No comments about Maven: The Definitive Guide.

3 comments about B Is For Bluegrass: A Kentucky Alphabet Edition 1. (Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series).

1. I am a library media specialist from Kentucky and I have been waiting for a book like this for a long time. The illustrations are beautiful and the text is very informative and fun to read. My students really enjoyed hearing selections from this book.



2. This is a remarkable book that really helps with the Kentucky Unit required in the 4th grade. I am a 4th grade teacher and have used this book to illustrate and introduce concepts. Its best used a page at a time - not to be sat down and read to everyone. I cannot say enough about this book.



3. I collect children's books, as well as literature about and from Kentucky. What a perfect addition to my library! I was mesmerized by the beautiful illustrations. I am waiting for a baby I know to get a little bigger as he still eats his board book pages, but when he can look at picture books like this one, I will get him his own copy!

5 comments about Working with Microsoft (r) Visual Studio(r) 2005 Team System.

1. Working with Visual Studio 2005 Team System is less about working with it and more about what it is and what it can do, and even that is not more than a simple outline, just the top of the mountain. I guess I expected more How To's and less what it is. That information is everywhere on MS websites. So I am still looking for some details on how to get it done.



2. The book does *not* tell you how to work with VSTS. It's a summary of marketing blabla praising Microsoft for what they haven't invented at all. Almost all the info has been used when VSTS was announced in 2005.
   There are many MSDN articles really telling you how to use VSTS. This book is *not* for IT professionals. For example it does not contain a complete example starting from requirements analysis to integration testing.
   If you are paid for getting software out the door - look somewhere else for VSTS info.



3. This book does a very good job of describing Microsoft's intention behind the new functionality available in the "Team System" versions of it's Visual Studio 2005 product. That said, it is disappointing that Microsoft has not given out Demo DVDs with this information anyway. Team System has a significant price tag (especially since many of the same features can be acquired through free add-ons) and one would have expected Microsoft to provide information for free to help people to decide whether or not it was for them.
   
   As far as this book, it was surprising that they left out the "Database Professional's" edition of the software. While that was not released when the book was printed, it should have been on the roadmap and discussed. On the plus side, while it covered the Class Designer, which is technically not part of the Team System editions, the author was careful to mention that fact several times. The reason it was included was because the author was trying to describe things more from a process perspective (how one uses Team System) rather than a product perspective.
   
   The book makes good use of illustrations, is well written, and, surprisingly, does not really push the product instead of describing it.



4. Microsoft Visual Studio Team system has provided the essential tool set for the entire team to facilitate the SDLC support. Richard Hundhausen's "Working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System" discusses not just the tool set but also the underlying software methodology, MSF, CMMI and Agile MSF, and provides an concrete and concise breadth first reference to the team system.
   
   This ~340 pages long MS Press book is organized into four parts; namely "Introduction to team system", "Team System for the entire team", "Methodologies and extensibility" and Appendices which contain an elaborate case study. This book provides an outstanding overview of team system and covers the entire SDLC with topics like installation, branching, merging, source control, different team system editions and their significance all the way to the deployment. It serves as an essential reference guide with team system which is Microsoft's effort to provide integrated tool set.
   
   If you are a software development manager, enterprise developer, configuration manager, or a developer who wants to learn about team system without having to read through a thousand page manual, I recommend it as "the book" for you. The writing quality is excellent and this concise and effective book definitely worth to be on every serious .NET developer's must-read books list.



5. I am going to give a short review for this MS Press book, because at 287 pages, it is way too thin for a mountainous product suite like Visual Studio Team System. The book's title "Working with" set a level of expectation that I can get walk out feeling confident in putting VSTS into good use. Unfortunately that is not the case. Going through the chapters only confirmed my fears - which I got with from the very first glance at the book's thickness - each chapter touches a feature set, and I really mean just "touch" and not "dig deep". Merely introducing and explaning the rationale behind them, the major capabilities are shown as "what they are" and not "how to do".
   
