No comments about Learning ASP.NET 3.5.

5 comments about Security for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET.

1. Security is becoming an essential topic and there is a lot of information available already, but up until now, no reference that brings it together for the VB programmer. I was after a book that gave me the basic knowledge for writing secure apps. This book is great.

   Ed Robinson and Mike Bond have previously written about VB migration. I often find that authors like the rest of us mortals grow in our jobs and this book is very well written. It starts out with the basics, and gets more advanced as the book goes on. I like the fact that the book has loads of example code which is designed to be cut-and-pasted into your applications.

   As a final note, I think this is definitely one of the best MSPress .NET books. Unlike the other security books, which seem to be rushed to be first to market, this books is well thought out, and created by people who know VB.NET as well as knowing about security. This brings security down to earth, and is more relevant to the VB programmer than anything else I've read on security. This book is worthy of five stars.




2. My only criticism of this book is that it wasn't released sooner. Security for VB.NET covers what should already have been part of the VS.NET help or MSDN online library. I *love* the chapters on role-based and code-access security, which actually explains how you would use this stuff in real life. But my favorite chapter is the one on locking down Windows, IIS and .NET - this is exactly what I was looking for, a simple, unambiguous checklist for how to secure the platform.



3. I was a little bit skeptical to buy this book since Amazon hasnýt put up a description yet, so I went to my local bookstore to check it out. I got to readin it and couldnýt put it down. I was never really sure if my VB code was secure or not.. Iýve read other books that are heavy on security options, but light on recommendations. This book gave me both the options and recommendations. It told me exactly what I needed to do to use encryption in my program. Something I was never able to figure out from the documentation. Plus it gave me plenty of other ideas on how to make my VB code better and more secure. Now I feel like Iým in control of my VB code again. It was well worth the trip!



4. When I first saw this book, I thought "How can they write a whole book on security?" So out of intellectual curiosity, I started flipping through the pages. It was like getting kicked in the stomach, not because it was wrong, but because it was right. It made me fundamentally re-think how I write my code and really shifted my whole mental image. Too many times developers think that if an app does what users want and runs fast and is reliable, that's all there is to it. Not anymore. The most killer app written wouldn't impress anyone if it got hacked and cost them a lot of money. There days, too many people are trying to hack your stuff, and having your app busted is no less 'bad' than having a logic flaw miscalculate tons of money. Moreoever, security breaches often make the headlines so it's a lose/lose for everyone if your security is breached.

   The good news... buy this book, follow their guidelines religously, keep up to date with security issues, and sleep easy at night.




5. I purchased the book in order to get some depth on the inner workings of code access security and version management as it pertains to strongly named assemblies. In neither case did the book offer anything more than a rehash of the documentation -- and not in a particularly well thought out or organized manor.

5 comments about MCAD/MCSD: Visual Basic .NET Windows and Web Applications Study Guide.

1. Used this book along with other materials to pass 70-305. This is an OK book, but it is not written at the beginner level. The reader needs to be fairly advanced to pick up the information the way it is presented. Read another book first to get the concepts and high-level picture of ASP.NET and then start reading this book to focus on the test.
   
   The sections in this book on the web.config file and debugging/tracing are well done as these topics are hit heavily in the test. The end of chapters review questions could be better, but they are decent.



2. This book manages to cover the main subject matter for both exams.... having passed both 70-306 and 70-305 in October 2004, I can personally vouch for the teaching style this book offers. Although I agree that the content is somewhat light for 70-305, I believe it is because there is significant overlap on certain topics for both exams (especially with ADO.NET concepts). If you are a strong .NET developer, you may get away with simply using this book as a means to prepare for the exams. For most of us, however, building a foundation in VB .NET/ASP .NET with 1-2 other books (particulary those offered by O'Reilly, WROX(Wiley) or APRESS) is the best way to go prior to picking up this book. Moving forward to 70-310, I can only hope the "Sybex" approach continues to prove effective.



3. Want to pass 70-305 first time around ? Use this book and the braindumps (www.braindumps.com) and you're there !
   Mind you I did find some errors in the book, but after contacting Brian Reisman I received help within days !
   I send my additional errata to Brian, to check and update the Sybex online Errata and later the next edition of the book.



4. This Book is good for people who already have quite a bit of experience and only need an overview of the material required to pass the exams. I read this book first, then went to the ExamCram book by Mike Gunderloy. The ExamCram book filled in all the gaps left by this book, giving an excellent treatment of ADO.Net. The authors of this book are good writers and I think their goal was not to get into a lot of detail, but just to give readers a starting point for further study. I do like the style of the book, it is very well laid out and the Practice tests that come with the book are very good, almost as good as Transcender. I did buy the transcender tests/ Transtrainer video and they were also very helpful in passing the 70-306 exam with a score of 800.



