5 comments about Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide.

1. Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide covers everything and more that I wanted to learn about Crystal Reports. The information is easy to digest and there are regular 1-Minute checks along the way. Hands-on experience, in the form of Projects, are dispersed through each chapter (the completed projects can be downloaded from the web). Answers to the Mastery Checks, at the end of every chapter, are given in the Appendix.

   My only complaint about the book is that, I feel, there is not enough hands-on experience because the projects are too simple. There are plenty of projects, but most of them are simply a number of steps and very little critical thinking. After reading Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide, my knowledge of Crystal Reports has vastly increased though I still have little experience with actually creating reports.




2. This book needs some serious editing
   Right now I'm on Chapter 4 and so far this book is terrible in regards to the Projects. The project instructions don't correspond with the results intended and shown. For example, the instructions say open the Customer by Country report, but then it says 'your report should look like this' and shows you an entirely different report! And sometimes the report you worked on doesn't even work for the task you're trying to learn. The author must have had his friends write the other customer reviews. Don't buy this book! It's just unfortunate though that there aren't many choices.



3. It is a beginners book as the title says, but there is a pittfal, the author should consider for future books.
   Not every chapter has a step-by-step tutrial. The user have to download the samples and use them to be able to follow the author, which defeats the purpose of learning by doing.
   Chapters 4 & 5 make are mutually exlusive, since chp 5 requires reports from chp 4, that was not a step-by-step tutorial.
   Either make it a step-by-step or don't. Just be consistent.



4. I'm afraid I have to agree with the review from "A reader from Cupertino, CA" - I, too, am on Chapter 4 and am frustrated beyond belief because my reports look very little like the examples in the book so far. In the case of the second tutorial in chapter 4, again the other reviewer is correct - it's not even the same report!

   I bought "A Beginner's Guide to JavaScript" by the same company and was thrilled with it. It was clear, concise and had a "mini-project" at the end of each chapter for the reader to complete to ensure mastery of the concept being taught. I was expecting the same thing with this book, and am sorely disappointed. The explaination of each topic is general at best, incorrect at worst, the tutorials are simplistic and don't include half the information being covered in each chapter, if indeed a tutorial exists at all.

   I need to get up to speed on Crystal Reports in a fairly short period of time, and be able to generate some fairly sophisticated reports. This book is becoming a hindrance to that goal.




5. I am coming from a VBA background learning about this new software. This book is a great resource tool for making such a transition. Mr. McAmis stepped me through the learning process in a clear and concise manner. The information was learned in progressive manner, in that, the further through the book I read, the more complex issues were handled. At the end each chapter the author challenged me with key questions to help me remember the most important issues.

2 comments about Learning ASP.NET 2.0 with AJAX: A Practical Hands-on Guide.

1. §
   I am impressed at how well-paced and explanatory this book is. Usually the big problems I see in coding books have very little to do with the quality of the code and very much to do with care (or its lack) in pacing and organization. The result here is a book that thinks through and accounts for the questions beginners will have.
   
   The authors direct themselves to developers asking the question "What is the quickest way for me to build real Web applications with the least handcoding?" They stick to that so closely, anyone worrying about the VB versus C# thing should not feel any hesitation on that account in getting this book.
   
   The examples use Visual Studio or its free counterpart, Visual Web Developer. An appendix guides you through their installation and configuration, as well as that of SQL Express.
   
   The book has a nice addition for the serious student: each chapter has a quiz and exercises -- with the answers provided in the back of the book.
   §



2. 'Learning ASP.NET 2.0 with AJAX: A Practical Hands-on Guide' is another gem of a book by heavy technology author Jesse Liberty et al.. If you know about recent web advances over the last couple of years you know about AJAX which has revolutionized the Web 2.0 world, allowing for real apps to be made on the web. The user doesn't have to wait wait wait any more, as they can make decision/choices and get the feedback that they are expecting right away. AJAX technology basically splits pages up into "virtual divs" where instead of displayed content being control, handshakes and communication behind the scenes is what is modified. Early AJAX code was a bit flaky but Microsoft has made things easier with their ASP.NET AJAX set of controls and classes. In order to learn how to use these tools the user needed a book that laid things out in a logical fashion and did so in a tight, useful package, this book is the result!!
   
