1 comments about Simply Visual Basic 2005 (2nd Edition).

1. After all the hype about Deitel books I was really looking forwards to reading this book. If you are learning VB at home on your own then this book is a waste of time. This is a college exercise book. There are a lot of examples to practice on at the end of each chapter but there are no answers. The authors assume you have a tutor to fall back on. In fact, you have to be a tutor to get the answers. This makes about a third of the book useless for people who are learning at home on their own. The authors have perfected the art of making rather simple programming concept into very long winded confusing concepts. I've read other VB books that explain the same concepts in a few paragraphs, not several pages like this book does. For a book of this size there are not really many computer concepts explained.
   The only thing I liked about this book was that it had colour screen shots. There are several other good VB books out there for beginners that cost a third of this, are half the size and will teach you many more programming concepts than this book.
   Unless you are on a college course that makes you buy this book save your money as there are much better books out there for learning VB.

5 comments about C# 2.0: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series).

1. This book should be titled "C# - A Beginner's Reference" This book is far from complete. It offers very little in the way of advanced reference material, and has nothing on C# Web Applications. The book is okay for a beginner's reference, but not really worth its cost for programmers who already have a background in other programming languages. This book covers the basics, basically, and that's about it. The title of this book is very misleading. I'd give it three stars; it does offer a good reference for basic material; but the misleading title brings my rating down to two stars.



2. This is a terrific book. So far, there has been no question that I have had that this does not answer and typically, they a have an example to go with it. This book gets a big A+!



3. Well, if you have seen any of Schildt books, you have seen them all. The style is basically always the same: short, to the point, no fuss example illustrating the syntax and features of a language (be it C++, Java or C#) from A to Z. The good side is that you don't waste your time an energy on convoluted examples or wordy explanations and you get an extra clear, hands-on illustration of the language in question, which gives you the necessary confidence to start your own experimenting and fooling around. The bad side is that you are left without a global understanding of the technology and how to apply on a larger scale than the typical toy example.
   Overall a great first C# book, but it needs to be followed by a more "framework oriented" one like "CLR via C#"



4. One of the best book I have ever read. Author explains every topics clearly and detail by detail. Despite it is name the book is for beginners. Instead of "complete referance" "beginner's guide" could be better name.



5. I bought this book intending to have a good reference and I was not let down at all. From the other reviews I had developed pretty high hopes for this book. This book has clear sections on everything from value and reference types to delegates, events, reflection and more. Most of the sections are thorough, though a few sections could use a little more.
   
   You won't be disappointed.

5 comments about MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#(TM) .N (MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit).

1. It is at a very basic level. It can be useful for starting in XML webservices, but not enough for the exam.
   Some information is outdated.
   It has errors. So does the practice test.
   Doesn't cover at least one topic which is in the practice test.
   The practice test doesn't tell you what is considered the correct answer.
   If you find this book useful, you're not yet prepared for the exam.



2. Judging by the positive reviews, this book must have some merit but it is certainly not in the quality of its writing or its accuracy. Perhaps the editor was reassigned to Longhorn duties. Here are some examples of what you can expect in the first two chapters:
   
   "A COM+ component exists in three states: exists and activated, exists and not activated, and nonexistent."
   
   "The pool objects are not destroyed even after their release from the client application. COM+ retains the destroyed object in the pool for recycling..."
   
   " If the value of the CanStop property is set to False, the SCM does not pass the Stop command to the service application."
   
   It's main value to me is as a syllabus. You can use it to direct your search for better explanations on MSDN and, of course, everyone should have Troelsen's "C# and the .NET Platform" which is the best textbook I have read. Ever.



3. I was reading it as first book for most of the topics, It was total waste of time to read it.
   
   Might help if you are already well expreinced with .NET but not for beginner



4. I have found "Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft VB.NET" an invaluable tool in XML editor development. It is quite detailed about accessing and manipulating XML data.



5. Messy. I have been reading lessons; I haven't got any big picture. I did not know why it worked like that. The only place I could look for "big picture" was usually lab, at the end of each chapter. This book also lacks reference to ADO.NET object and interface model which is essential in multi-database engine applications. The most disappointing part is so-called "advanced" web service programming. What author thought was advanced level was really a basic level...

5 comments about Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 (Mastering).

1. Muy buen libro para todos los niveles, los ejemplos son claros y trae muchos trucos. En todos los capitulos y ejemplos, se explica las diferencias para quien esta migrando de vb6 a vb2005, por ello es una muy buena guia para quienes venimos de vb6.