5. I passed both exams, 305/306. This book was especially valuable in how much of asp.net + vb.net is covered. However, the book is so riddled with painfully time-consuming errors, it may not be worth buying unless the authors actively do something about erratta (sp?). I would have passed my exam a full month in advance if the editor was doing any "editing" at all.
   The errors I found and their approximate "cost" of my time are below.
   P/Invoke ex, pg 243: alias should be "MessageBoxA" - 1hr
   Interfaces, pg 215: Did not mention you must save your project before implementing an interface - 2hr
   Class library pg 215: They didnt tell you to change your project type to class library, or else you cant register for COM Interop 3hr
   CreateObject() pg 222: Author says no equivalent to CreateObject(), In fact this function is still available in .Net 1.1, not only that ... GetObject() is also there! 0hr
   Cookies, book never explains more than one way to set a cookie 1hr
   Web.Config pg 589 Authors did not put double quotes around word true, [identity impersonate=true], name value pairs in web.config are case sensitive and values must always have double quotes, without knowing that, cost me 4hr
   assembly linker utility pg370 The /c switch is missing from call to al.exe, also the word Exercise is misspelled (Excsercise) 2hr
   HTML Controls pg 610 Visual Studio automatically generates declarations for controls that you place on a web form, the book leaves me in the dark about this 20min
   Dataset pg 145 The variable dsEmp has to be *public* scope, HTML can not see into the code behind without it! 2hr
   Resource file pg 685 Resource file name is wrong! 2day
   Anonymous pg 704 If you deny anonymous [deny users="?"] and enforce integrated authentication, no login dialog appears to access virtual directory. 1hr
   
   Other more minor errors ...
   pg 751 #5, fs.trace.close is incorrect 1hr
   pg 756 #3, btsDim should not be there
   pg xliii, pure typo, answer should be C (globalization and localization)
   pg131, sqlcommandbuilder not required for typed datasets
   pg 412, Not actually VB.Net code, this is C#
   
   I found roughly twice as many more errors, but I quit tallying because I was basically fed up.
   
   I passed Windows with score of 875, and Web with 905, thanks in large part to this book. Outside of the typos and errors that is, it was a big help. I also used practice exams from a friend. But, I didn't need them. This book has pretty good questions that very closely resemble what you will see on the real exam. However, many practice exam questions have the wrong answer, have duplicate answers, or simply have questions that are not complete. In the latter, you just guess something and look at the explanation.
   
   If I did not have my 5+ years of previous experience in VB 6, I imagine that I would have struggled a lot with this. Maybe I would have quit. I rated this book 5 stars only because I actually passed my exam. Otherwise, I gets a zero or whatever the equivalent is.
   
   Basic Summary:
   As someone previously mentioned, if you know some programming already, this book is Ok. But, beginners will have a really hard time because of the errors, but not because of the level of difficulty. If you can tolerate the errors, go for it.

5 comments about Computer Programming Fundamentals with Applications in Visual Basic(R) 6.0.

1. This is an unusual book. Clearly intended as a teaching aid, its approach is substantially different than most of the other well done VB books. The authors take a very methodical, step-by-step approach to VB and presume that you are a newcomer. But what they've actually done is to create one of the finest references for BASIC, Visual Basic and programming languages in general. Each element of VB is described in detail with excellent examples. From the IDE to building ActiveX controls. Unlike some VB books, this one doesn't intend to turn the neophyte into an "expert," but rather provides the core knowledge that every programmer should possess. I enjoyed it so much that I'm adding it to my VB collection, despite having a number of other volumes already. This one is just plan handy as a quick reference when I forget - as I suspect we all do from time to time - the basics of BASIC.

   Jerry




2. A+++..... A completely satisfactory book for the beginning programmer.



3. The worst VB tetxbook I've ever read. What a waste of time and money!



4. If you already know Visual Basic then you might find this book useful. If you are just learning then it is not the book for you. Most other VB books do a lot more explaining about the fundamentals than this one does. Some concepts are just presented with almost no explaination where other books I've read take about half of a chapter to this. I think the authors forgot that the simple things are not simple if you don't know them yet.



5. This book was so bad our professor dropped it mid-semester and used power point slides instead. It fails the most in its lack of examples. Some VB functions were completely left out. Example - How to create a Control Array. It is a total waste of money.

1 comments about Commodore 64: Programmer's Reference Guide.

1. Once you have exhausted the user guide for the C64, this is your next step. It will give you all the information you require to get started with machine code. It also explains how to make use of all the ports on the C64. It is possible to use ( or build) a serial interface to hook up to a regular PC. I found the information on the User Port particularly useful for home automation and robotics.

