5 comments about HTML Dog: The Best-Practice Guide to XHTML and CSS.

1. I spent some time really digging into other books in this category (library) with the intention of getting up to speed with modern web coding and best practices. I found this text to be the most useful, both as a learning resource and future reference guide and so, HTML Dog is now on my shelf. Note: The book is meant as a companion to an extensive online archive, and works well in this regard, as the more gimmicky (read: "fad") techniques are best excluded from the printed text.



2. He has nice writing and presentation style.
   The book presents a nice introduction to those looking for a quick information. The quick is actually questionable, since you will have to go to his website and click each link to see output of simple HTML tag illustrations.
   
   It lacks depth on many topics, and having to go to his home page to see the outputs of simple tag illustrations is boring. Books should have the information where I needed it, quickly see the output to know what is going on. If I need an e-book, I will buy one.
   Most of the illustrations only give a real web-site, and not the codes he is trying to illustrate.
   Whether he is got a nice web-site is not really relevant.



3. This book is not a comprehensive encyclopedia of every CSS nuance, but it presents all the main areas in a very clear, but not dumbed-down manner. Basically it answered my three questions:
   1. I wanted to re-write an older web site using CSS and modern HTML web stds, so where do I start?
   2. What is my best approach?
   3. Why would I want to do it that way?
   So along the way it clarified for me how I should use divs for page structure, improve my navigation lists, specify font size in the best manner, and most of all how to use css in a structured way with minimal rewriting of styles etc for subtle changes in page requirements.
   The book is probably most useful if you want to follow his emphasis and use XHTML Strict with CSS.
   Very nicely written, very cleanly laid out. The associated website is useful, but the book stands alone as a very useful reference or starter for someone wanting to design their pages in an effective standards-based way.



4. HTML Dog is an amazing book for those who works with web sites development. Easy to read, easy to use, cheap to buy!



5. A well thought out book, easy to read and understand without knowing HTML or CSS. This is one of those book you cannot trash but only keep in your packet.

5 comments about Higher-Order Perl: Transforming Programs with Programs.

1. As you might expect from a book called Higher-Order Perl, this book is not for beginners. That said, it's a wonderful addition to an intermediate/experienced Perl programmer's library.



2. I am NOT a SW guy - I am a perl autodidact HW engineer. I have written some pretty BIG "scripts" that get the job done - but a fringe "benefit" to me from the demise of the previous company I worked for is that I DON'T HAVE to maintain those scripts - a big bowl of spaghetti :(
   I tried several times to learn the OO side of Perl but this stuff was w-a-a-a-a-y out there for my scull :(
   
   HOP just made it for me! I wish it was available 5 years ago so I wouldn't waste my time writing the aforementioned spaghetti! Study it! It will twist your brains to the point of pain but stick with it - well worthed - you won't look at scripting/programming the same old way ever again!
   
   vess



3. In a book market awash with teach-yourself-in-x-time-units, cookbooks, and API tutorials, Higher-Order Perl is ambitious. It attempts to bring functional techniques to Perl, leaning heavily on two language features: closures, and functions as first-class entities. To enjoy this book you need to be completely comfortable with Perl's syntax, there's lots of code to read and digest, and if you can't follow it, you're going to get lost very quickly, because there are lots of new concepts going to be thrown your way. There's no outlandish symbol table hacking, almost no object orientation, not even much use of modules, but it is in a very different style to most of the Perl you're used to.
   
   If, like me, most of the programming languages you're familiar with are more closely related to C than Lisp, this is going to be a challenging read. It's going to take you a long time to get through this book, and it'll probably require re-reading (more than once) to fully get it all. This is a book bursting at the seams with ideas, beginning with recursion, and then onto caching, iterators, streams and currying. The last two chapters show how to apply these techniques to parsing and declarative programming, and they feel like mini books in themselves. Applications of the code range from classics like Tower of Hanoi, Fibonacci sequences and the Newton Raphson method, to more practical material including databases, tied files, and directory walking.
   
   Part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much may be because I have no formal training in Computer Science, and of course, the likes of SICP and The Little Schemer contain similar concepts. But for someone without functional programming experience it's great to have it in Perl. Lispniks, MLers and Haskellites may well be familiar with these ideas already, but they should consider this an enticing 'gateway book' for Perl programmers. And Introduction to Functional Programming using Haskell just isn't as well-written as HOP. There's no hiding from the fact that if you want to fully appreciate the material here, you're going to have to work hard at it, but Mark Jason Dominus does a great job at stopping things from feeling like a textbook, and knows how to inject some wit into the proceedings without being distracting. Full marks to Morgan Kaufmann for the layout and overall production quality, too.
   
