4 comments about Developing Enterprise Applications With PowerBuilder 6.0.

1. I really liked the book. It has a lot of good ideas about distributed applications, internet applications and powerbuilder 6. There is also a lot about Oracle and Sybase.



2. This text is very insightful and wounderfully written, however, I would consider using this book solely for lectures and theory. There are very few examples and and many topics are simply glossed over. If you would like to have a great deal of "head knowledge" in regards to PowerBuilder, this is the text for you. If you are a hands on developer, this book will leave you stranded, smart, but stranded! If you have a need to go into a meeting knowing all the buzz-words and PowerBuilderees, buy this book.

   If you want to develop systems for your clients, keep surfing!

   The author did say that "this is not a tutorial", he's right, it's not a tutorial, it's not even a reference text. Save your money!




3. There are in-depth chapters on distributed PowerBuilder applications and building multi-lingual applications. These two topics are of interest to me. The chapters walked me through all the steps to distribute an application and to make our application multi-lingual. There are a lot of samples and the code is really simple to follow. There is also a lot of coverage of other "Enterprise" issues.



4. I almost did not buy this book. I read the reviews and the book received a pretty bad review from one reader. Fortunately I found it in the book store and took a look at it - I was impressed. This is a pratical book for experienced developers, not Sybase promotional literature. It covers a lot of advanced material (with examples) and the authors seem to speak from experience. I took a look at the reviews again an noticed the poor review was from a reader in public school. So I guess I you should not buy this book if you are learning PowerBuilder. I DO recommend the book for experienced developers.

5 comments about Official PowerBuilder® 6 Fundamentals, Second Edition.

1. This book tends to be a comprehensive guide and the name even chosen as "Official PowerBuilder". What you are going to find inside some very brief description of the most difficult subjects and a very solid guide on how and where to click without even minimum description needed. Authors of the book first showing you some meaningless examples. First, the introduction of DataWindow (one of the most complicated classes available in PB) happens to be even before discussing a PowerScript language used throughout the "tutorial". The "tutorial" in it's turn is just nothing else, but a set of instructions that doesn't mean anything to you (unless you are a PowerBuilder programmer). Only after you went through a half of the book, the authors very briefly covering the most important bases of the language and the development environment. As the conclusion, this is one of the books you might find useful to read if you are a working programmer and want to refresh your memories. This is not the choice to start or to improve your PowerBuilder studies.



2. I had no PowerBuilder experience whatsoever, but after going through this book I have developed several applications. The book is written in a very basic and step-by-step manner. This is the best PowerBuilder book I have come across for beginners ever!



3. This book was full of gaps in the tutorials. I would be on a complete roll and then be stuck with the worthless index. This book is only good if you have someonewho knows PowerBuilder near buy.



4. I'm a VB, ASP and Coldfusion programmer. I've read the "Using Powerbuilder 6" and the "Powerbuilder Unleashed" series. The "Powerbuilder Unleashed" is a good reference for the intermediate and the "Using Powerbuilder 6" is worthless!! After purchasing this book I was up and coding, creating a multi-form application in a week. If you're a beginner and want a solid foundation this is the book.



5. Of all the books for PowerBuilder I have used this is the greatest! I learned PowerBuilder in depth in less than a week with this book. While I have an extensive programming background, it would not be necessary to make use of this book. Well written and documented. If you are using PB 6.5 there are some minor differences between what is in the book and how your PB will work. The book was written with a prerelease version of PB 6. Hats off to the authors, this is one of the best books I have bought in a long time!

5 comments about Developing Powerbuilder 5 Applications.

1. This is a great book for the PowerBuilder beginners. Follow the step by step instruction and you can develop applications soon. The author use easy words to describe complicated concepts and the working examples in this book is very helpful and useful. After finish this book you will be able to write a real world applications and have a strong knoweledge about PowerBuilder 5



2. Mr. Hatfield does a wonderful job of introducing the Powerbuilder environment to the novice programmer. Some experience with high level language is extremely helpful, but Hatfield writes the text well enough so that anyone can follow. He begins with a very simple example application to get u off and running, then goes into each component of Powerbuilder with a little more detail, even introducing some nice tips, and tricks like Powerbuilders Query Mode, etc. You will certainly not be an expert after the last chapter, but you'll have the big picture, and enjoy Powerbuilder.. Most likely the best starter book, i flipped through a few before purchasing it, this was a clear winner.



