming in this book. For that, I tip my hat to author Wayne Freeze. It's a great reference to pull off the shelf when you get stuck on doing some of the VB tricks that aren't documented well elsewhere.




5. Let's see ... this book was written 6 years ago and you are wondering why I'm bother to write. Well, I didn't planed to write until I went over to Peter Wright's Beginning VB6 object which was also came about the same time as this text and I saw people still writing reviews on it. So ...

   I've always enjoy reading VB6 expert guide, even when the codes didn't worked. The fix utility tool didn't really worked either (i.e., the treeview controls etc.) Then one day I found the correct codes in the site justplanes(?) and now I'm a happy man.

   The author didn't spoon fed you with every nuances of explanation behind the codes, rather, he presented the topics with the codes and you go explore further. This is exactly how I wanted it. There are lots and lots of ideas here and examples that works (finally). Once you master all these topics, you will be well on your way to become an expert.

No comments about GW-BASIC(r): Self-Teaching Guide.

5 comments about Special Edition Using Visual Basic 6.

1. I have used this book as an additional reference for the class that I took on Programing VB, as the original class book was very badly written. This book really starts from the beginning of what we need to know about the vb programing environment to some new aspects of programing used in VB. The book starts with smaller examples of how we can create a calculator, etc. There are many more as such examples in the book (more complex ones of course as we proceed to further chapters). Also each concept of the programing is clearly defined and explained. THere are really many concepts covered such as database programing, General common Pogram components such as Microsoft common controls, ActiveX Controls, Classes, Also there are some more intermediate advance topics such as accesing win. API, Using OLE, then there are also chapters covered on VB in the internet... I have found VB a very easy to use programing langauge after reading this book. It is very easy to read, with many visual representations which makes it much easier to understand.

   The index of the book is quite good, as we actually can find what we are looking for. It doesn't have very many advanced topics but I would recommend it for every beginner and intermediate user. I think it would be of great help.




2. I had been worked with VB a little before, then I got this book and it's....WOOOOAOAOAOAAAH! It gives a great base to the language, and something on its subset (VBScript/VBA/ASP).

   The book does get through a lot of things linked to the language, its components and things like that. However if someone wants to get 'professional' about a detail (eg: WinSock), one has to look elsewhere. This said, the background provided by this book makes understanding these 'extras' an easy thing.

   Having access to M$'s MSDN is an extra help (in this, and any M$ language/sytem), for refering to API's and 'hidden' details.




3. I had to buy this book for school. At the time I knew how to program a little already, and was quite disappointed by this book. For a programmer, the index is almost more important than the content. The index takes up about 4 pages. Also, this book is very heavy and bulky being packed with 860 or so thick weight pages. There are many better books to learn programming from. This was the worst programming book I've owned, and I've owned more than 50 or so.



4. thats all you will get from this book. I was forced to purchase this book for a programming class and found that this book by far, has to be the worst book ever! If you are looking for sample code, you wont find it here. The industry standard for programming books normally follows: 1) concept is introduced, then 2) the code is given to show the implementation of the concept.

   HOWEVER: this book will go into detail for about 3 or 4 paragraphs on a concept, then show you three lines of code. A similar scenario: Hey, let me describe my girlfriend to you - she is beautiful, long hair, etc, etc, then i draw a stick figure on a sheet of paper ... and you are supposed to completely understand how she looks and is as a person. Cant be done! (That was ME being SARCASTIC!) Just dont waste your time with this book. Period.




5. I am a very VB 6 programmer and this was my first book on VB.
   I have found the book extremely helpful as it is written in such a way that it completely fits the visual basic concept of abstraction. All unnecessary details are omitted with only relevant and most useful information summarized in each lesson. This is one of my favourite books as it provides guidelines for use of almost all important concepts for VB product development.

1 comments about Microsoft VBScript Professional Projects.

1. There just are not that many really good VBScript books out there. And there are even fewer well written VBScript books that target power users, system admins and advanced readers. Well, this book is one of them. It provides a quick review of VBScript (for those that need a primer or a quick overview) and then procedes to demonstrate how to use VBScript to tackle several different projects. This approach provides a great balance between theory and practical hands-on application.

No comments about Final Cut Pro 5.

5 comments about Visual Basic Developer's Guide to E-Commerce with ASP and SQL Server.

1. I agree with many reviewers of this book that there are simply too many errors. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the development of a website. The second part is devoted to the management of a website. It is in the second part of this book that one would find a majority of the errors.

   Most of the errors I found are simple typos, such as on page 413 the author forgot to close an input tag. There are some many of these types of errors that I grew accustomed to finding them whenever I tested the codes.

   Some errors I found are logical errors. They consumed a lot of my time whenever I tried to fix them. Take for example; on page 466 the author did not include codes to clear several option variables. Thus, each time a new loop was performed, the option variables still contained old values from the previous loop. This produced very unexpected results. Once I added my own codes to clear the option variables before a new loop, the problem was solved.

   It became clear to me that the author had not tested the codes because if he had, he would have discovered the same errors.

   Use this book as a learning tool. But proceed with caution as it is plagued with many errors.