   As briefing material, they are fine. As a practical guide book teaching how to expertly operate and work with VSTS, it carries little value. There are absolutely no tutorials. No source content to get the reader to exercise its features to learn and understand by practical experience. It does not cover the many common scenarios development teams and try to explain how to accomplish them in VSTS. VSTS is a monumental system that is not easy to learn and leverage, and this book has zero lessons of practicality.
   
   Had this book been titled "Introducing Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System", it would have received a much higher rating. Who will best benefit from this book? Project managers and CTOs who want a high-level feature overview. Hardcore development team members who want to learn how to use VSTS to its fullest potential have to look for another book.
   
   
   Good: High-level briefing on VSTS features
   Bad: Covers them briefly; no practical exercises

5 comments about Graphics and GUIs with MATLAB, Third Edition (Graphics & GUIs with MATLAB).

1. This book does a good job of going into the details of handles and properties to allow the reader to get a good feel of how to use the tools available. There are also good examples in the book. I have worked with quite a few different languages so I found it very enjoyable to read, but I don't know that a beginner will have a good feel for the execution of code associated with a user action (ie Buttondwnfcn) or not. I think if they take time with the examples they can get a good understanding though. Excellent book!



2. This is the best book I have found on developing GUIs in Matlab. Other reviews claim that the coverage of GUIs is limited. I agree that the coverage is limited, but yet it is the "less limited" coverage I've found. It is true that there is only one chapter on GUIs. Yet, this is the last and longer chapter in the book. Before buying this book, I tried to learn how to develop GUIs from the Matlab manuals but got only poorly-developed GUIs. with unbearable "side effects" (mainly related to using the Matlab base workspace). This book taught me how to avoid these side effects and how to develop GUIs that are self-contained and whose interaction with the Matlab base workspace is minimal or null. I highly recommend this book to anybody who needs to develop GUIs.



3. This is not a book for beginners who want to learn MATLAB or GUI. If you already know how to run MATLAB and know some GUI, then you may find this book useful. It will improve your graph and GUI skill. If you have no knowledge on how GUI is created, this is not a book for you.



4. I mainly wished to just make a GUI interface, but then I found i needed some graphics and found this book to be very helpful in both categories. For the GUI section, there were many options available for making a GUI and all options were clearly laid out from the use of global variables, to using GUIDE.



5. I'd been using Matlab for several years (completely self-taught) and wanted to learn how to set up a simple GUI for some routine tasks I was performing at work. I borrowed this book from a coworker, but plan to buy it in the near future. I have the "Mastering Matlab 7" book, which only covered how to use individual GUI elements. There wasn't much in the way of how to structure a GUI program, which is the niche I feel this book handles nicely, even going into a bit of animation type stuff, which is handy for using the mouse to interact with a plot, among other things.
   
   After reading the GUI chapter in this book, I was able to create a simple GUI without much difficulty. I was happy to see that the old functions that I had previously written required only very minor changes to interface with the GUI. Understanding the structure of a Matlab GUI was the key that this book excells at in my opinion.
   
   Now that I've made a "decent" GUI (albeit simple, I'm not a software engineer), I just clone and modify it for the next GUI that I need. This book will definitely provide a good jumping-off point for GUI development. The rest you can learn by doing.
   
   I would most definitely say that a thorough understanding Matlab's "handle graphics" is a REQUIRED pre-requisite before trying to do GUI operation.

4 comments about Access 2003 for Starters: The Missing Manual.

1. The Pogue Press line does it again!! When I looked down at the retail price for this book I couldn't believe my eyes. If you are new to Microsoft Access and want to ramp up quickly on how to use this exciting application, you would be hard-pressed to find a better bargain to get up to speed in no time.
   
   I usually write longer reviews, but for the price that this book is listed at, this would inefficient and a waste of time. If you want to learn how to use Access 2003, stop reading and pick up this book today!!
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



2. I own a Network Consulting firm which handles IT for Small to Medium businesses. That said, I know zilch about Microsoft Access. Recently a client asked I provide them with a simple inventory managment database. While I actually set them up with an out of box solution, I figured I should learn Access to possibly do our own development.
   
   This book is really fantastic. I own plenty of tech books; some good, and some not so good. I rated this book high for the two things it does really well:
   
   1. It shows you a nice view of what you *can* do in terms of options at each stage of building/working with a database, and explains them.
   
