No comments about PHP and MySQL Training Course by Amazing eLearning.

No comments about Filemaker Server 8.0 Univ/win.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe 6.0 CD.

1. Source control is critical, and for small scale operations this app works great. Occasionally there's some db corruption, but in general you should do alright. But it really doesn't scale, lacks many features, and hasn't had any significant feature additions, or development effort in years. Sometimes I think there are no developers currently working on this app at all. There's got to be a better way.



2. If all you ever want of your revison-control software is ``check-in'' and ``get latest version'', then perhaps this is the tool for you.

   If you want to have branching for separate development paths, tools for merging contributions from separate sources, and abilities to affix attributes and labels in non-trivial ways then you are out of luck. To get these features, try ClearCase by Rational Software.

   There is no comparison with the config-spec methadology of ClearCase, which allows one to specify exactly which file/directory elements are assembled into your ``view''.

   If Microsoft truely believed in their product Visual SourceSafe, then wouldn't they use it themselves? No. They use ClearCase.
   QED.




3. Source Code Management, no doubt, is a vital part of any development shop. Any team based development effort needs a centralized repository in which to store their work.

   That being said, I would implore you to choose another product - such as the open source CVS (which can hook into VS.net with the right plug-ins).

   VSS is a buggy, unreliable, unbearably slow...and fundamentally unuseable product. This is *not* the sort of system you should use hold vital data that ammounts to months and months of hard work.

   For your sanity and your time, DO NOT buy this product. As each version seems to bring very little in the way of rethinking this disaster, Microsoft has made it very clear that they could care less about source control.

   (by the way, MS doesn't even use this product in-house).




4. (...) Microsoft does in fact use VSS in-house for their production. I know this, because I worked there.
   VSS is an excellent program to use as long as you have the staff (which any decent IT department should have) with the know-how to use it. We didn't have any problems incorporating it into part of our daily routine, and we used it to produce the entire Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, both online and print versions. We also used it for Windows 2000 Help, and we used it for the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit as well.
   Since moving on from Microsoft, I've found other such production tools to be clunky, and I heartily recommend VSS. Obviously you need someone in your IT department to have the know-how to implement it, but that's the same with *any* such software program. The time and money you save by eliminating human error in the writing and editing process for any style of development is huge, and VSS is absolutely indispensable for professional-level development of product. Once you get everyone accustomed to using it, it becomes second nature and a seamless part of the normal production process.



5. As a CM on a project using Visual SourceSafe I speak wth first hand knowledge when I tell you it is very limited. For a small project it is sufficient as long as your manager doesn't start asking for multiple labels, all types of history queries, multiple views, et cetera. Otherwise you will be spending all your time writing scripts to fill in the holes this product leaves. The other annoying problem is documentation. Not only did Microsoft force you to print all the help, very few other publishers have put anything out on it. "Real World Software Configuration Management" and a couple others have been helpful, but I put together my own manual and tools from some good info at some Forums.
   
   Look hard at RCS or ClearCase before buying this one. We had SourceSafe inhouse so they wanted to use it. I point out the limitations, but I will say it is fairly easy to use and with no more than 4 GB database. It runs relatively error free and is easy to fix with Analyze if you run into problems. Pricewise it is decent, but it lacks the features and support you may find your project wanting. If you have a small database, don't mind writing some scripts, and want to keep cost down, then this may suit your needs.

2 comments about Landscape Design Software.

1. this software is very poorly done. You have to set your graphics card to 96 dpi and that makes for undstable screen. Once the program comes up and running takes long time for selection from buttons to work. Slow, cumbersome, poorly written help menue. When want to add type of mulch the button doesn't work and if it does you can easily draw the mulch onto the house and not where you want to place it. Decription of this says a pen appears after the selection of the mulch and then draw an outline with pen onto the area for the mulch. It doesn't work. So caveat emptor on this software.