3. Good book for programmers just beginning to work with PowerBuilder. Bill Hatfield's language is easy to understand. There are also some useful concepts in this book which may prove useful for advanced programmers.



4. This book is very useful for beginner



5. This book explains the subject matter well to the beginners. However, I was very disappointed in the way examples are handled. Actual code examples are very sparse. Most of the time, the author gives few lines of code and explains what you should do next. Secondly, I found the accompanying CD of little use. To begin with, the Source code could not run on PB 5.0. It requires an earlier version. All in all the book gives a good introduction to the subject, but is not hands on.

No comments about PowerBuilder 5 Developer's Resource: Client/Server Programming for the Enterprise.

3 comments about Powerbuilder 5.0 Fundamentals.

1. The book is a great resourse for beginners. The book has an excellent introduction on client/server technology and object-oriented programming. The authors did an excellent job to keep it simple and easy to follow at the same time very effectively explained some very complicated concepts. Though the scope is introduction to PowerBuilder but it can be a good read for experienced programmers. The book also has a tutorial that gives a more hands on approach. I enjoyed the book very much and do recommend to anybody thinking to learn PowerBuilder.



2. This is a good books for non programmer who wish to learn client server programming on Power Builder. By learning this book , the non programmer will pick up the client server programming knowledge in a pretty short period of time. We strongly recommend any non programmer, who wish to learn power builder to read this book. It is great to have one. Enjoy reading and hope to see everyone be a certified power builder programmer.



3. This is a good books for non programmer who wish to learn client server programming on Power Builder. By learning this book , the non programmer will pick up the client server programming knowledge in a pretty short period of time. We strongly recommend any non programmer, who wish to learn power builder to read this book. It is great to have one. Enjoy reading and hope to see everyone be a certified power builder programmer.

5 comments about PFC Programmer's Reference Manual.

1. The "PFC Programmer's Reference Manual" is basically a hard copy of the online help that comes with PFC. If that's what you're looking for this book is good, otherwise, you can get the same information from online help.

   This book also has some publishing errors - on page 83 it references Appendix M - the book has no appendix M!




2. ... and many functions are obsolete. If you want to learn about PFC, read the Online Books.



3. This reference book restates most of the reference material available in the PFC online books. The reason for this (as stated in the book) is that back in PB 5 days, the online books were only available if the CD was in your drive. As of PB 6, the books can be installed on a hard drive. The PFC 6 features are only glanced at. The focus is on PFC 5 features. So if you're using PB 5/PFC 5, this book is great. Otherwise, it's not useful at all. I returned this book.



4. This is the worst book I have ever read. I put my nose through the thick book and learn nothing. Later I read a thin book from Powersoft PFC training. I learn a lot from each page of it.

   The author of this book does not know how to write book.




5. Mr. Brooks is possibly the worst author I have ever read. The help files really were more helpful than this book was. He ought to go move to the Hedonism resort he reviewed a book on because the programing world could not possibly miss him if his wok is on the level of his writing.

2 comments about Powerbuilder 5 Unleashed.

1. Instead of wasting your time having you build applications you'll never use, this book gets you into real Powerbuilder code. It takes time to explain some of the basics, but it is a well-written reference for intermediate to expert PB5 programmers. Excellent coverage of the new PB5 features and great help in migrating from 4.0! I recommend any PB developer to add this book to their library.



2. One of the best book I read on powerbuilder. it is a good learning book for the intermediate & expert PB5 programmer.

5 comments about PowerBuilder 9: Internet and Distributed Application Development.

1. The best resourse for PB programmers who want migrate to web platform. The only resourse available to discover concepts in the steps of PB (User Objects) deploy to EAServer for web use.

   Great distributed application concepts and evolution of infrastructures.