   2. It applies the information with easy to follow, yet not stupidly simple projects.
   
   I went through 130 pages today alone and if the wife wasn't bugging me to death, would probably knock out a chapter or two more before bed.
   
   Great book. The title explains it all.



3. If you are new to Access and want to learn how to do things, this book is very helpful. If you are an experienced user and want to become an expert, this book may not have everything you need. We use this manual in conjunction with the Video Professor and between the two, we are now very comfortable with Access.



4. This book leaves alot to be desired. Cover to cover, It seemed way too brief. I felt like I was being coached through a few topics that could be figured out by just playing around with the program. Im confused as to why the authors felt it necessary to sacrifice so many trees in order to offer a step by step walk-through of how to use the program's various wizard modes. It seems to me that anyone could open up access and walk themselves through the wizard without reading any of this book. The other 25%-35% of the book that does cover the design view is way to0 brief to be of any use. You barely get a taste of what's out there. Basically you feel like your still.... searching for the "Missing" information.

5 comments about C++ Gotchas: Avoiding Common Problems in Coding and Design (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series).

1. This book works by living up to its title and showing distinct problem areas with C++, highlighting the wary and unwary, experienced and inexperienced, alike. One of our team brought this in, and told us he'd learned a lot, and thought that we senior members would also benefit. Having scoffed at him, we each had to eat our words after reading.
   
   Recommended



2. I prefer C++ gotchas to the C++ exceptional and effective series. Why? Because this book is much simpler. If you're a Hacker (?) I supouse you won't like this book, don't goes through the details of Exceptional and so on.
   But If you want to learn the basic idioms and know-how of C++ I must recommend this one. Simpler, without obscure features... the way 99% C++ projects should be wrote.
   Of course, This is a personal opinion :-) You should not be angry with me for don't say that the C++ pearls books are not nice.



3. There are unlikely to be many other C++ books where the word 'ignoramus' appears as often. Dewhurst's writing definitely has character. This book contains 99 items on common mistakes made by C++ programmers, and serves up best practices to replace those bad habits.
   
   Does this sound a bit familiar? Well, yeah, there's substantial overlap with books by Scott Meyers and Herb Sutter, so not every item is a revelation. That said, C++ is sufficiently complicated that I can do with all the help I can get. This also covers some more basic material than others, for example new-style casts. It also covers pointers to members and pointers to member functions very well.
   
   However, there isn't any material on templates here, and there's quite a lot of overlap with the author's subsequent book, 'C++ Common Knowledge', which I consider to be superior to this one. So while this is a perfectly good book, I would point you towards C++ Common Knowledge.



4. I forced myself through the first chapter (first 12 Gotchas) and decided that I'd rather spend my time somewhere else.
   
   First, many practices preached in this book are questionable. Quoted from the book: "I've received strong, negative, and sometimes abusive reactions to my use of every one of the constructs above." (Gotcha #7).
   
   The author is against himself all the time - best described in his own words. In Gotcha #11: "Unnecessary cleverness is a common problem with C++ programmers. Remember that it's nearly always preferable to be conventional, clear, and slightly less efficient than unnecessarily clever, unclear, and unmaintainable." In Gotcha #12: "We programmers are good at dispensing advice but often have a hard time following it."
   
   The editorial (or organizing?) quality is not superior either. For example, Gotcha #8's title "Failure to Distinguish Access and Visibility" doesn't describe what is discussed in that section.
   
   The author's arrogant and condescending attitude doesn't make the reading very pleasant.
   
   The reason I gave two instead of one star is that the author is obviously very knowledgeable in C++ language. This is NOT one of those useless garbage books. You do have a chance to pick up some tricks here and there. But if you're busy and still want to learn something valuable as quick as you can, I suggest read or just re-read Stroustrup, or try Meyers's Effective C++.



5. This book, along with Dewhurst's other one, C++ Common Knowledge: Essential Intermediate Programming should be mandatory reading for C++ programmers.
   