   This ~500 page book is broken up in the following way:
   
   01. Intro
   02. Web Apps
   03. AJAX Web Apps
   04. Saving/Getting Data
   05. Validation
   06. Style sheets, Master Pages, Navigation
   07. State & Life Cycle
   08. Errors, Exceptions, Bugs
   09. Security & Personalization
   10. Epilogue
   
   If you have a read a Jesse Liberty book in the past you know that you are getting a top notch quality product. He's so good at writing tech friendly books it's like sitting down with him. Examples are spaced out well and content is described in a VERY user-friendly manner.
   
   If you develop with ASP.NET and want to implement AJAX on your site, PICK UP THIS BOOK. The only disclaimer is the code is written in VB but if you are a savvy programmer it shouldn't be very difficult to make the switch to C# if that is your flavor of the month.
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

2 comments about Structural, Civil and Pipe Drafting for CAD technicians (Delmar Learning Drafting Series).

1. A few changes recommended before (ever) reprinting this book.
   
   -Hiring an Editor who reads drawings is imperative!
   
   -The illustrations for exercises are difficult to read in many cases due to the stylized lettering & smallness of type. Details are difficult to see without a magnifying glass for some people. A suggestion - include an electronic copy of the illustrations on the included cd for easy review. Since most drawings are done on CAD now, get rid of the hand lettering or please make it all caps instead of lowercase.
   
   -Before putting in a hand drawn drawing for an exercise, draw it in CAD first. There were many math errors in dimnesions & missing dimensions. One drawing even had some dimensions that evidently "moved" to where it was referencing nothing. Several drawings that were supposed to work together had discrepancies between them.
   
   -The Appendix is missing the Angle Channel references page stated in the Appendix Contents.
   
   -The chapter on Pre-Engineered Metal Bldgs should be thrown out. It was very frustrating to try and gather enough information from the book to do anything but guess - that is not where you want a student or teacher to be. Get rid of all the pictures of the outside of the buildings - we've all seen them before - and include pictures of the inside & detailed pictures of how they are put together. That is where we really need to see the details. This chapter had the feel that the author thought it should be included but didn't really wanted to spend the time or effort to write it well.
   
   -I'm sorry to say that I don't trust what information is in this book because of all the errors I found. I am not the teacher -I AM A STUDENT. I have been drafting for many years but am new to the Civil & Structural field. Most of the errors were basic drafting & omitted or conflicting information. Unfortunately my teacher doesn't trust the book now either. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WITH CAREFUL EDITING & MAKING SURE ALL INFO NEEDED WAS INCLUDED IN THE TEXT & EASILY READ.
   
   I am disappointed that textbooks are now soft cover, can contain many errors, and yet still have a list price that boggles the mind.



2. Excellent condition, highly recommend this seller, timely delivery

5 comments about Mastering Delphi 7.

1. In order to understand some issues related with delphi 7, the book is very helpful. But is not a step by step book. In that case I advice to look for something more especific.
   This book is reality very good, an excellent work of the writer, you should buy it as a bible.



2. yesterday I received the book by international shipping. As I have read the first 14 pages I am really satisfied with the cost that I pay. Thanks to God (to create such a man), thanks to marco and thanks to amazon of course.



3. Mr. Cantu has taken on an immense task condensing most of what you need to know about Delphi into a single volume. While he did a tremendous job of giving you a foundation of most aspects of Delphi, inevitably there are some areas in which you are left wanting.
   
   I purchased this book for use at work, and for the most part - even if I have not found the exact answers to my questions - I have been able to determine the right "questions to ask" when it comes to formulating my Google queries to track down the answer I need. When it comes to Database Programming, I didn't find everything I needed in regards to ADO and had to get another book "Delphi Developers Guide to Programming with ADO" in order to make up for the sadly - very short section that Mr. Cantu devoted to the topic in this book.
   
   Overall - this is an excellent companion for anyone who develops in Delphi. I must however offer one caveat - you will not find all of your answers here without the aid of Delphi developer websites, forums, Google, and other third party resources. I recommend this as a purchase if you understand that it is just a good reference. If you have a specialized need - I suggest trying to find your answers via the Delphi section on About.com or via DelphiBasics (download version).