   I keep The Camel, Perl Cookbook and Perl Best Practices on my desk when programming Perl. HOP is not going to be joining them (yet), it's not that sort of a book. Instead it's a very different intellectual pleasure and easily one of my favourite and most important Perl books (only PBP edges it out due to the latter's everyday practicality). If you're serious about Perl, you need to read this book. If you're serious about programming, ditto. Hell, this might just be a good enough reason to learn Perl if you don't already (admittedly, the chances of such a person reading this far are small).
   
   HOP has set the bar very high. Python and Ruby authors, please step up!



4. I had originally planned to read Higher Order Perl and write my review immediately. When it became clear that I wasn't going to read HOP straight through, I figured I'd write a review when I was done. More and more, it looks like my reading of the last two chapters is being indefinitely delayed. I'm going to write what I think so far, while it's still more or less fresh in my mind.
   
   Higher Order Perl was originally going to be given some fairly bland name, like "Handbook of Advancted Perl Techniques." This would have been a spot-on (but uninteresting) title. HOP provides the reader with explanation and demonstration of techniques for problem-solving that are often overlooked. The examples are complex and detailed, but not byzantine, and they're built up slowly, piece by piece, so that each line of code's meaning and significance are made clear.
   
   The title "Higher Order Perl" refers to the book's most central technique, functional programming. While many programmers understand how to abstract a specific solution into a more general one, Dominus helps the reader learn to push the envelope, abstracing generic solutions into extremely generalized solutions that can be applied to seemingly-unrelated problems. This is frequently done by the construction of functions that build functions that build functions -- and so on, functions all the way down. Instead of solving the problem in base, earthly Perl, the programmer produces Perl elements of a higher order which, operating in harmony, become all things to all people.Well, I'm hyperbolizing, but I think it would be hard for me to over-emphasize the value of techniques like closures, iterators, and currying. They are, in part, what make Lisp so powerful, and the marriage of Lisp's power and Perl's expressivity is a happy one.As for the writing, it is good. The language is clear and the material is well-presented. One should be cautioned, though, that the book is dense. Dominus is constantly pressing onward, explaining new techniques or new ways to apply already-explained techniques. I found myself reading each page carefully and deliberately, only to turn back to it a few pages later, to be sure that I understood how the new material was relying on the old. It made the book a challenge to read, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable challenge. I never felt so frustrated by a bizarre idea that I gave up or so bored with an over-explained one that I skipped ahead.
   
   Finally, while the techniques that Dominus presents are powerful and advanced, the required knowledge of Perl is not particularly great. Because he clearly explains the key Perl concepts that he uses (especially closures and associated scoping issues), any competent programmer with a working knowledge of Perl should be able to put the ideas in Higher Order Perl to work.
   
   For serious Perl programmers, Higher Order Perl is a must-read book.



5. Functional Programming is a programming paradigm that is very useful and must be part of the tool-arsenal of any software engineer and developer along with the well known Object Oriented Programming, the procedural programming approaches and the less known Aspect Oriented programming.
   
   HOP gives an easy access to Functional Programming for Perl developers. The book is written in a personal manner and is fun to read and sometimes even funny. It is definitely not a dry factoid book.
   
   The examples in the book are useful not only as they demonstrate nicely the need and power of functional programming but also due to their practicality for seasoned programmers.
   
   I felt the influence of books such as "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" by Abelson and the Sussmans" on HOP, and it was very nice and helpful to read MJD's recommendations for other good readings on the subject.
   
   I got to reading HOP cover to cover, several times. I attempted to solve myself the problems raised in the book and found the process of doing that enjoying and rewarding. Reading on the commentary and approach suggested by MJD was in many ways enlightening. You can find some very amusing footnotes in the book that makes it yet more fun to read.
   
   MJD gives a refreshing view on Perl programming, and shows that tasks that can be very complicated and hard, or computationally intense can be turned "inside out" and handled in a functional programming approach that simplifies understanding, simplifies the solution and also simplifies the implementation.
   