   No groundbreaking discoveries, only problems you are guaranteed to come against while developing in C++, solutions and advice. Some gotchas are pretty well known, others I haven't found in any other book, while most of them were a refresher or clarifier.
   
   Read it so you won't have to learn these lessons the hard way, in the debugger.

4 comments about Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs.

1. Simply put, this book is a must have for any Oracle DBA. Many new and advanced features within Oracle are implemented using PL/SQL. As an Oracle DBA, you must have a firm grasp of this powerful language and how to take advantage of features in Oracle10g that include:
   
   *) Security
   *) Auditing
   *) Encryption
   *) Optimizing Performance
   *) Automating Tasks
   *) Scheduling
   
   To start, Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs provides a solid foundation of the PL/SQL language including syntax, data types, cursors, control logic, exception handling, abstract data types, procedures, functions, and packages. The introduction is well written and packed with many explanations and examples. The book continues further to describe in great detail the use of cursors and table functions in chapters 2 and 3.
   
   At this point, the Oracle DBA should have a firm understanding of the language and move on to more DBA-specific features that involve the use of PL/SQL. Chapter 4 explorers the fundamentals of encryption and how to implement advanced encryption techniques within Oracle. The chapter focuses on the use of the PL/SQL packages DBMS_CRYPTO (Oracle10g R1 and higher) and DBMS_OBFUSCATION_TOOLKIT (earlier releases prior to Oracle10g R1). Algorithms like DES and Triple DES along with other encryption fundamentals like hashing and key management are explained in easy to understand terms and illustrations.
   
   Chapter 5 is dedicated to Row-Level Security. The authors do a fantastic job of explaining policies and how they work. Once again, the extensive amount of accurate examples is what makes this chapter easy to understand and implement. Special attention is paid to the use of the PL/SQL package DBMS_RLS and using it to create policies and control user access. A special section is provided on troubleshooting common errors with row-level security along with how to interpret and resolve them.
   
   Chapter 6 explains the use of Fine-Grained Auditing (FGA). Like previous chapters, the authors lay the foundation for why, how, and when to use this powerful feature along with specifics to how it works with different Oracle releases. The DBA will learn just what is captured with FGA and how to customize it to their environment. FGA makes use of the PL/SQL procedure DBMS_FGA. Detailed examples are provided for creating and editing policies along with methods for administrating FGA.
   
   Chapter 7 deals with generating random numbers and how to take advantage of DBMS_RANDOM. Here you will find great explanations of how to check for randomness and following statistical patterns. Again, all of this is put together with accurate examples.
   
   Chapter 8 was my favorite - Scheduling. This chapter focuses on DBMS_SCHEDULER - Oracle10g's replacement for DBMS_JOB. Sections are also provided on how to prioritize jobs with the use of Database Resource Manager (DBMS_RESOURCE_MANAGER).
   
   I enjoyed this book from front to back. Very well thought out explanations, real world examples and illustrations.



2. This book is a must have for DBA's!
   
   It highlights so many of the powerful features and functionality of the Oracle Database, encapsulated within the PL/SQL language, that the first 5 chapters is worth the entire cost of the book!
   (Especially Chapter 3 - Table Functions!)
   
   Not only is this a must have for DBA's, it should also be required reading for PL/SQL developers, data warehouse developers and database architects alike.



3. It's no surprise that learning Oracle is one of the most challenging things to do for any person that works in the IT field. This massive database application has a long and storied history, becoming one of the de facto standards for storing database on massive scales. A huge chunk of the web is stored on Oracle systems, and it's a system that keeps growing and expanding over time.
   
   With the complexity involved, it's nice that a book like this has been written so that DBAs can quickly get their feet wet with Oracle and learn the ins and outs in an efficient manner. At a size of 400+ pages, this is a nice guide to learn the basics of becoming an experienced Oracle DBA. Containing 8 chapters that cover the basics, this book covers Oracle up to Database 10g Release 2. It's up to date, written well, and a perfect companion resource on any DBAs desk.
   
   **** RECOMMENDED



4. Are you a developer or database administrator? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Arup Nanda and Steven Feuerstein, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that allows you to take advantage of the PL/SQL-based functionality in the Oracle database that is the most critical for DBAs.
   