5 comments about Complete Idiot's Guide to Visual Basic 6 (The Complete Idiot's Guide).

1. This is a great book for beginners as well as programmers with some experience. The book is easy to understand, contains almost no typos and the code examples are very reliable in terms of not containing errors. More knowledgeable programmers can spice up the sample code with more functionality, and even beginners can too as they progress through out the book. Since the code examples are unrealistically easy, juicing up the code helps one mirror more real world situations to some extent. One small draw back, and an example of juicing up the code, is that the book does not cover the With/ End With construct, which comes in handy in many of the examples. After reading this book the programmer can move on to more advanced books. Happy Visual Basic 6 programming!



2. If you decided that just the sound of the word 'programming' sounds fun and you want to see what it's all about, or if you are just completely new to programming, this book may not be the right one.

   When I first read this book, I had no previous programming experience whatsoever. At first, the author amused me a bit and convinced me to read on and that it's a piece of cake.

   One problem with this book, although this is only an introduction, is that it does not provide any exercises to drill the basics into your head. It merely demonstrates the code with several examples, and after that the chapter is over. Even though some examples may be explicit, there is still not enough there to facilitate your remembering of previous chapters. I found myself constantly flipping back when I did not recognize certain code.

   The other major problem is that the examples that are provided are too complex. Even when he breaks the it down piece by piece, the concept of the code is still hard to grasp. I frequently struggled trying to understand what was happening in the code itself, even after it was explained.

   I strongly recommend beginners to purchase another book. After you have learned all the basics of the langauge, this book is very helpful for re-enforcing what you already know and finding more advanced ways to approach certain problems.




3. I was scared of .net,liked QBASIC and wanted to learn Visual Basic. I actually picked this book more because of the free software but found the concepts very clearly explained and with a detailed explanation of basics that would keep the beginner interested and induce thinking ahead of the pace of the book.



4. Please, if you want to learn Visual Basic, buy this with an advanced book. If you have little or no programming experience, this book is ideal. If you do, you will go through it quite quickly having learned all the grounding in a very enjoyable way. He is a talented teacher, and although this particular book is verbose to cater for absolute beginners, it would be interesting to see how he would write an advanced book.



5. This is almost a programming book. Inasmuch as it is aimed at someone who doesn't know anything at all being able to start making and putting together very simple programs to let them do bits and pieces. Maybe useful as a very quick look at the interface for those unfamiliar with gui programming or the language.

1 comments about The Basic Handbook: Encyclopedia of the Basic Computer Language.

1. If you are translating from an old BASIC on one system to a different system or to a modern BASIC this book will be invaluable. Its coverage is comprehensive - both of the main families (HP and Microsoft) as well as many variant forms of BASIC can be found here. This is NOT a textbook - it is intended for an experienced programmer who needs a reference for an extinct dialect. Each command and function is listed alphabeticly with the system that used it and what it does.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Excel 2000 Programming in 21 Days.

1. Truthfully, I am not yet through the entire book yet. But this is a very well written book for someone that has a desire to learn VBA programming with Excel, or to eventually move into VB. Examples build on prior chapters to drive the message home. Every concept is explained two or three times making it slow to read, but thorough. Each chapter includes a summary, questions and exercises. Do your homework and you'll be getting that raise you deserve! And don't be discouraged that this book doesn't come with a CD. You'll need the practice typing code. However, if you already know what VB is and can make your way around the Editor, I suggest Reed Jacobson's Excel 2000 VBA Fundamentals. I bought that book at the same time and it is on the shelf waiting for me to catch up. I think it will be a great reference for real world examples later on.



2. This book explains Excel VBA in a way very easy to understand.However if someone has a programming experience, the book could be boring. The index is excellent and is a very good reference.

   Although designed for beginers it goes to more advanced subjects.
   Ideally this book should be read first, followed by a more practical book like Walkenbach's Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA- which by the way is much more pleasant to read.
   The title is misleading, it should better be named "Learn Excel Programming in 41 Long Days".




3. This was a very good book. The book contained excellent explanations for the code examples. There are lots of useful code examples, which are downloadable through the internet. The code examples are 99% error free. The book is pretty cheap considering the size, over a thousand pages. It took me 10 weeks to complete it. More than half of the information provided is useful for all the other implementations of VBA, such as Access, Word, etc. You will really be teaching yourself a great deal though not in 21 days, but more like in 70 days.



4. I tried two other books and one on-line source before I found "Sams Teach Yourself Excel 2000 Programming in 21 Days." I wish it had been the first resource I had found. One book I tried, ostensibly labeled "for beginners" was in fact better suited for an intermediate. The other book gave examples of some neat things you can do in VBA, but gave no background or mechanics, i.e. the rationale and assumptions behind visual basic code and procedures.