   MJD presents a very useful introduction to functional programming using Perl using practical problems, and the nice thing is that even theoretical problems get practical usages when explained, which makes the reading fun, and worth the while for the non-theoretical people amongst the readers.
   
   Though the book sometimes goes into detail or length too much for my taste, it does do a good job in giving the new view of the capabilities of a Perl programmer and the Perl programming language and how to use them.
   
   I can testify that a lot of code that I got to see, write and maintain got a considerable "lift" and "upgrade" since me and other colleagues of mine read this book and used some of the wisdom that it offers.
   
   There are many good and useful follow-ups to this book in the form of Perl modules on CPAN, articles and posts on the web and some book chapters. Look them up!
   
   Also, if you feel that this functional programming approach is useful to you, you might want to probe further on this by reading Haskell, Lisp, Scheme (and other functional programming languages) literature. There are several "must read!" for these programming languages that will give you a very deep understanding and good skills in this programming paradigm. Also -- you will find, especially after reading HOP, that you now have the tools to easily and practically apply the functional programming principles that you learn in Functional Programming books to Perl and use it in your Perl code.
   
   A few words on MDJ himself: I read a lot of what he wrote for Perl and used some of his modules and code that is available on the web. I had the pleasure of hosting him on the first YAPC in Israel and attend a 3 day course that he gave. He is a very smart person, a very nice person and an excellent teacher and a very good writer. If you don't already know MJD, this book is a very good way of getting access to some of the wisdom that this gut has to offer.
   
   If you don't know which Perl books to buy and/or to read, know this: HOP is one of the books that you should read!
   
   (It is funny that almost 3 years after I read this book for the first time and after reading some of the material before editing, as MJD offered in his private mailing list, I only now get to write a review on it. But still, it surely deserves a book review and a good mark too.)

3 comments about The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks (Anthology).

1. I ordered this from the publisher and it literally fell apart as I started reading it. I'm going to have to 3-hole punch it and find a thick binder for the over 500 pages! I thought it might be the publisher (Sitepoint), but I just read that a Peachpit book (the new Scott Kelby book) is having the same problems. I wonder if they use the same binder? I can't actually review the book, as it's unreadable in the present condition. I have read other Sitepoint books though, and find them quite good, particularly the Yank book. This is the first one to fall apart.



2. While I wouldn't read this book cover-to-cover, it makes a very handy and current reference title for any intermediate PHP programmer.
   
   100 Solutions, neatly divided into 13 chapters, make it very quick to find what I was looking for. The downloadable code from the publishers website also helped a great deal and saved me some time.
   
   I found the security checklist at the back of the book particularly useful and helped me pinpoint and solve some potential vulnerbilities. Chapter 13 on best practices was also a clear standout in my mind, as it covers PHP coding best practices and helped me improve how I work.



3. I really wasn't sure what to expect with the book, my shelves are already packed with a stack of good PHP books that I've read through once, got a few good gems of info from, put on the shelf, and never touch again.
   
   It was the title that got me first interested in this book, sort of like the greatest hits of PHP which, in theory, is a book that I expected to get a little more use from.
   
   I'm happy to say that this book delivered on it's promise and them some.
   
   The difference between this book and say some of the other more tutorial style PHP books I own is that it doesn't follow the one size fits all approach. It actually explains solutions to problems that your able to adapt you your own world. I downloaded the code from the books website which made my life even easier.
   
   It's organized into stack of little mini tutorials covering most of the challenges you'll face if you're programming with PHP. I didn't read this from cover-to-cover but more jumped straight to some of the specific sections that I was keen to learn about. The layout and design of this book enables you to jump around from section to section easily.
   
   I'm now finding myself going back to this book time and time again as new problems crop up, just today I had to solve a caching issue and violia a nice little example of exactly what I needed was there in chapter 11. It saved me a stack of time so I thought I'd use it to write this review.
   
   It's also worth noting that chapter 1 contains a nicely written introduction to object-oriented PHP and is worth a read if your just starting with PHP and everyone should read chapter 13. Even though I've been programming in PHP for a while now this chapter opened my eyes to why I experience some of the frustrations I do... I'd probably be happy with paying the cover price just for that chapter alone.
   
   It's my first sitepoint book and I've got to say I'm extremely happy. They seem to do things a little different than you're old schoolers and I've got to say the approach is refreshing. I'd have no problem with recommending this to PHP developers at any level.

4 comments about Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 QuickSteps.