   Nanda and Steven Feuerstein, begin by providing a whirlwind tour of the PL/SQL language, touching on all of the topics DBAs will need to become familiar with--from the basics of the PL/SQL block structure, identifier construction, and program data declarations, to the use of control and error-handling statements, to the construction of procedures, functions, packages, and triggers in PL/SQL. Then, the authors describe PL/SQL cursors and how you can improve database performance by taking advantage of such features as cursor reuse, cursor soft-parsing and soft-closing, and various characteristics of implicit cursors. Next, they explore the use of functions that can be used as data sources for queries and that are used frequently in Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) operations. The authors then explain how you can use Oracle's tools to build basic encryption and key management systems to protect sensitive data. They continue to explain how you can define policies on database tables so that you can restrict which rows particular users can see or change in those tables. Then, the authors show you how you can extend traditional Oracle auditing to capture both database changes and queries. Next, they discuss situations in which you may need to generate values. Finally, they describe the use of the DBMS_SCHEDULER package in scheduling jobs to be performed at regular intervals.
   
   This most excellent book is here to help you get your job done. More importantly, this book is focused squarely on the language topics of special concern to DBAs.

5 comments about Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition.

1. This is a recommended book to read for people who would like to read about statistics and maths. People with few knowledge about these sciences will find it a bit difficult to read.



2. The theories of NN and PR are quite difficult to understand. But this book makes them much easier. The author can explain the concepts without using too much formula. If other authors could follow his step then the life is much easier!



3. If you want a very good, intermediate introduction to pattern classification this book must be on your bookshelf. It even does a very nice job explaining the EM algorithm in a few pages! Basic calculus is all you need to understand the book. A must read.



4. This is the best book I have found for a general study of the of neural networks. I found this particularly useful when looking at how to write my own NN frameworks. The depth of the mathematics allowed me to easily answer questions like: 'what if I replaced function abc with xyz'. I have found other texts failed to show key mathematical derivations, or to explore the subtleties of what the maths imply.
   
   The book covers a plethora of topics from simple gradient descent through second order techniques and conjugate gradient, through to the use of 'bayesian techniques' (basically confidence intervals on network outputs), monte carlo techniques etc. Similarly error functions, non-linearities (sigmoids, softmax etc.) and data preparation are all treated.
   
   The extensive bibliography also provides excellent references for further study, (a whos who of the field, as well as actual titles). My copy is now dog earred from frequent reading.



5. Mr Bishop's book is very well written and contains a lot of useful information on neural networks. It is outlined well and progresses in a logical form. If, however, you are looking for a book that gives discussions with concrete examples of neural networks applications or set ups, you will be sorely disappointed. The mathematical treatment is universally generalized with very few specific concrete examples shown. Even the exercises will not serve you well. The term 'graded' is used; however, that simply referes to the description of difficulty. There are no answers to these exercises, so unless you have a teacher or are already firmly familiar with the material, you will not know if you have completed them correctly or not. Even worse, the exercises are in general not written to reinforce concepts in the chapter, but in most cases extend the chapter material into new regions.
   
   In summary, this book should only be purchased by someone already familiar with neural networks and their mathematical basis. Anyone else will be wasting their money.

5 comments about Cocoa Programming for Dummies.

1. A decent introduction - but it starts off assuming you already know C (like most intro to Cocoa books -- When will someone write a learning to program with Obj-C/Cocoa for beginners new to programming?).

   The book could use more detail in describing why you do certain things in Obj-C/Cocoa instead of just saying do it this way.

   But the worst part is the huge number of errors and inaccuracies in the book. Every chapter contains multiple errors - usually with missing steps or method names changing between steps or being differnent in the pictures. The editing is HORRIBLE. This really should be .5 Edition - it really is too error ridden to be a 1st edition.

   If you are looking for a book to get you up to speed on Project Builder and Interface Builder (based on the Dec. 2002 Developer Tools) then it is a decent introduction. But don't expect this to get you started in programming for OS X if you don't have any real programming experience. And the constant errors in editing are pretty bad; you have to keep on your toes to make sure you account for them or sometimes the examples won't work.