4. This is an excellent Delphi learning & reference manual. I am finding it to be a great asset to my programming books.



5. I bought this book for getting one step further in delphi. But it took me ten steps further. Adviced to who need to real mastering in delphi.

5 comments about Beginning PHP5, Apache, and MySQL Web Development (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I bought this book a couple of days ago after reading the cover (Bad Jon, never judge a book by its cover) and learning that it teaches you in both Windows and Linux. This is not the case. I am still in chapter one trying to configure Mysql under Linux. There is very basic linux setup configuration and then the book just assumes Windows is what you will use. I am retiring this book and picking up another.



2. Great book for those, like me, who wants to start from zero with PHP5 and MySQL. I had no previous knowledge about this two languages, and in short time began to understand about it all. You may buy this book for sure!



3. For a novice in these 3 fields, it's a good introductory and step-by-step guide to get familiar with them.
   However, since the book was first published in 2005, many contents about installations are outdated. An update in these parts will benefit new readers because it can help them get into the main topics easier.



4. This is a decent book, but the MySQL syntax is very out-of-date. If you're working with a current version of MySQL, this isn't going to do you any favors. Until they see fit to update this volume, I recommend buying something else.
   
   I've had great luck with "PHP, MySQL and Apache" by Julie C. Meloni (Sams Teach Yourself) third edition (2007). Its example projects are different and not quite as applicable to what I'm needing to do, but who knows - they may be just what you need. The biggest benefit is that it uses the mysqli commands that PHP 5.xx demands.



5. I would truly love to give this book 5 stars; however, as some of the more recent commentators have indicated, it's out of date. Unfortunately, that's a show stopper when you're using the most recent version of MySQL! I was going over this book as a refresher course, since I have been generally well satisfied with Wrox's books, but the outdated syntax in the MySQL sections are real deal-killers. It's been years since I touched PHP, so I figured I could pick this up and get back into the groove of things and truly get into MySQL at the same time -- no dice on that one.
   
   In short, this book is largely handicapped by two things:
   
   1. It needs to be revamped for the latest version of MySQL and PHP (6 is right around the corner), and
   2. The errata section on the website needs to point some of these things out.
   
   I'm giving it four-out-of-five stars because it would have been a righteous book in 2005.

5 comments about E-on Software's Vue 6 Revealed.

1. The book introduce you to the software by practical projects. All projects are easy to follow. After completing those projects, you will have a solid basis for Vue 6.



2. I was so excited to finally get this book in the post so I could begin some tutorials in Vue 6 Infinite. Unfortunately the book arrived and was printed in black and white, was on poor quality paper, and was not bound terribly well. In fact pages wanted to fall out before I had even read a page. This does not fair well for something I was hoping would be a useful regular resource. I have begun reading the content and feel it may have some useful material, just a shame the overall package does not match it. I would have returned this book, but sadly it would have cost me the price of my initial purchase to return it.



3. Book is excellent for anybody starting with Vue 6, hopefully the author will be following on more advanced tehniques and in color would help.
   I have been in Animation for over 18 years and use Vue for quick backgrounds for 3D Max. Excellent program



4. This book really sucks. It cuts too many corners in content and the graphics are too small and hard to see. The binding falls apart within 2 minutes of flipping through the pages. Save your money and just use the tutorials on Eons' website.



5. Very simple tutorials which do a great job of walking you step by step through most of the features of VUE. The manual that comes with Vue is rather scattered and all-around unhelpful. Better to ditch that and just start with this book. If you have some experience with 3d tools then you can zip through this book in a day or two. So, overall, a great book that most people would find very helpful.

5 comments about Programming Windows with MFC, Second Edition.

1. Over several years, I have purchased around a dozen books on MFC, and this one by far is not only the best one for learning MFC, but also the best to use as a reference (in addition to MSDN). Some of the examples were a little lengthy, as I prefer shorter examples. The first half of the book is essential for any windows programmer. The second half leans more towards particular advanced topics which are not needed by everyone, but good to have handy when the time comes.