1. I manage a medium-sized network and support a large number of fairly savvy users. That is, most users know how to do their specific tasks very well and are willing to learn new things. But they are not willing to sit down with a book full of dense text. This is where the "Quick Steps" books come in handy. I keep a number of these books on hand and when a user requests assistance, I give them one of the books with the appropriate page bookmarked. Steps are outlined in full color with lots of pictures and pointers and tips. Additional information is set off in side boxes so users can learn more if they choose. What I have found is that once a user completes a task successfully, they get fairly excited about the experience and browse the book to learn more. The books really stimulate users to experiment with things they would not normally bother to learn. And that is where this book excels. It is a "browser." Users don't feel like they need to start at the beginning and read through to the end. I get lots of grumbles when I ask for the book back so I can pass it on to others.
   
   This book is also great for new users. I tell them to spend a few hours working through the steps, which are easy to follow and can be done at a fairly fast pace. Most users think the full color layout is fun to work through. The down-side is that like any book, space is limited, especially with the fully-illustrated format, so you're obviously not going to find everything in these books, but I do feel they contain a good balance of material and are appropriate for corporate libraries.
   
   Marty and I are fellow writers and that is how I learned about these books. I must say that it has helped my users enormously and relieved my support task. Hey, it's the 21st century. Anyone working in an office should know how to work with operating systems and common applications. Most people can do that if they have easily accessible references and refresher material like these books. Thanks to Marty for developing the "Quick Steps" concept and to McGraw-Hill for publishing this series.



2. I am a real estate agent, looking for the best way to manage contacts. I have Outlook but didn't have a clue how to go about integrating everything without reading a 1000 page book. I thought about Act! but had very mixed reviews on it. So I searched for a book that would quickly get me up and running in Outlook, and therefore would quickly tell me if the software I already have is powerful enough to do the job I need yet easy enough to let me spend my time on my real job -- not learning more software. This book does both; and the quality of the paper and color made it a pleasure to read. I got my answer -- yes, Outlook can do the job quickly and easily, freeing my time to sell real estate.



3. This "QuickSteps" book is largely a picture book: lots of nice, color screen shots of various parts of the Outlook interface, with sketchy text captions pointing to various things to tell you what they are and do.
   
   There's not a single scrap of information in this book that you can't find from doing a quick search in Outlook's own online help. And because of "QuickSteps" relatively thin size (compared to most software manuals), it gives you only the most superficial introduction to the topics it covers.
   
   My advice is to skip this book -- even at the "amazing low price!" as it claims right on the cover -- and use the Outlook online help and tutorials. Then if you still need more information, get one of the real books.



4. Book is written in simple language and in an easy-to-follow format. Excellent diagrams. Very good instructional book for beginners and a good reference for those of us who need a refresher course in Outlook.

4 comments about Ajax Bible.

1. If you're alive and into computer books, you've got to know the name Holzner. The fellow has got a talent for putting together a book that is always (at least the ones I read) at the top of the heap in terms of readability and content. He does it again in this book. This book is an enhanced version of his Ajax For Dummies, a very good and lower level book. There's more in it.
   AJAX for the un-initiated (are they out there ?) is the name given to the technique of using a bunch of already true and tried components, Javascript, XML, dynamic HTML, and CSS and the XMLHttpRequest object to obtain some rather dramatic effects toward creating websites that perform in a crisp way.
   As in snap, crackle and pop. AJAX is not a language, it is not a new technology. It is a novel way of using the above mentioned already existing stuff in a very clever way. As such, you need to learn an awful lot of stuff and to learn how it all hangs together. And this is where the author excels. He has already written other books where this stuff is described. He brings it into this book from scratch and does a very good job of tying it all up into a nice neat package. The book is self-contained. It is a very good book for the beginner and the more advanced reader will find some interesting reading too.



2. Finding a book on Ajax isn't too hard any more. Finding one that covers beginning to advanced Ajax (and does it well) is another story. Steve Holzner has put his entry into the field with Ajax Bible. This is one of the better titles out there, and there's something to appeal to all levels of developers.
   