   Finally, to the cocoa book writing community in general -- please address the market for new programmers who want to learn to program in Obj. C/Cocoa and who do not have any extensive (or any at all) programming experience in C.




2. I've been trying to teach myself Cocoa for over a year now. OS X is an absolutely stunning piece of software, and I love the idea that Apple includes in the box a full set of developer tools I can use to create my own little OS X masterpiece.

   The problem, however, is the learning curve. For a first-time programmer, Cocoa is one tough nut to crack. There are lots of third-party books out there now. Unfortunately, they are all geared toward experienced programmers. Every book assumes fairly extensive C or OOP programming experience, and none cover basic programming or Objective-C in sufficient detail for the complete programming newbie.

   While this book isn't really an exception to the rule, the approach is definitely more newbie-friendly. I purchased the book on a Thursday, and finished it on Sunday evening with a much greater appreciation and understanding of Cocoa technology.

   What made the difference? For one, by the time this came out, I already had some exposure to the underlying technologies: I trudged through Apple's Objective-C documentation (hard-going for non-programmers, but after a couple of read-throughs, the material starts to gel). I did the Currency Converter tutorial, which got me familiar with Project Builder and Interface Builder, the two most important tools in Cocoa development. I read various other portions of Apple's on-line documentation, and looked at some tutorials available on the web. As noted, I'd also taken a crack at some of the other books available on the subject, throwing in the towel on all of them before hitting page 100 or so. None of this taught me how to program in Cocoa, but it gave me enough background to tackle this book and understand just about every topic covered.

   If, and probably only if, you've at least looked at Cocoa and Objective-C before (or have significant experience in C, Java, Smalltalk, or other OOP), you will be able to not only work through, but understand, the exercises in this book.

   And the exercises are very practical and clearly explained. Rather than build a book-length, professional quality application, the author builds small, toy applications to demonstrate Cocoa patterns that you can actually use to build your own software. For example, the chapters on text handing, window management, and file and folder management, are clear and concise, allowing the reader to work through them quickly and without complication. This fast and dirty approach, at least for me, had the added benefit of allowing me to get through the book in less than a week, take a step back, and appreciate how all I learned could be used to start building my own, more complex project.

   I'd like to thank Mr. Tejkowsi for being first to market with a Cocoa beginner's book that actually works for beginners. His effort gave me a taste of the power of Cocoa, and the confidence to return to other, more advanced texts that I'd walked away from before. Thanks to him, I'm not ready to give up on Cocoa just yet!




3. I must echo decker's complaint about the editing, which really is horrendous.

   But my criticism of the book is deeper still. On pp. 55 - 56 in discussing the use of number formatting for output in the interface, the text describes the "bug" as resulting when "the count of digits in the decimal protion doesn't match between the two numbers". This is a material misstatement, and neglects any attempt to explain the real cause of the problem that the formatting is intended to solve: The inexact representation of (most) decimal fractions in machine representation. Yes, this is an advanced programming topic - and may not be of interest to beginning programmers; but there is no excuse for giving an incorrect explanation instead. Why does this book waste pages and pages on repetitive explanations, yet remain incapable of providing a sentence or two on one of the most fundamental facts for computer programmers. This insults the intelligence of even a beginner.

   Chapter 6 (for example) contains repetitions of very basic material introduced in Chapters 3 and 4, some it word-for-word duplication of passages on outlets and actions and their connections in Interface Builder (pp.117-128). Where was the editor during the production of this material? This whole repetition seems to be for the benefit of introducing the Objective-C keyword "id".

   Later, on p. 121, the author misses a golden opportunity to introduce the reader to the benefits of Cocoa's naming conventions for accessor functions in classes. The method that returns the value of an instance variable can (and should!) have the same name as the instance variable. Many advanced features of Cocoa (especially in Panther and Xcode) become much more usable if one follows this convention. It couldn't have taken more than a page or two to introduce the subject, yet the book repeats itself annoyingly on several other topics. One suspects neither author, editor, nor reviewer knows anything about many important Cocoa topics. What a waste!