   The Sams book gives you the "meat," from the ground up - not just a bunch of code to copy into the VBE. The learner is given the much needed what, when, where, and why behind VBA.

   My only criticism of the book is the title. The book is LARGE. You could complete it in 21 days if you worked through it 12 hours a day for 21 days (not including any review time). The title also seems rather "cheesy" for a tome worthy of a university classroom.




5. I was very impressed with this book for about the first 3 chapters. As I got into the more code-oriented sections, I became less impressed. This book contains tons of great information, but it is often hard to get to. The author is too wordy when trying to make his points so the important things tend to get lost. There are lots of code examples in the book but not good ones. The author frequently follows his examples by saying 'you will never do this' and then gives the reason why. I would prefer examples that I might actually be able to use some day even if they are harder to understand. He does have terrific exercises at the end of each chapter. I learned more from doing the exercises then I did reading the chapters.

   I think any one who reads this book and does all the exercises will have a good basis for writing VBA, but I also think you could do better by getting the latest edition of Power Programming Techniques by John Walkenbach.

5 comments about Learning Word Programming.

1. I bought this book based on the reviews below, I'm a beginner in the VBA world (first book) and I liked how the author writes and explain the theory about VBA BUT unfortunately he barely have any exercise that would demonstrate what he is talking about on the chapter that just ended (only in the end of the book he gives some exercises "THE FAX example". Programming for me (a true beginner that came from the Network world) is like Math, you can show all the math theories that you want but if you don't give some exercises to demonstrate your theories it gets hard for US BEGINNERS to "see" the practicality of the theory just explained. I agree that he does not have to waist 500 more pages writing exercises, but if he could include 1 or 2 exercise for each topic that he explained It would be great for us real beginners in the VBA world to understand. For me that is the difference between beginner and experience programmers, when you have experience just having the theory can be sufficient and a reference book will do the work. You can understand the key concepts, mainly because you have PAST experiences to back it up... If you want a good theory book to show you the key concepts this is it, BUT if you also want to have a Hands On understanding of how VB editor works with the VBA world and how to apply the main VBA codes, well for now you will need another book.



2. This is a good book for learning Word Programming, but if you want a reference book, look elsewhere. It is well written and informative, but does not have enough detail for reference use.



3. Let me start by saying I am not a Visual Basic programmer, until now! I had a project that needed a solution. My research lead me to Visual Basic for Application's Word Object Model. Not having any significant experience in VBA I needed a way to get up to speed quickly. I first bought the Guy-Davis book Word97 VBA and found it simplistic and not providing enough technical information to accomplish my task. I then purchased the Word 2000 Programmers Reference Handbook which told me everything I ever wanted to know about the Word Object Model, however, it didn't really explain how and when to use the enumerators and other such objects, which are very important when programming. I work with 5 different languages and felt very lost with this book.

   Then I purchased Steven Roman's book "Learning Word Programming". Spent a weekend reading it and by Monday I was more than ready to tackle my project. After reading his book using the Word 2000 Programmers Reference became my next best friend because Mr. Roman's clear and concise approach to explaing everything (sans fluff, as he says other authors have a tendency to do) helped even a seasoned programmer, such as myself.

   I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to become a programmer or is now a programmer. Yes, it was boring to read the 'Programming 101' end of it but after getting through all of it I was pleasantly surprised at how a little refresher helped me look at my project from a new perspective.

   Again, get the book! It saved me hours of work.

   Dan Borden danielborden@hotmail.com




4. As mentioned in another review, I thought the book lacked enough useful exercises to practice Word programming. I bought this book because I couldn't find any others at the time specifically addressing Word programming and in the end, I had to search for another book to supplment it. I found it much more useful as a reference than as a learning tool.



5. What can I say, I found this book very informative. Also, check out his second book.

   The writing is clear and concise. This book isn't going to *make* you a Word programmer, but it can be a useful reference.

   It seems Word programming is all about creativity. Obviously, creativity is something that can't be taught.

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

1. This book is excellent for the person who simply wants to expand their ability to use Excel without becoming a VBA expert. Most books on VBA seem to be written for computer professionals who, for example, seem to want to know about every data type that can be handled before learning anything else. Most of us would rather just learn how to do the things we need to do. This book uses this much more useful route (for ordinary folks)and tells us how to do the basic kind of stuff that we need to do (and that isn't at all obvious how to do): Key topics are accessing data in a range of a worksheet, outputting data to a range, writing a function, etc. etc. It only tells you what you need to know and it explains it all clearly. I had banged my head against a wall before finding this book and it answered all my questions and dissipated all my frustrations. I've recommended it to many of my friends.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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.



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