2. This book provided good entry level coverage of the VB2005 language. I found it a little on the elementary side as I am a very experienced programmer in VC++. If you are just learning to program in VB or are just beginning to code in an Object Oriented environment than this books would be an OK book to buy. However, for beginning programmers I always reccommend "Deietl" books for the very structured system of teaching you programming concepts.
   
   If you are an experience OO programmer in another language (VC++ or Java) looking to bring those skills into the VB2005 language then I don't reccommend this book. I highly reccommend "Visual Basic 2005 : The Language" as it covers the more advanced features and methods available and is a great reference to learn VB.



3. I purchased this book to learn programming in a visual environment. I have not programmed since I took some courses back in college programming on a main frame. There are many typos in this book and the code Does not work in many of sections. I am trying to learn by following along with the code in the book and get hit with many errors. When you look at the code from the web site it is completely different from what he has in the book which is taking huge amounts of time to figure out what he has done. I would not refer this book to anyone trying to learn the language.



4. While I bought this book for reference it appears to be a very good book.
   
   If you do buy the book...check for pages 963-994. My copy has excluded these pages and were only found while attempting to use it as a reference.
   
   I've contacted the publisher and at this point it does not look good for correction since my purchase is over 90 days. My purchase was 6 months ago and I've sent them the receipt.



5. I borrowed this first from the public library, then I recommended it to my boss and we ordered several copies. Covers a vast scope of applications. I haven't been thru the complete book (almost 1400 pages) but every time I have looked up topics, it has been helpful. It stays off the shelf and on my desk most of the time.

5 comments about Excel 2002 VBA: Programmers Reference.

1. It's a great book! It actually consists of two parts: a brief but very useful VBA overview with all popular tricks and hints in the beginning and a deep and coplete reference at the end. Normally you need to buy two separate books to get this coverage. This book can get you started in a few hours and answer virtually all your questions going forward. Really, really good!



2. The book is adressed both to beginners and intermediate users, not advanced ones though. It covers everything, however there were many occasions where I wanted more information. This is not to say the book is not a great value for money. After all, a complete vba book would probably need to have a couple of thousand pages, whereas with this book you can start programming even having read only chapter 2. If money is not an issue, you also need to buy Walkenbach's vba book too.

   I found it easy to navigate through it, so I didn't think indexing was such a great problem as commented before me. The authors don't say too little or too much and they write very clear. The reason I didn't put 5 stars (if I had the option I would put 4.5 starts) was because I didn't like the second part of it, which is half the book and which mostly presents basic information.




3. If you are interested enough to read this review, then buy this book. Now. I have done quite a bit of programming ... The only problem was, I had never programmed VBA/Excel and was having a very rough time getting started.

   I bought "Excel 2002 VBA Programmer's Reference". I sat down and started reading Chapter 2. Before long, I was so excited that I was firing up my laptop. Four hours after I started reading the book, I had a prototype up and running. This book is amazing. Chapter 2 gave me more useful information than I sometimes get from an entire book. ...

   The authors are simply bursting with knowledge and give it freely. Ideas are expressed clearly and succinctly. Knowledge is well-organized and easy to find. Whether you want to approach the topic methodically or flip through looking for gems, you will find what you want here.

   Getting the object model is a great bonus. I'm going to enjoy spending a few days going through this one.




4. The best aspect of this book is it's section on ADO, but there is little depth into the topic. How frustrating to find something so powerful and so undocumented, only to see the end of the chapter so quickly.
   
   I suppose I do not see why 400 pages was devoted to the Excel object model. I do not use the section, but instead search within the VBE for information and arguments I need.
   
   The book is cheap. The binding broke in 2 places.



5. "Excel 2002 VBA Programmer's Reference" is a good reference for those who write code in Excel VBA. To those familiar with Microsoft Excel, but unfamiliar with the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) programming environment, this book should serve as a good way to learn how to automate tasks and extend the utility of Excel.
   
   Most appropriate for intermediate- to advanced-users, this book still offers a primer in Excel VBA for those new to VBA. Note that this is a large book (approximately 1,000 pages) and it contains a printed version of the Excel 2002 Object Model, which can prove useful to those who prefer paper-based, as opposed to screen-based, reference information.
   
   Overall, a very good reference book.

3 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 for Windows, Mobile, Web, and Office Applications: Complete (Shelly Casman Series).