   Contents:
   Part 1 - Fundamental Ajax: Essential Ajax; Know Your JavaScript; Creating Ajax Applications; Serious Ajax Programming
   Part 2 - Ajax In Depth: Introducing Ajax Frameworks; More Advanced Ajax Frameworks; Using Server-Side Ajax Frameworks
   Part 3 - Ajax and the DOM, XML, CSS, and Dynamic HTML: The DOM and Event Handling; XML and Ajax; Cascading Style Sheets and Ajax; Dynamic HTML and Ajax
   Part 4 - Advanced Ajax: Introducing Ajax and PHP; PHP - Functions and HTML Controls; Handling User Input in PHP; Ajax and Security; Filters, MVC, and Ajax
   Index
   
   Holzner's written over 100 technology books, so I've come to expect a high level of writing from him. He definitely delivers here. Part 1 gives you all the information you need to start writing an Ajax-enabled application. The JavaScript chapter is designed to give you enough background if you've never worked with Ajax before, but not so lengthy as to dominate the entire book. The Serious Ajax Programming chapter will appeal to readers who have done some Ajax coding already, covering such subjects as multiple XMLHttpRequest objects and calling other domains. Part 2 gets into the whole topic of frameworks and how they can save you time and effort in your coding projects. No need to reinvent the wheel if someone else already has done that. Part 3 covers more of how you can take the returned data from the Ajax call and format your web page to display and use that data. And finally, Part 4 goes into some fairly advanced topics that won't mean much to the beginner, but might be exactly what the advanced developer needs.
   
   What I especially liked are Holzner's code examples. In many books, you get a code example all at once. The following writing then tries to explain whatever was just shown. That's usually OK, but sometimes longer code snippets can get confusing. Holzner "builds" the code alongside the writing. So you first get the start and end of the function along with the explanation. Then you get that code along with a new bold section that explains the next step. This pattern is repeated until the entire code snippet is built. While some might feel that it pads the book with redundant pages of code, I prefer it as you see the specific part of the code being discussed without getting confused about additional lines you don't yet understand.
   
   If there was a need for me to recommend a book on Ajax to someone without knowing their background, this would be a very safe bet. Beginners will get exactly what they need, and intermediate/advanced readers will find stuff that they don't know. Nice job...



3. This book is way bigger than it needs to be. The code examples take up enormous amounts of space. When stepping through an example, the entire example code is (usually) repeated with the new line under discussion added. Even the simplest example takes up pages of text. Every new example gets the cross-browser code for obtaining an XMLhttprequest object. Do we really need that repeated for each example?
   
   The examples are mostly very simple, usually replacing one line of text with another. Then there's the screenshots. How informative is it to see two entire Internet Explorer windows, complete with toolbars, and a tiny speck of text that changes to before the Ajax call to an after Ajax call? The coverage of client and server-side libraries is so minimal and the examples so simple that the author could have just listed what libraries are available.
   
   Most of the book has nothing to do with Ajax. There are chapters on DOM, javascript, CSS but I can't understand who their target audience is. For instance, if you don't know anything about DOM, you won't learn enough to be useful. If you do know some (even a little), you won't learn anything at all.
   
   The last five chapters are the advanced Ajax section. The first three are an introduction to PHP. Really. How to declare a variable. How to make a comment. No Ajax at all. Again, if you don't know PHP, you're better off getting a better book. If you think the last two chapters might build on this tutorial of PHP, you're mistaken. No more PHP. On to java server pages, javabeans, and an odd little ending with two page discussion of Model-View-Controller. Again, if you don't know JSP, you won't understand what's going on. If you do, you won't learn anything.
   
   The book is a nice introduction to Ajax, it just contains way to much filler and never does anything in any depth.



4. This book convers very well a lot of subjects on Ajax, and a lot it doesn't.
   
   There are two chapters focused on PHP. These are on the Parte IV, named Advanced Ajax. But in this two chapters, if you try to find Ajax, you won't get Anything!!!
   
   This book is not aimed for advanced or experts of Ajax, it's just for the beginner and maybe intermediate.
   
   If your're searching a book for some advanced Ajax techniques. GET ANOTHER BOOK!!

No comments about Real World Haskell.

1 comments about Practical IDL Programming.

1. If you're like me, you've probably been confused at times by the semantics of IDL. I've been using IDL for several years now and I still run into obstacles every now and then. What I needed was a book that went through the basics first (like a C or Fortran book) and then covered the really practical stuff like plotting, imaging, saving output etc. Liam Gumley has done a great job here in showing the reader how to put IDL to work. I also own Dave Fanning's book, and the two books complement each other nicely. However I'd have to give the edge to Practical IDL Programming for it's clear and straightforward explanation of IDL fundamentals, and for very clear and well explained example programs, many of which I now use every day.