   Good J2EE reference concerning to EAServer components.

   If you're working with EAServer 4 you must have this book




2. PowerBuilder 9: Internet and Distributed Application Development is the collaborative effort of computer expters William Green and John D. Olson and comprehensively presents the new capabilities of PowerBuilder 9 along with the architecture and patterns required to create distributed systems in PowerBuilder. Recommended for intermediate to advanced users, PowerBuilder 9: Internet and Distributed Application Development deftly addresses development Web and Intranet-based systems, including Web Services, Portals, Application-Servers, XML, and Mobile Access.



3. I have worked with PB since its inception about 12 years ago. During that time I have purchased everything written about it. This is the worst effort put into print. It is simply a rehash of articles on xml, soap, and internet theory. There is no relationship between PB 9 and this text other than the mention of it by the authors. Save yourself some money and wait or something that actually shows you how to develop internet and distributed applications -- this one does not!!!



4. For newbiew like me, this is the bible for entering the n-tier world with EAServer. Gives me a very good comparison with other options too.

   After having bought this book for my work, I have found my colleagues who take this book for reference often appreciating it's contents, especially for the tips & tricks and well laid out examples.

   I recommend all the PowerBuilder/Internet developers to invest in this book. Very affordable with good quality.




5. Save your money. This book, and its companion, are both written in editorial style, each chapter by a (potentially) different author who each feel that they must fill in the space with more history than substance.
   
   Get the online documentation from Sybase for free and learn something without wasting your time. That is unless you like history.

5 comments about The Definitive DataWindow: Your Key to PowerBuilder Success.

1. I agree with Mr. Boyes. Having borrowed a copy of this book, I count myself fortunate I didn't pay for it. It is a basic tutorial for novices, without a clue on "where do we go from here?". The technical information appears to be a regurgitation of machanics availble from many other sources. Nothing new here...a basic anthology of known methods. I seriously wonder how many of these reviews were written by the author himself?



2. I saw this author present at tech wave on this same subject and he was incompetent and totally disorganized. I had hoped he was just having an off day but having picked up this book at a second hand book store I now know that he really is! This book is as poorly put together and thought out as his class was. The material is disorganized and when you find what you are looking for it is incomplete. I think these other reviewers are either friends of the author or work for the publisher because the $1.50 I paid for this book was too much! I sure hope Richard programs better than he writes!



3. I have to thank those that wrote an honest review of the material covered in this book and must agree that many of these reviews were written by folks close to the author. After reading the mixed reviews I elected not to invest in this title and instead to borrow a copy from a fellow programer while on a contract. Though I did find a few things in the material I did not know, the vast majority of this book is basic information that anyone who has spent any time programming in PowerBuilder would already know. Since the author did have such a web presence (I am not surprised to see he has all but disappeared) and reputation I really had expected more and would have been very disgruntled had I spent money on this product. Instead spend your money on PowerBuilder Unleashed by Simon Henry and if you really can't stand to use the online documentation that shows all of the information contained in this book and want some bathroom reading material, pick up a used copy of this. At least then when you pick out the bits and pieces you might actually use you can sell it used yourself and will not feel cheated.



4. This book has saved me hours of programming several times during my datawindow development and exposed some little known tips/tricks/techniques. Also, it is a good source to revise our skills.

   ---
   PowerObject!
   [Shekar C. Reddy]
   Owner/Moderator
   ------------------------------------------------------
   ...




5. I was hoping this book would shed some light on more advance features of the datawindow. Instead, it is basically a re-hash of the online help file. Nothing new here. Brooks could have went into more more depth regarding the more non-intuitive datawindow presentation styles such as cross-tabs and graphs...but he didn't. Everytime I've reached for the book as a referrence, I've had to look elsewhere.

5 comments about PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development.

1. If you are an advanced PB programmer you will not find much here unless you have been stuck in versions 6.5 (or maybe even 7 but less so) and earlier. The authors give a reasonable overview of the new IDE and source control integration. There is also discussion of the newer features such as Powerbuilder Native Interface, XML datawindows, command line deployment, and error handling. Over 200 pages are devoted to database connectivity which may be of interest if you support multiple platforms.