1. This books serves as a good tool to understanding how to use Microsoft Visual Basic.



2. Hi;
   
   I'll give a zero star to the seller, because I bought this book as NEW and received an USED book. This is my very first time bought a book on line, and I'll not have the same trust to buy my next book online. I'd rather pay a little more at Border like I usually do.
   
   Thank you
   Shane



3. I was cheated by the looking of preface. However there are too many graphics with a little explanations. How can you understand programming language like that? I do not recommand anyone to buy this book.

2 comments about Office 2003 Bible.

1. If you have never dealt with Office products before then this book is for you. If you have been dealing with Office products since they first came out, you could find a better book. With the exception of Outlook 2003, the look and feel of the other Office products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc) all do pretty much the same thing with just a couple of added features that you can learn from the Help menu without this book. I would not recommend this book for anyone who is studying for their Office certification.



2. The previous comment seemed to not know much about Office 2003. All the Office 2003 products ahve many new features and this book shows them. It also shows how to use Office applications productively. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who wnats to learn how to use Office 2003. Great for Beginners. Good for those with experience with Office who want to learn and apply new features in Office 2003.

5 comments about Professional Refactoring in Visual Basic (Programmer to Programmer).

1. First of its kind for VB.Net developers. While it does not contain a complete catalogue of all known refactorings, you get a thorough study case used throughout the book, tooling, how to use refactoring for upgrade of legacy VB6 code, a chapter on VB 2008, some important object oriented principles and even short intro on refactoring to patterns.
   This book is deep and takes a while to digest. However, it's not about showing off some irrelevant academic knowledge. Author is not afraid to mention "Dependency Injection" or "Single Responsibility Principle" but all of these are demonstrated to be relevant and get illustrated through very practical and real-life examples.



2. Really great book on refactoring. Although it is based on Visual Basic examples, same advices can be applied to C#, Java or any other OO language.
   Martin Fowler finally has a fair partner on my shelf ;).



3. I am working with group of developers that came to VB .Net from VB6. Currently we are in process in improving the way things operate using some agile stuff. The overall disposition is pretty good, team has already been formed and things like daily stand-ups, client involvement or short iterations are generally welcomed by all. However, when more technical, code level stuff is discussed, there is more discussion (if not opposition). These folks pack years of experience and will not accept that you can teach them their job just like that. There is no way you can force things like unit testing or refactoring. You have to be able to hold your ground and answer all the questions with some good arguments.
   This book gives you in-dept view of refactoring with a lot of practical, code examples. This means that you are well prepared to answer any uncomfortable question. It builds up gradually, so it is easy to follow.
   Almost every chapter ends up applying the stuff that was just exposed on a sample application with a lot of code. Surely author spent a decent time on this title. You can download the code and see it progress from chapter to chapter. This gives a great insight since you can read and debug the code at the same time and not just some toy or isolated example.
   Here is chapter to chapter break-down of the book.
   
   Chapter 1
   Intro chapter, defines refactorings end code smells and explains the kind of baggage VB carries because of its origins. Cool section on misinterpretations, this will prepare you for some tough questions that might come from uninitiated developers or managers.
   Explains the importance of writing simple, comprehensible code. For example:
   Dim oXMLDom as New DOMDocumet() vs Dim portfolio as new DOMDOcument.
   The first statement gives you no idea of what first DOMDocument represents, in second it's the portfolio, and if you know the application context you will know what to expect.
   
   Chapter 2
   Teaser chapter but also good single-chapter sample of some typical refactoring work. Captures well typical process of development of VB applications. Starts out with few event-handling methods, ends up with number of domain classes and some inheritance thrown in.
   
   Chapter 3
   Chapter on refactoring tools, also gives you some insight of how different tools like refactoring add-ins and unit testing framework fit the big picture of agile development process.
   
   Chapter 4
   Intro chapter on application that is used to illustrate refactorings throughout the book. Explains the business case, requirements, lists some use cases. It is important to understand the context of the application to be able to follow-up on refactorings. Also some funny stuff here, like freshman developer that takes pride in copy-paste development.
   
   Chapter 5
   In-dept discussion on Static vs. Dynamic and Strong vs. Weak Typing that is rarely dealt with in such depth. This is basically controlled with Option Strict and Option Explicit options. If you program in VB, you must be aware how these work out.
   
   Chapter 6
   Chapter on error handling, especially legacy vs. structured error handling. Again, something everyone should know, but rarely explained in such depth. Cool stuff is step by step recipe for converting legacy to structured.
   