   Then, further, the inclusion of some material seems inappropriate for this introductory level. For example, why waste several pages digressing on the use of the File Merge utility. No beginning programmer needs to worry about this, and there are far less risky ways of modifying the interface after files for it have been created.

   "Cocoa Programming for Dummies" finds its way to the top of my list of "Worst Programming Books Ever Published." I felt after finishing it that the reader would know EXACTLY as much as the author about Cocoa programming - no more, and no less. In other words, Tejkowski "holds nothing back"; he's told us EVERYTHING he knows about Cocoa programming. Perhaps I should be more sympathetic: Why did the acquisitions staff for the Dummies series rope a RealBasic programmer into writing a Cocoa book? Couldn't they find someone more qualified? The Dummies series generally handles its material in a light-hearted and clever fashion; how did it sink so low in this fiasco?




4. The number of errors in the code and processes in the book make it very frustrating for beginners. I think with a good rewrite and update for Xcode, and more careful editing (some errors were obviously a result of the production process, missing lines of code that were included in the online extras files, missing steps in development instructions, and such) this would be a useful beginner's book.



5. This is not a very good book for learning Objective C and Cocoa. The author programmes in Basic, and it shows. Get the much better introduction called Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X from Aaron Hillegass.

5 comments about Professional Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET, 2nd Edition.

1. This book has an annoying trait of explaining super basic things as if you had no knowledge of computers. It tells you step by step how to add a project. Select File -> New -> etc. Which is fine if all material is covered with this detail. But it's not. The harder stuff is, or this stuff that's is impossible to arrive at with clicking, is glossed over. For instance, there's a section that tells you how to use Crystal Parameters with values entered in a textbox. A very useful thing. The explanation is laborious on how to add components on the form but when he gets to the code part, he says, "You can now use this code to set you parameter fields" No mention of where this code goes. How could they assume you've never turned on a computer before with the Select File -> New bit and then assume you know where this code goes. It makes this book useless. It's one of things that is just infuriating. Who do they think the audience is for this book? If you know VS you know how to add a project, for Christ's sake. If you know Crystal you know how to make parameters. The reason you buy this book is to see how the two work together. WTF!



2. Good reference and tutorials for designing templates and adding them to your own apps to view and print reports. Could rename it ".NET reporting in a Day" as that is all it took for me. I reccomend this book.



3. Actually I purchased this book few months back. Today my opinion is this book is not upto the mark. It is only blah blah blah. No topic is covered in detail. I needed to search web for many things after reading this book. He is nowhere discussing crystal reports SDKs in detail. We wont get any overview of crystal reports SDKs provided with visual studio.



4. The book is a reasonable resource.
   
   I was disapointed in the number of typos and errors in the code in the book. I was more disappointed in the lack of mention of these errors in the errata section of the web-site.
   
   Unfortunately this has been my experience with the last few books I purchased so perhaps that's just what to expect.
   
   The text is clear and easy to understand. It covers the basics of creating a report and covers most of the features in at least a cursory way and others in depth.
   
   Even though disappointed I think the book is a useful resource.



5. I agreed with many of the prior reviewers when they stated that the book doesn't cover many options and in some examples they are covered completely and other examples jump around and lack the same "follow through" in the lesson as the prior examples. I also found that included screenshots were not consistent as well. Often when I was expecting a screenshot because the explanation given in the text was not so clear, no screenshot existed. In Chapter 3 the author has you use an example from Chapter 2 and in the SubReports section, the correct example could not be found. I found the example stated in the text but it did not contain the example shown in the screenshot.
   
   In my opinion, when I purchase a book to learn a new software application that is 1) expensive, and 2) difficult to figure out, I expect consistency in a text this way I come to know what is expected by the person teaching. This book lacked that. If I had been somewhat knowledgeable with Crystal Reports prior to reading this text, it might be a different story altogether, but that wasn't my case. Final note, the author doesn't state what .NET code he will be using. I came to find out that its VB.NET, unfortunately for me I'm a C# programmer. I figured it out but I probably wouldn't not have purchased the book if I had known that from reading the covering or book description.