2. This software Landscape vision has a new downloadable version that is much better then the cd one. More options, bigger screen, no changing your grapic setting anymore. Let's you import any image too. I both the first version and liked it, but I needed more options so I upgraded to the next version, and I'm really liking it. Check out their site www.landscapeyourvisions.com

No comments about Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Client Additional License for Users.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Standard.

1. I'm a student in an advanced VB class and I've only had one problem with this software so far. I haven't worked with web pages yet, so for a student this is pretty fair. If you want to include a database in your projects, make sure you have Microsoft Office or the full version of Access 2000 or greater. I have Microsoft Works (which doesn't include Access or .mdb files) which is not supported by VB.NET. Now I have to buy yet another Microsoft product!!! I have the XP Home Edition, which has supported VB.NET very well, opposed to some of the reviews that stated they had problems with the compatibility of the two.



2. Sun ONE Studio 4 Community Edition is FREE. If you want to self-eduate yourself in how to develop web applications, it is a good choice.



3. I'm not sure why everyone is complaining about Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), when this software is so powerful.

   First, let me say that it's true VB.NET Standard Edition is somewhat crippled in that it doesn't let you create DLL's or mobile apps for WinCE devices. Nor does it include Crystal Reports, or some other features you'd find in VB.NET Professional/Enterprise. However, it's perfect for making small utilities/applications.

   Most of my programming experience has been with Perl, PHP, Java, C, C++. I had a little exposure to Visual Basic in college, but I had forgotten everything I had learned about it. With VB.NET standard and _Visual Basic .NET Step by Step_ (ISBN: 0-7356-1374-5) I was able to write a fully functional and moderately complex application (and distribute it with the included Windows installer) in about 2 weeks time. I was astounded by the low learning curve.

   There are two different types of programs you can create with VB.NET, those based on Windows forms and those based on Web forms. Windows forms would be your traditional type of Windows application, while Web forms are designed to work through the Internet. I have no VB.NET experience creating Web forms, but the features look promising.

   VB.NET is different than earlier versions of VB because it is built around the .NET framework. The .NET framework works more like Java. Your programs are converted to bytecode which runs on the .NET framework (which your users must install to run your apps). That would probably explain why it is slower than older VB compilers.

   In the past, applications created with Visual C++ would run faster than those made with VB. This is no longer the case. All Visual Studio Languages (C#, C++ and VB) all compile to .NET bytecode. Because the resulting bytecode is the same, you choose the language whose syntax you are most familiar with.

   I feel the benefits of switching to .NET are worth the performance loss. Because .NET is Microsoft's answer to Java, everything is now heavily dependant on Objects. OO programming with VB.NET is incredibly simple. Chances are any structure or function/method you'd like to use is already written - you just need to find the proper namespace in the .NET framework, import it into your code and then create an instance of the object you want. It's OO at its best.

   I would definitely not recommend VB.NET to people who have no programming experience. You need to get your feet wet with something else before delving into this.

   Just to clarify compatibility issues; VB.NET requires WinNT, Win2k, or WinXP Professional. It's my understanding that it will work on WinXP Home for applications, but you need XP Pro for creating/testing Web forms.




4. I like some of the new features, but VB6 was a more mature product. I was frustrated in that I spent a couple hundred dollars on additional books and all assumed you had visual studio.net. I am selling this to fund my purchase of Visual Studio.net. As someone said, it is handy if you want to start learning and delay purchase of visual studio.net for a few months.



5. Visual Basic.NET Standard is the best buy for the money. For all the people that think this version is crippled. It's not, you just have to do a little more work with it.

   This is not a trial version, the people that made that complaint are either too lazy to learn to code and are dependant on wizards ( scary ) or just lazy. You can do alot with this package and for the money like I said before this is
   an excellent buy.

   As Far as not being able to compile dll's yes you can if you write your own project wizard, like I did :)

   Things VB.NET Standard CAN DO
   Windows Apps
   Web Apps
   Console Apps
   Web Services

   AND Yes Class Libraries if you know what you are doing.

No comments about Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Edition.

No comments about Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 5 CAL.

No comments about QuickStart Spanish Audio CD.

No comments about Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition.