4 comments about Microsoft VBScript Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)).

1. I needed a quick way to ramp up on VBScript for work and have a lot of programming experience so did not want a dummy type book. Great coverage of basics on the language. Only beef is would have liked to see more on how to use ADO and DAO with databases like Oracle and SQL Server.



2. This book (IMHO) is good if you already have programming experience and want to learn VBScript. It is NOT a good book if you're an absolute beginner. Although the first couple of chapters are for 'beginners', it really doesn't explain the basics of programming. I suggest familiarizing yourself with VBScript (or any other language) before you read this book.



3. Great Service Fast Shipping. Book shipped faster than the web site advertised. Great packaging - book came out of the box as if I just pulled it off the shelf. Matter of fact, I reviewed the book at Books-A-Million, determined that I wanted the book, came home, and ordered it on Amazon for almost half price!!!!!!!!



4. I bought this book to get an idea on how to use VBscript in the MS network that I manage. It was great to have found this book because it gets to the point and was not filled with fluff. This book is a good stepping stone for VBscript but, you should consider learning some VB before tackling it. A little VB or even Office VBA knowledge can help you breeze through the book and its examples. Overall the book was great and I recommend it to learn the foundations of VBscript.

1 comments about VBA and Macros for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (Business Solutions).

1. This book was very helpful for some projects that I needed to accomplish with Excel & VBA. Some of the chapters were extremely enlightening in seeing the big picture of using VBA with Excel and other MS Office applications. Other chapters are excellent resources that I will refer to many times in the future. I would recommend this book for both the beginner (in using VBA) as well as the experienced VBA user.

5 comments about Getting to Know ArcObjects (With CD-ROM).

1. When you outgrow this one, or if you already have some VB programming background, go for Programming ArcObjects with VBA: A Task-Oriented Approach, Second Edition, it is an excellent complement to this volume. Far more to learn there.



2. The best way to learn computer programming is by actually doing it, which makes this book great. Each chapter starts with an explanation of a new concept, such as looping or subroutines, then there are 2 or 3 exercises that demonstrate the concept and use what you have learned. One minor problem is the lack of large chunks of code. Most of the code in the book is just small snippets of code, and that makes it difficult to learn about the overall structure of the whole program, because all you see is 5 or 6 lines of code at a time. But this is only a minor problem. I don't like VBA, but I have to learn it for a GIS class, and this is a great book to learn from.



3. This book is easy to follow and understand even having little computer programming experience. The "Cookbook" style exercises make it easy to create your own modifications to ArcGIS. Great book!



4. My Major is GIS. But it is my first time to learn arcObject. I think it is good for my starting with its example and theories.



5. This book is a great overview of not only ArcObjects but component programming as well. The text is to the point. The tutorial examples are short and put together well to illustrate the topic. The amount of material and exercises for each topic are just right. The writing style is very approachable. I really enjoyed going through the book and tutorials.
   
   This book may not be for someone who does not know Visual Basic very well. I would not consider this an intro to VB or programming. It is as the title says - getting to know ArcObjects. Examples revolve around customization of ArcMap and ArcCatalog. Does not cover ArcGIS server or ArcGIS Engine.

5 comments about Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2005 (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I learned C from Ivor Horton and i liked his style.But this book is not good in my opinion for a few reasons.First half of the book is talk about standar t and and cli c++ but not in detail.Second half of the book is about MFC and WinForms but again i do not find them enough.It is very hard to follow the examples about MFC and WinForms and i couldnt manage to get to the end of them because of compiling errors and i was very bored.Putting all the things in just a book : ansi c++,c++/cli,databases,mfc,winforms is not useful at all.



2. This book is and has everything you need to learn VC++ and MFC. It takes you through every step to get you on track.



3. I own many programming books and I code in many languages. I need a book that cuts through the idle chatter and lets me get to work. Ivor Horton's book is well organized and follows a format of: topic, example, explanation. The examples are good real-world examples and the explanations are easy to follow.



4. I found this book of little or no use. When a buy a book that is this big (1180 pages) you think, "Wow this thing is so big it must be the one." I am more and more of a mind that programming books that are bloated are just poorly thought out. I would not recommend this book to anyone.



5. This is a great book. However, the chapters are long and can be boring.
   
   Also, if you hate math then you might be a little annoyed at all the simple exercises using basic math. Maybe, if Ivor Horton referenced food instead .. hmmmm.
   
   One other downer about this book ... as you get more advanced you will find yourself working on only one example. The author should have used new examples in each chapter to help the learning experience.
   
   I've found that if you work with one example and someone misses something along the way ... they will have difficulty as they progress.
   
   Other than that ... this is a great book and very well written. You will definitely learn a lot reading this tutorial.
   
   I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)).

1. This book is good for the beginner. The instruction is at very basic levels.



2. I've been plowing my way through this text and have found it very helpful and great at explaining the concept of VB.Net 2005. I'm a beginner in Visual Basic, and I am using this as a supplement to my Visual Basic.Net textbook "Programming in Visual Basic.Net" by Julia CAse Bradley and Anita C. Millspaugh. I find that it is great for a beginner like myself, as it is extremeley detailed and shows you every step, though as you progress it expects you to understand more, and isn't as redundant. The author is a Professor, so has a natural teaching ability that shines through, and you alway sget the sense he is right there with you working on it. I would recommend it to anyone who is a VB.Net beginner as a supplement to their text, or just using it by yourself. It also comes with all the files you will need to complete all the excercises on the book included in the CD-ROM. A great purchase!



3. Highly recommended for anyone starting with Visual Basic or programming in general. I bought this book to have a better understanding of how Visual Basic differed from other programming languages I have had experience with before (Java and Python) and I learned a whole lot. The step by step tutorials were great in showing me how to perform basic tasks using the language. I actually have read through this book twice now because 1) it is such an easy read, and 2)it always helps to refresh some of the concepts (especially for me since I can be quite forgetful).



4. Another worthless book from Microsoft Press. Microsoft must pay its writers by the word. This book could be boiled down to 25 pages.



5. I got this book because I had just accepted my first professional programing job and was feeling extremely anxious. Although I have a Master's Degree in IT and a strong background in programming, I have been teaching Special Education for the last five years. I needed something that would knock the dust off of my programming skills allowing me to refresh my basic knowledge of VB semantics. I read this book in a week, working the exercises, and am now feeling like a capable programmer again. I can honestly say that I have nothing but high praise for this book.
   It takes the user from the very basics of declaring variables to simple
   ADO, ASP, and XML structures. An excellent book for learning the basics.

No comments about Professional Visual Basic 2008 (Programmer to Programmer).

No comments about Murach's ASP.NET 3.5 Web Programming with VB 2008.

2 comments about Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2008 in 24 Hours: Complete Starter Kit (Sams Teach Yourself -- Hours).

1. I would classify myself as a "hobby" programmer. I enjoy programming, but aside from a few courses taken years ago, I have little formal training. I frequently write programs for myself, my clients, and my friends (I'm a computer technician). Although I know a little about OOP (object-oriented programming), I find it to be overkill for many of the programs I like to write. Most of the time good, old-fashioned procedural programming does the trick, and although maybe if I choose to revisit my code twenty years from now, I will regret not having laid out my code using a proper class hierarchy, I sort of doubt it.
   
   If the preceding paragraph somewhat describes you as well, you may enjoy this book. To me, it takes VB2008 and makes it simple and enjoyable like VB6. The author, James Foxall, doesn't try to cover everything, but he covers enough to be able to actually use VB2008 to solve real problems, and along the way he teaches the fundamentals of Visual Basic (even a blessedly short chapter on custom classes).
   
   When done, you can use VB2008 to: develop and use forms (dialog boxes), manipulate the objects that VB and .NET provide, work with the keyboard, manipulate graphics within your own windows, manipulate files and directories, read/write text files, databases, and the registry. You can use automation to manipulate other applications, and even package your creation for distribution using Microsoft's "ClickOnce" technology.
   
   The book is a good size, large enough to cover major areas, but not so large as to intimidate. I only wish there was more coverage of common .NET classes such as the print / print previewing classes. Overall, I would say this is a great book for all us old VB6 types wanting to "modernize."



2. I love this book! The only programming I had had was Basic back in 1984-85 so obviously I am starting from the beginning. I needed basics (like general definitions, logic of how programming works, and specifics for how the Visual Basic works) so I could understand the programmers I work with. After reading and going through the exercises in this book, I can speak the same language and I've even been able to do automation for my quality assurance testing.
   
   BTW - took me about 2 1/2 weeks to get through it all ;-)

5 comments about PHP for the World Wide Web, Second Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide).