   Chapter 7
   Deals with some core refactorings like Dead Code Elimination, Scope Reduction etc. It's like cleaning up your code for some serious refactoring stuff.
   
   Chapter 8
   First step in structuring your code is getting serious about the problem (or business) domain. Also explains Rename and Safe Rename refactoring, talks about Interface vs. Abstract class, Open-Closed principle etc. some serious OO stuff.
   
   Chapter 9
   Some core refactoring stuff. Teaches you how to eliminate duplicated code and why it is the worst thing it can happen to your code. Explains Extract Method and Replace Magic Literal with Symbolic Constant variable. Nice and simple example based on circle geometric shape on how procedural design is transformed to Object Oriented design (Module and Shared method rings a bell?)
   
   Chapter 10
   If only method extraction would be as simple in real life... This chapter goes further with method extraction and deals with some common problems like temps.
   
   Chapter 11
   Where do objects come from? How you design classes? Some core OO stuff in this chapter, including Extract Class, Move Member (Method or Field) refactorings, smells like Database Driven Design or Data Class, Large Class, OO principles like Single Reasonability Principle etc. Lot of stuff and handful of pages in this chapter.
   
   Chapter 12
   Build upon previous chapter. Deals with inheritance, polymorphism, genericity. Explains the difference between class and interface (or implementation vs. interface inheritance), difference between delegation and inheritance and criteria to chose one or another, list some common misuses of inheritance etc. Again, a number of refactorings like Replace Inheritance With Delegation or Extract Interface, Extract Super etc. Some heavyweight OO concepts in this chapter, takes a time to digest.
   
   Chapter 13
   Explains what is important when taking a birds-view of software. This chapter is especially important for software architects. Talks a lot about dependencies in software and why you should minimize dependencies in your code.
   
   Chapter 14
   Single chapter for huge subject, still a lot of material covered. Design patterns are the most advanced subject in OO, so refactoring your code in order to make use of patterns is in no way child's play. Mostly deals with creational patterns. First mention of Dependency Injection in some VB book I come across. Now taking into account that Unity application block [...] has been released in April, this is really cutting edge stuff!
   
   Chapter 15
   Talks about latest VB improvements that come with VB 2008. Starts with XML enhancements like XML literals and then the rest is about LINQ. Explains a LINQ implementation called LINQ-to-SQL. This is first Microsoft Object-Relational Mapper (ORM). Again, cutting edge.
   
   Chapter 16
   If you still deal with VB6 code, than you know that migrating to .Net is no easy ride. This chapter explains some techniques that will help you migrate your code and make it .Net in sprit, not leaving it crippled by simple migration that will only make it execute in .Net. VB6 lacks inheritance, generics etc, so you need refactorings to make it VB .Net.
   
   This book has no real competition as far as I know, no book on refactoring or agile for VB .Net developers. The one that come close is Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# (Robert C. Martin Series) but it is for C# developers and requires a lot higher starting point.
   When other books come up, I am sure Professional Refactoring in VB will continue to hold its ground. Highly recommended!



4. Not a typical Wrox title, generally these tend deal with specific technology in "no-nonsense" fashion. This book has more theory in it and is not technology specific, you will find it valuable if you program in just any version of Visual Basic .Net and any type of application. Not likely to become obsolete very soon, since basic premises of refactoring will continue to be relevant even in upcoming versions of VB.



5. Arsenovski has done a great job with this book. It is clearly written, easy to follow and very practical. A great one to keep on the shelf and reference as needed. The free tools that he covers in the book are a bonus! They really help to get you applying what you've learned quickly.
   
   I highly recommend this book for any .NET developer, not just those who use Visual Basic.

5 comments about Professional .NET Framework 2.0 (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I liked this book pretty much. Contents are well organized and clearly described. Lots of pointers to good reference materials for topics discussed and not discussed. Gives an indepth knowledge of how objects are created and handled. It's pretty interesting and you can't just keep the book down.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know .Net FrameWork either a beginner or experienced.
   
   Note: Knowing framework well really helps to write good programming, rather than just knowing a language.



2. Before buying this book, I had no idea what .NET was. This book gave me the insight from the ground up to a fairly advanced features of .NET 2.0. Now, I am evangelising .NET to my whole team and pushing to upgrade from (the out of support) VS v6.0 to VS 2005.
   
   I have a very strong background in COM/COM+, C++, and VB. That helped tremendously in my understanding in the discussions on generics, delegates, interfaces, abstract classes, threading, etc.
   