2. I managed to muddle my way through simple dialog-box based applications with hardly any documentation -- just advice from colleagues. When I got assigned to write a real live multi-threaded, multi-document app, I tried the books lying around the office which had helped me considerably with the simpler apps, but which left me much confused about things like device contexts. Why all of a sudden CClientDC instead of CPaintDC? And what is a DC anyway exactly? They say, "See, if you do this and this, then you can draw an ellipse that wiggles around." So I do that, and then try changing parameters, and am left only able to draw that ellipse. I can't make it purple.
   
   I hate feeling like I don't really, REALLY know why I'm doing what I'm doing. And Prosise was an effective (and therefore quick) book which left me feeling like I knew. After about 2 days of reading and working with the examples, I felt I understood device contexts mapping modes, why I don't tell the Ellipse() routine what color ellipse I want. Prior to that, I'd spent 2 weeks with other books, not really getting it, not effectively able to modify the examples in the book.
   
   Something about the way he organized it just got me to a point of clarity quicker, without nearly as much frustration. So don't let the 1300 pages throw you. It's not hard to read.



3. no practical programs. Both "Windows programming" of my boss,Charles Petzold and the book taking draw, game programs to demonstrate.
   Are there any books getting developers really inside industry projects using MFC or Windows API ??????
   This question is my Christmas gift for Microsoft authors !!



4. I purchased this book a number of years ago when I started a new job which required me to program using MFC. I had never done any programming for Win32, let alone using MFC (which wraps around the Win32 API). Coming from this state of ignorance, it only took a short time of working with Prosise's book for me to gain enough confidence to start writing MFC programs on my own.
   
   The book covers most of the major areas that an MFC programmer would have interest. Topics such as dialog based applications, the potentially confusing document / view architecture, property sheets, mouse and keyboard IO, menu management, creation of custom controls, bitmaps, UI and worker threads - all are explained with exceptional clarity thoroughness. After reading a given section I felt a true understanding of the material - the information is taken to a depth which seems to be uncommon in many windows programming books.
   
   At its core though, this is a windows programming book and through its many examples it succeeds in providing an excellent foundation. One may question the usefulness of some of the examples but keep in mind that they were not written for practical usefulness but instead they were intended to solidify the concepts presented in the chapter - which they usually do quite successfully.
   
   More recently, others at my company have found it necessary to program for Win32 and my first piece of advice for them is to sit down and read through the first chapter of Prosise for a day or so. After that, answers to most questions can be found within the remaining 1200 (!) pages of the book.
   
   Note that the CD which came with the book worked fine on Windows NT and Windows XP. Also, the book targets Visual Studio 6.0 but most of the topics are still valid in Visual Studio .NET.
   
   So why review a book that is almost seven years old at the time of this writing? I felt like I owed Prosise for creating such a comprehensive and understandable work and writing a positive review seemed a nice way to say "Thank You".



5. This book is to MFC what Programming for Windows is for the Win32 API. I would call it the MFC bible. There is a lot of MFC books out there but Programming Windows with MFC is one of the best. If you are serious about MFC, you should consider adding this one to your references collection.

2 comments about Teach Yourself VISUALLY Office 2003 (Teach Yourself).

1. This book give you a step by step quideance how to make you life easier searching through office 2003. It is simple the wonderfull. Its coloured pictures and informations let you feel more inspiration to read this book.



2. The book accomplished everything that I bought it for which is to show a user how to use MSOffice who does not have a very good knowledge of computer skills. The book gives a brief overview of each application of MSOffice step by step. Things suchs as how to properly use the right-mouse button and the use of the default buttons on the top. I only wish the author gave a little more detail and emphasis on certain things such as picture re-sizing and its affects on the image and more in depth walkthrough of formatting.

4 comments about Practical Debugging in C++.

1. As a recent graduate of Computer Engineering, I wish I had this book when I started my programming career. It is very helpful in showing you how to get started debugging.



2. I've been programming for a few years and the pitch made to the intermediate programmer concerning tracing caught my interest.
   The books is a fun read, however if you have been programming for more than a semester or two don't bother buying it. Its just
   for beginners.
   
   DD



3. If you know some debugging this book probably will not teach you anything new but if you are new to it, it gives you an idea of how to proceed. Nothing new or special about the content, just a small solid book of how to debug.



4. This book demonstrates the most important and basic skill to debug C/C++ programming - Assertion and Tracing. I am almost beginner in software debugging area and this book helped me a lot. FOR BEGINNER ONLY!!!