1. I was looking for a decent introduction to PHP, and stumbled across this on Amazon. I can only speak as someone with a programming background, but this was exactly what I was looking for. Mr. Ullman takes you through PHP from the ground up, but the layout of the book and the thoroughness of the index makes it a pretty good reference if you just want to know some particular piece of the puzzle.
   Want to create an online form using PHP? This book walks you through a project that does just that.
   Want to figure out how arrays work in PHP? You can jump to that section, and migrate your own programming knowledge over to the PHP environment.
   PHP (and, for that matter, HTML) programming is a little counterintuitive , particularly if you have previous experience in other languages. This book makes the move a lot easier!
   Again, my review is from the standpoint of someone with experience in programming. However, the approach that the book takes - walking you step-by-step through practical examples - probably would work really well for those who are new to programming, too.
   I bought it along with the companion book on PHP and MySQL (PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (2nd Edition) (Visual QuickPro Guide)), which turned out to be a great idea - both are getting dog-eared as I build a website using dynamic content.
   A great book, well worth purchasing!



2. The "Visual Quickstart" technique - placing instruction and code in side by side columns is the best learning device I have ever used. The instruction is clear and detailed, and the layout makes it easy to skim-over what you already know and focus on what you need to learn. I used the Quickstart book for learning HTML4 and now for PHP. I would recommend this series to anyone regardless of level.



3. The book are full of static examples and not enough dynamic. You do nothing about interacting with databases except about 10% of the book at the end.



4. I picked up this book at the library and it was so informative I had to go out and pick up a copy for my bookshelf for keeps. If you want to learn PHP go with this one.



5. This is a very well written technical reference. The examples are so good that I was able to get my 1st PHP web page up quickly even though I hadn't been through the entire book. Larry Ullman's book has passed my personal test -- I got something useful done. I'm now in the process of reading the entire book and using the sample code to more properly learn PHP. I have a number of QuickStart books and they are all excellent. They are on my sites recommended reading list. [...]

2 comments about Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 (Mastering).

1. 'Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008' by VB expert Evangelos Petroutsos is a fantastic way to get up and running with one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Visual Basic has come so far since it's early days and now the reasons for using VB have gone far beyond just RAD (Rapid Application Development) as you can write world-class applications far beyond the most basic tasks you would have chosen VB for 10 years earlier.
   
   Everything that you would want covered is here in this book, from the basics of how to use VB to condition clauses to array and string access to database connectivity and the newest goodies .NET 3.5 has to offer. Written in a clear, concise manner that calmly takes you from one chapter to the next, I found this book to be an absolute joy to learn from. Sybex has a rich history of publishing easy to use computer books that nearly anyone can learn from and this text is no exception.
   
   Chapter Overview:
   
   01. Getting Started with Visual Basic 2008
   02. Variable and Data Types
   03. Programming Fundamentals
   04. GUI Design and Event-Driven Programming
   05. Vista Interface
   06. Basic Windows Controls
   07. Forms
   08. More Windows Controls
   09. TreeView and ListView Controls
   10. Building Custom Classes
   11. Working with Objects
   12. Building Custom Windows Controls
   13. Handling Strings, Characters, and Dates
   14. Storing Data in Collections
   15. Accessing Folder and Files
   16. Serialization and XML
   17. Querying Collections and XML with LINQ
   18. Drawing and Painting with Visual Basic 2008
   19. Manipulating Images and Bitmaps
   20. Printing with Visual Basic 2008
   21. Basic Concepts of Relational Databases
   22. Programming with ADO.NET
   23. Building Data-Bound Applications
   24. Advanced DataSet Oprations
   25. Building Web Applications
   26. ASP.NET 3.5
   27. ASP.NET Web Services
   
   My only qualm with this magnificent book is that I wish some color could have been introduced, especially in the sections that discuss the new WPF way of creating applications. These new style apps are meant to have a great look for the user and I feel the tried and true black/white/grey look hurts the book a little bit but this in no way lowers my rating of it.
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



2. I am a non-traditional student right now (accounting), and I have taken some Excel courses where we used a tiny bit of VBA. This, along with a database application design course, piqued my interest to learn more about Visual Basic.
   
   It's been a few years since I did any programming at all, and I had no experience with visual programming environments. The last time I programmed was back in the 90's, with Pascal and C. And even though it's been a while since I programmed, I knew I didn't want a "raw beginner book." I wanted a book I could grow into. Enter "Mastering Visual Basic 2008."
   
   This is not a book for people who have no programming experience (although a bright, industrious person could probably do it). The basics of programming (declaring variables and basic programming constructs) are covered in two chapters. The rest of the book teaches the aspiring programmer how to work within the Visual Studio environment. The programming examples are useful and can become starting points, letting the reader add functionality as needed.
   
   The author does assume some previous experience, and occasionally leaves out some details here and there, which can be slightly frustrating at times. For myself, however, this worked out okay, because in hunting for the missing details, I actually learned more about the program than I might have if all the details were spelled out. (Yes, the cloud has a silver lining!)
   
   I'm not nearly finished with the book, but the content so far has me looking forward to working my way through all the chapters. Highly recommended!