2. Although title says developer's guide but it makes a reader from novice to developer. Before that e-commerce was complicated,difficult even reading other books makes you confuse more about the subject but after reading this whole concept becomes clear. In my opinion Only prerequisite for reading this book is some databases experiance, it will accelarate if reader have experiance in Access, Sql server. The 99 percent Use of stored procedure is one of the greatest thing by Noel. I have built my web site base on concept and examples given in this book. Though there might be some minor errors but I think they make you learn and eventualy they make you master the vb script, stored procedure and concept.
   I congrulate Noel and request him to upgrade this book to Asp.net and vb.net as well as other of his book named e-commerce developer's guide to building community tools.

   Thanks Noel




3. This book bring me from Intermediate level into advanced level.
   It shows you all real useful examples by utilizing ASP, VB, Db design, and Stored Procedures calls. It's kind of learning how real-world sophisticated shoppong sites(like amazon.com) are created. I am very happy with the book. If you want to become a professional web developer, or learn how to design a data-driven web site, the book is what you want.

   I recommend that the book is for Intermediate level who has some experiences in VB, SQL Server.




4. I think Noel did a good job writing this book. The code is well laid out. Code is reusable, and above all it doesnt tie you lot into registering DLLs. The only minus is for not having the full code on the CD which is mentioned in the book.
   Over all its a good reference for beginners to mid level programmers.



5. I just love this book. Few years back I got this book when I was working as FoxPro programmer creating only simple forms and saving data into FoxPro tables. Once I got this book, it changed my life, and I started moving away from windows application after four years of programming and started learning more about web.
   
   I created few e-commerce sites that year, and now I work as senior application developer for #1 web development company (Mercury Web Solutions) in Albany NY where I do mostly ASP.NET (C#) development and create Content Management System (CMS).

4 comments about Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS (O'Reilly Palm).

1. This book was VERY well written. Especially it gives great examples of building and debugging conduits. Unfortunately, it completely bypasses talking about how to build as installer for the conduit.

   I bought the book specifically to build conduits and this left me only 50% satisfied.




2. This book is directed at users of AppForge for VB6. AppForge is an excellent VB add-in that lets you quickly develop Palm apps in VB. You don't need a book to help you develop in App Forge.
   AppForge is very weak, however, in the Conduit and installer areas since it offers no help unless you buy the Professional version for [price] which includes the Universal Conduit. Again, if you've got that, you don't need this book to develop the conduit.
   Writing a Conduit on your own is tough and I was hoping this OReilly book would help. Sadly, all the relevant conduit info. from chapter 4 is available for free on the OReilly web site [URL]. Chapter 4 is poorly written and organized, has typos and errors and the sample code you download from the web site will not load or compile in VB6.
   I was hoping the book had much more than the sample chapter I saw on the web site. I was disappointed. If you're looking for help with Palm Conduit development in VB6, look elsehwere.



3. Collaboratively written by computer experts Matthew Holmes, Patrick Burton, and Roger Knoell, Programming Visual Basic for Palm OS is a solid and reliable programmer's guide to designing effective applications, transferring data to the PDA, building security through data encryption, and much more. Focusing especially on using AppForge to write programs, Visual Basic for Palm OS also covers SQL databases, Piedmont, and a great deal more. Step-by-step instructions, sample programs, excellent diagrams and comprehensible flowcharts make Programming Visual Basic for Palm OS a first-class reference and a highly recommended self-teaching tool.



4. Good book from two perspectives: if you use AppForge for Palm development then this is a complete (slightly dated) book, or if you use MS VB6 for conduits or Palm-flavored web applications with IIS. Almost everything in the book is backed up with running code.

   As an aside, I am not sure if the previous reviewer actually read the book or tried to run the code. There are very few typos in the chapter mentioned (which is online) and I didn't see any errors. For me, the code worked fine; the book specifically mentions VB6 and service pack 3.

2 comments about The Complete Visual Basic .Net Training Course (Complete Training Course Series).

1. This maybe the worst computer book ever written. The authors have a way of making even the simplest things complex. I surely can not recommend this book.

   Richard Bonn
   MCSE




2. This book is massive and the price tag is a bit heavy as well, but trust me, it is worth the price. I'm a VB6 developer trying to make the transition to VB.NET. I analyzed a number of different books, including those published by Microsoft Press, and ultimately decided on this one for its thoroughness. Overall, the book is very well written, organized quite logically, and doesn't miss any details. On top of that, the bonus CDs you get with this "complete course" over just the book alone are incredible! I found most of the audio commentary extremely dry, and didn't really add much to the printed material, but the extra exercises and having all the code and answers right inline with the text was amazing.

   The exercises at the end of each lesson are extremely challenging and really sound down the concepts into your mind. For example, on the chapter dealing with arrays, including sorting and searching, one of the exercises is to rewrite the QuickSort algorithm that Microsoft uses natively in the Array.Sort method. This exercise really impressed on me how to get the most out of recursive functions, and how to build efficient procedures.

   Currently, I'm only about 400 pages into this 1500+ book, but I'm eagerly looking forward to finishing it. To be honest, I think this book is better than taking an instructor-led course. I can't wait for Advance VB.NET to come out from Deitel so I can tackle that as well.

   Bottom line, buy this complete course. You won't regret it.

No comments about Quickbasic: Programming Techniques and Library Development.