   Aside from some minor factual errors and the occasional typo, the information and examples are concise and to the point (although many leave out even rudimentary error checking which is vital in any 'real' application).

   I bought the book since there haven't been any 'real' PB books since version 7 and this one details the new IDE.




2. Authors

   The 2 main authors of this book are Bruce Armstrong and Millard F. Brown III. If you are readers of the PBDJ magazine you will probably be familiar with these names. Both have also been involved with previous PowerBuilder book releases, are members of TeamSybase and have presented at user conferences around the world. Other contributing authors include a list of well known PowerBuilder experts such as Dave Fish, Bill Green, John Olsen, Roy Kiesler et al. The credentials of all the authors and co-authors of this book read like a Who's Who in PowerBuilder.

   Book Overview

   There are numerous books now available on PowerBuilder - this one does not aim to compete with these but to plug the gap in contents covered. PowerBuilder 9 - Advanced Client/Server Development zeroes in on some of the new features in this version including PBNI (native interface), XML datawindows, reworking of the source control interface, improved IDE and automated application builds using OrcaScript. Other subjects covered include PFC, an in-depth look at database connectivity, advanced coding and DW techniques, 3rd party tools and OLE.

   Target Audience

   The user level of this book is Intermediate - Advanced. The back cover states that this book is aimed at developers who know and use PowerBuilder and are looking to maximize their productivity. I would say that about half of the book succeeds in its aim, covering familiar subjects such as datawindows but with more detail and giving a few tips and techniques; covering new PB9 subjects and giving some useful productivity tips on the IDE for example. The remainder of the book serves as a point of reference such as the 200 pages on database connectivity which would be very useful for users developing for multiple database platforms.

   Content

   I would split the book into 3 main areas - an advanced look at existing features; an introduction to new PB9 features and a database connectivity reference.

   The advanced look at existing features didn't uncover anything new for me but would serve as a useful reminder to someone who hasn't used PowerBuilder for a while. There are some good real life clear examples with supporting code and a few undocumented and therefore unsupported techniques.

   The chapters on the new PB9 features would have been better if they had been more detailed. For example the chapter on XML datawindows assumes you know XML which is fair enough but it is a short and not very detailed chapter. In fact the PowerBuilder user guide provided with the product is much more detailed and useful than the chapter in this book. No tips or techniques are given in the chapter either. The chapter on the IDE and source control integration is useful especially if you are coming from PowerBuilder 7 and haven't used PowerBuilder 8.

   The section on Database Connectivity is a useful reference point if you are developing for multiple database platforms but doesn't fit very well into the title of PowerBuilder 9 - Advanced Client Server Development. It does give a good amount of detail on an area that has previously not been covered particularly well in the past.

   Writing Style

   The writing style of the chapters vary because of the number of different authors. In general most of the chapters are written in a clear and concise manner with some good realistic examples. However some are a little too brief especially some of the new subjects areas such as XML Datawindows and OrcaScript. There is not enough detail and clear examples given for these new features.

   Conclusion

   If you haven't used PowerBuilder for a while or you are still using a version prior to Version 8 then you will find some useful information in this book, likewise if you are developing for multiple database platforms then the Database section will be very beneficial. I believe the book is more aimed at the intermediate level of knowledge rather than the advanced. Personally I wouldn't buy this book for myself because I wouldn't get enough new material from it that is not covered in the PowerBuilder User Guide.

   Karen.baker@seabass.co.uk (www.seabass.co.uk)




3. This is one of the best books PowerBuilder client-server programming books that I have ever read and is probably one of the most well-received books for PowerBuilder yet. Every person I know, who own these books, experienced or not, find it a
   very handy reference.

   I recommend all the PowerBuilder developers to invest in this book. It's really cheap for the quality of it's contents.




4. I want to see detail in book power builder 9



5. This is a good reference/resource book.
   Amazon is always great to deal with as well.
   
   The only problem I had was that it was shipped unwrapped, in an open box, no packing, so the corners of the book were damaged. Unusal for Amazon.