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days (2nd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. This book is not helpful for the newbies. Not only do some of the scripts not work, but the way Perl is explained in this book, it just doesn't make enough sense. I learned more from online tutorials that were perhaps 3 pages long than I learned in 15 pages of one chapter of this book. I usually pick things up quite easily, so it must be the book that is confusing.

   At least two of the script examples given in Chapters 1-8 had typos in them, and not enough explanation for someone that doesn't know much to figure out what. I am unfortunately going to have to give up on this book to learn Perl and turn to the internet... too bad I spent $35 for the book. I don't recommend this book to anyone except perhaps someone that already knows Perl.




2. If you want to start programming Perl in the shortest time possible, and have some programming background, you will benefit from reading Sam's Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours, which packs a lot of practical materials and emphasizes get-your-hands-dirty-immediately as well as uses a lot of code snippets to teach.
   
   This "in 21 days" book, on the other hand, is better if you have more time to learn Perl. Each lesson takes 1-2 hours, if you already have some programming background, and longer if you don't. This book treats Perl more systematically and in more details than the "24 hours" book. It explains a lot of concepts, including hashes and modules, more clearly than the "24 hours" book. I recommend you do 2 or 3 lessons each day, because Perl is such a compact yet complicated language, that it's best to force yourself to learn it quickly, rather than slowly, because slow learning will make you forget things. Be sure to study the examples in the book until you understand every line of code.



3. Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days by Laura Lemay is sufficient for the beginner wanting to learn Perl, be it on Windows or a UNIX-based operating system. If Perl is your first programming language, then this book is a fairly good book to choose as a starting point. It teaches the basics of programming in Perl and moves quickly from that point onward.
   
   However, while this approach introduced me to the language I found my ability to pace through the book as I normally would with other programming languages hindered by the author's organization. Unexplained code is used in almost all of the examples before you get to its respective chapter. While this approach may work for some and give cause for thinking, it gave me an unnecessary headache.
   
   Don't get me wrong, it did teach me a good bit about Perl, it inspired me to install Debian Linux on my programming workstation, and left me to pursue Perl. Despite this, I turned to Learning Perl. I found Lemay's writing to be too verbose and the organization of the book a bit of a twister.
   
   Overall, it can be summed up by the following pros/cons:
   
   ~ Pros
   - Good introduction to Perl
   - Independent of Operating System (Great for Windows users ready to Learn Perl and perhaps Migrate to Linux for programming purposes)
   - Solid examples and references
   - Covers more advanced topics later on
   
   ~ Cons
   - Verbose
   - Awkward structure. Things such as loops are constantly used in beginning examples without much of an explanation. If you don't' have any experience with programming, it will give you a headache. The sections on these devices come much later, and have a strange introduction as well.
   - Frustrating at times when it shouldn't be (IE, having you use functions that you haven't learned, or haven't been mentioned, in an example for a particular chapter)
   
   Additionally, I'd recommend picking up Learning Perl or using it instead. I picked up Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days, learned what I could, and then fell in love with Learning Perl's concise, straight to the point chapters and examples (albeit with a fair amount of humor). If you're a Linux/UNIX user, you'll probably find Learning Perl a better catch, but for me, Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days was the stepping stone to Linux and Learning Perl. Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase.



4. I bought this book after trying to learn Perl through another book (Perl for Bioinformatics). This book is definitely a better introduction to Perl than any other book I've seen. It is clear and concise enough and although it might be hard to finish it in 21 days, you can start coding your own scripts much before the end of the book. I am still on chapter 11 and I can program most of what I need with it (i.e parsers and simple bioinformatics applications). I recognize that there are a few typos on the book but if even Knuth's Art of Computer Programming have them why shouldn't Lemay's Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days do the same?
   
   Given what I said above, I must warn begginer programmers (like me) that Perl is not the best language for you to learn as your first one. It is a dirty scripting language which does the job and is most suitable for parsing files and formatting data but it has a lot of things which make it quite confusing initially (its context dependency for instance). If you want to learn something that will give a solid programming base you should start with something else (i.e. Java, Pascal, Ruby etc) which will probably be a little bit harder but will payoff later.



5. I find myself using this book as a refernce almost every day. It is well written and easy to follow. I highly recommend it.