   This book would have gotten a 5-star from me if not for the minor spelling and grammatical errors. But hey, we're programmers not english teachers =)



3. I could write a lengthy review but it would be useless because I could do the same with just a few words - "just simply buy this book... really". It's really well written and easy to read. Depending on you interest you might find something interesting particularly to you, but I really liked chapters on arrays and collections, I/O, files, internationalization, security, threads and transactions.



4. I bought it based on reviews I've seen on this page and after reading it cover to cover, felt extremely disappointed. I just can't understand why anyone would rate it so highly.
   For starters, there are plenty of typos and grammatical mistakes. Apparently, the author does not believe in using commas, making it very difficult to decipher what he wants to say. But that is just a minor annoyance compared to other misgivings.
   Throughout the whole book the author will use concepts from topics he had not yet discussed saying he will cover them later. He does attempt to cover them later but by then the meaning of the previous discussion is lost. He provides only cursory explanation of complex topics yet goes into gory detail on topics that are obvious to most people. For example, he devotes a huge section of one chapter to explaining sting member methods that are obvious to most from IntelliSense. There are very few examples. I was able to complete this book only because I had previously read Richter's "CLR via C#". I did learn a few things, just not sure if my time was well spent reading the whole book.



5. I can't really understand how people rate this book so high. The only thing I can say good about it is, it gives you a general idea what .NET framework includes. Very disorganized, lots of "and there is that but we will cover it later,below etc..". No comprehensive samples. All you can do with this book is to learn what you can do, but if you want to learn how to do it as well, go buy something else. Unfortunaltely this is what happens if you want to squeeze a whole platform into a single book.

4 comments about Powerful PowerPoint for Educators: Using Visual Basic for Applications to Make PowerPoint Interactive.

1. Every computer coordinator and interested computer teacher, anyone who does instructional presentations / training, and college level professors who are accustomed to using PowerPoint and those constructing online programs for medical CEU programs, now using such programs as Agility Presenter or Appraiso would benefit from this book. This method of using VBA with PowerPoint truly allows for authentic, interactive, memorable, meaningful, and fun e-learning with a program many trainers already use. Sure you can do this with Flash, but most instructors in other fields than computer technology really don't have time for that learning curve. Maybe the computer teacher has time, but not the social studies teacher nor the medical professor teaching second year medical students interview techniques, for example. As an instructor it would be great to provide an additional e-learning module on CD that you created with PowerPoint and VBA. It will leave a lasting impression.
   I have searched many a thousand paged books for dribs and drabs of VBA on PowerPoint. This book immediately gives you useful, real world problems and gets right to the point in about 180+ pages and contains more information than many thousand page books that cost considerably more. The author also provides a Web site with actual samples of the programs that work in case you run into difficulties.
   I went on a newsgroup site to ask a VBA question about PowerPoint before Amazon sent my book. Normally I receive answers that are completely beyond anything I need or want. It just so happens that the book's author answered my question and helped me solve my problem and told me about his book, at which point I realized I had recently ordered it. I often rate books, but I rarely write reviews. This one deserves all 5 stars and then add five more! I can't say enough about it. It is one of a kind.



2. This book is not really properly titled -- it should be "Using Scripting to Make PowerPoint Interactive." The author makes it clear (part way through the book) that he is not writing this for people with programming knowledge -- all he intends for you to do is copy the scripts he provides and use them as he intends. He even discourages the reader to read what little is written about programming.
   
   In addition, the $45 price tag is ludicrously high. This book is worth $19.95 tops.



3. If you're like me, experienced with PowerPoint, but not a programmer, then taking a trip into the world of vba scripting with David Marcovitz's "Powerful PowerPoint for Educators" makes it easy and enjoyable. This book is like having a conversation with the author who has "been there and done it" in terms of developing script that is practical and useful in so many PowerPoint projects you may need to develop. Among other objectives, I had the need to incorporate an interactive leadership style self-assessment in my cbt of the same name, and thanks to David's book I was able to let the user make his/her selections (as well as change them too), track scores, and then take those scores on to subsequent slides to discern the meaning of each of them (not to mention printing as well as saving those scores based on user preference). And of course, all along the way, I learned a great deal about other scripting options that proved useful in this application as well as for future projects.
   If you're at the stage where you need to use vba scripting, this is the book that should be your primer. It will take you where you need to go!



4. This book is an excellent resource if you want to learn how to use Visual Basic to write interactive quizzes in PowerPoint.It is definitely aimed at educators. There are better books out there for learning PowerPoint, but this book is definitely outstanding in this one area.