5 comments about Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8.

1. This is a good book. It teaches many useful techniques and how lots of "how to" ideas. However, the faux site that is created isn't goal oriented which left me feeling like the book was just a collection of random things to do. It seemed disorganized at times when you would or wouldn't create another page from scratch vs. revamping one you had already made. It was not always clear why you would be better to take one approach vs. the other. Setting up the localhost environment was somewhat confusing, though not too bad.
   
   I will definitely use it frequently. Good information, good book, good deal.



2. This man makes a promise of a written format that can be followed. The writtng is NOT CLEAR and leaves much to the readers imagination of to what exactly the format should be. There is no CD so that you can see how the step by step process works. He names his files but does not show the real differences between how he is set up and how you can set up to fit your needs. I waisted my money. He claims in the book there is support which at best is terrible.
   
   The worst book I have ever bought on coding. If I were you try another writter.



3. This is a very good book for learning PHP, and surprisingly, most of the examples work right out of the book as he's written them, which seems rare for a programming book these days. The projects that he has you complete are highly relevant to what you'd actually be doing with PHP, and that makes it even better.
   
   The only trouble I had with this book was that he sure packed a lot of information into each chapter, and he didn't use the sidebars as much as I would have hoped. It's easy enough to follow along with the examples the first time, but if you want to go back again and figure out how he programmed a small detail, you'll never find it unless you reread the whole chapter again. All it would have taken was a few little bullets here and there in the margins to point out some of the off-topic stuff that was going on in the examples, and the book would be much more functional as a reference. As it stands, I probably will have to get a whole new book for that purpose.
   
   Also, the support on this book is phenomenal. I missed a small detail in Chapter 6 that caused my script to fail, and when I posted on the book's message board, I had a reply from the author in less than a day. That's a really cool added bonus.



4. I am a frontpage user that has set up static pages in a web site. I needed to move from static pages to dynamic pages using a database. I couldn't use PHP with FrontPage so I switched to Dreamweaver and needed a book that covered both dynamic pages and Dreamwaver. This book walked me through setting up the environment to have Dreamweaver work with Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin. I am completely non-technical so these areas were beyond my comfort zone but the book walked me through it very successfully. It then took me through CSS styles, setting up an online feedback form, setting up my first database and tying it into Dreamweaver. It also showed how to insert, delete and maintain records in order to keep the database up to date. This was an excellent book for a non-techie as it didn't take any knowledge for granted.



5. This book is written very clearly and is really easy to follow. I've learned a lot of other really useful stuff than just the PHP content, things that I now realise I should have been taught by the official Dreamweaver 8 book, but weren't. The PHP content for which I bought this book is fantastic - much better than another generic PHP/MySQL I have read, as this is tailored to the Dreamweaver 8 environment which takes a lot of the guessing out of the equation. This book is written by and for people who use Dreamweaver 8 in a practical situation. I'm still less than half way through my book and already feel like I've learned much more than I expected. Highly recommended. I'll be checking out Mr Powers' other books when I finish this one. Thanks David Powers, you're a genius!

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner).

1. I have been doing computer systems and software for forty years and was looking for a training book for two new staff engineers who have engineering degrees but little programming experience. I ordered Andrew Parsons "Starter Kit" for this purpose and then ordered this book by Jerry Lee Ford as well. For reasons described below, I have selected this book, the Jerry Lee Ford book, to use for newbie training while reserving the Parsons book for those with prior programming experience.
   
   My first reaction was disappointment. There is no CD with an installable VB Express. Such a CD is handy for newbies even though the free download is there on the Microsoft site. Thumbing through the book with its large text, I thought perhaps it was written for ninth graders. (It is subtitled "for Absolute Beginners.") And the sample code applications were all simple games. I, like others, found lots of typos, like referring to Appendix A and Apendix B but forgetting to print them. If someone sees me reading this, they are going to think I am only a dummy or at best a hobbyist. BUT THEN IT GOT BETTER.
   
   I raced through the book and concluded that Mr. Ford, an exceptionally experienced VB teacher and writer, has distilled VB to its essential elements. The origins of the VB language, the .NET Framework, and Object Oriented Programing concepts were explained sufficiently and clearly along the way; but the heart of the book is the creation of several simple projects. Each start with a GUI (one or more user forms with one or more buttons or other controls), modifications of form and control properties (appearance and other), and code to do things when events happen (button clicks for example).
   
   The wonderfully easy features of drag and drop GUI design grab the reader's attention in the first third of the book as simple projects illustrate design of forms with controls, menus, and toolbars. A nice chapter on application interfaces has the reader create and publish an application and reminds the reader of the need to make the user comfortable and well informed during program execution.
   
   The middle third continues with simple applications but addresses coding procedure fundamentals. Not much has changed in the forty years since I had my first programming course, and the outline of the middle portion of the book could be from a 1960s Fortran course. Variable types, conditional logic, loops, and functions are still important topics and part of every common computer language and must be mastered for almost all real projects.
   
   The final third of the book begins with a nice explanation of the key object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts of abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism and adds chapters on graphics/audio, and debugging. The OOP's concepts fit nicely here now that the reader (not normally an experienced programmer) has used objects and has a good feel for the whole of project development. Only an experienced teacher, like the author, appreciates fully the importance of waiting until the student is ready. (If this section intrigues the reader, he may be a candidate for additional more difficult programming courses, but he will be well-started with this book.)
   
   I am glad I got over my first impressions. This book rocks (scratches and all) like an old Jerry Lee Ford (I mean Lewis) 45 RPM recording of "Great Balls of Fire." I mean you can't miss the beat on that record and you can't miss the VB essentials in this book. This book would make a good text for a community college VB course.



2. I am a technical instructor that teaches programming to students who have had no previous experience. I utilize many of the "absolute beginners" books to get them familiar with the landscape before dragging them into deeper "technical" books.
   
   One thing that I have noticed from "all" publishers is a series of typos that people in these reviews complain about. One thing that THEY (the reviewers) need to keep in mind, or learn, is that there is a point where the manuscript is out of the hands of the author and the technical advisors and in to the hands of people who have NO IDEA of what the material means. These people are those who transfer the manuscript from the word processor format to the publishing format. While formatting the manuscript into what would become the "final draft" before publishing. They (the typesetters) become "helpful" in correcting what they believe are mistakes. Things like (a == b) or (a != b). Also, while formatting the text, they accidentally hit keys like "space" or "del" without realizing that they just took out a portion of text during the formatting procedure.
   
   Why do I bring this up? Because I have found many books with these problems and having worked with publishers for years regarding materials have gained an education on their internal process.
   
   This book has some glitches in it from the typesetter. They all do.
   
   Putting all of that aside.
   
   The material in this book is very informative and helpful to get you up and running toward becoming a VB 2005 programmer. There is a lot of insight which this particular author brings to the table for a new student.
   
   If you are looking for the "perfect" book....you won't find it. If you do, email the title so I can teach from it. But, if you want a strong book that will get you up and running. This is a good place to start!



3. I found that the express verion of Visual Studio 2005 the to be a really nice product at a great value (free!). Because the "Express" version does not include all of the functionality the full version has, I found non-express books and online tutorials and other information frustrating. "Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner)" fills the void quite nicely. The examples are interesting and easy to understand. I look forward to an intermediate version that goes to the next level of what the "Express" version can do.



4. This is at the crux of what I need to do. Whilst it is an excellent beginners guide, it would benefit from a glossary of commands and another chapter stepping through linking to and populating other office applications.



5. This has got to be one of the best out there to get you going with Visual Basic. A unique approach that spoon feeds a beginner the process of developing and building a visual basic program. Jerry Lee Ford teaches you from the ground up and in a very simple way. You will be proficient following his lessons and examples. Wow. very impressive!

2 comments about Legal Guide to Web & Software Development (book with CD-Rom).

1. Had to buy this for an E-Commerce class I'm taking in law school -- I guess it was the closest thing to a textbook the professor could find. Very useful and straightforward.



2. I needed to write up a web-development contract as an independent contractor. Previously, I had used bits and pieces of other contracts but never quite knew what some of the paragraphs meant. A colleague recommended this book, I bought it and have not regretted it. One of the biggest helps is the author explains the meaning of every paragraph of the contract and makes recommendations in your favor. I finally wrote a contract that I understood and was comfortable handing to the client. And what's even better is they signed it without any changes! I just copied the legal agreements directly from the CD-ROM, modified them to suit the context and sent it off. Also explains the need to register copyrights, and legal stuff related to web sites.