3 comments about Applied C: An Introduction and More.

1. This book is very wonderful for students in freshman. Very detail examples.. best Algorithms.. This is the most beautiful Book of Introduction of C. ...



2. i'm learning this book in Chinese edition,it's different from the books that written by Chinese authors.



3. I went to Univ of New Haven, home of both Alice Fischer and David Eggert, and I took the Intro to C Programming course. Consider that NOTHING in the book corresponds to anything in the class (which was also put together by Fischer), and we're off to a lousy start already.
   
   Since you're probably not planning to go to UNH, I'll stick to reviewing the book. In a nutshell, it's awful. Fischer & Co keep forgetting that this is supposed to be an INTRODUCTION to C, not an all-purpose compendium of all C knowledge. There's no rhyme or reason to the layout, and the self-test questions at the end of each chapter test you on topics that weren't even IN the preceding chapter. The writers make no attempt to explain just what the heck they're talking about, ever, and it also suffers from Lazy Example Syndrome, in that the examples given in the text are several orders of magnitude simpler than anything they ask you to do yourself. In short, the book makes no attempt to explain anything, ever.
   
   I need to reiterate what I started with: I took the class that this book was written for, and even in that setting, it was completely incomprehensible. I can't even imagine how useless this book would be on its own. Avoid it at all costs. If you see a copy laying on the sidewalk, don't pick it up. If your friend wants to give you his copy, find a new friend.

5 comments about Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0.

1. Sure the book doesn't appeal to some, but that is always true. Diane Zak knows her topic and it shows throughout the book. Yes it does repeat quite a bit, but isn't that exactly how we learn, by repeatedly doing a task. If you want to learn VB6, this is a very good place to start. The book is used as a text in my district's community college, that is why I chose it in the first place. I have not been disappointed. I have been programming in other languages for years and I am generally self-taught. This book allows me to continue in that direction. But, hey, if you get a chance recommend it to your community college, I would!!



2. First, the price: almost $51 (plus shipping, of course). You can find books that cover way much more material for less than this.

   Second, the structure of the book. It is clear that the author's objective was to make it practical, and by grabbing several sample cases which are actually fun to implement, she gradually introduces user to the different objects (with their properties), functions, and methods available to the VB6 developer.

   This sounds OK, and for the first few pages (or classes) it is, but once you are past the point where you're no longer a begginner, it becomes a textbook which organizes information in a way that's very hard to go back to. The same function (the MsgBox function, for example) is covered several times within the book, each time going into a little more detail, and sometimes, in a very out of context way with respect to the material being dealt with at that point in the book.

   Although the author spends a lot of effort to describe step-by-step (in a fool-proof way) what the user has to do in order to add an object, change its propertis, etc. the book doesn't cover well at all (or in a consistent way, at least) how the user can better exploit the hotkeys or shortcuts VB6's IDE has to offer in order to boost productivity and efficiency.

   As for practice, each tutorial (that's how the sections are callled) contains exercises that refer the user to the Student Disk. Although the book comes with a CD (which happily contains the Learning version of VB6) I have yet to find any of the exercises mentioned, or the so-called Student Disk. At the end of each tutorial, the book contains a set of questions and exercises. The exercises are very good to practice the skills learned within the tutorial, but the questions deal with far too much theory, and sometimes become a little too repetitive, in my opinion.

   In general, I'd say the book (and in this I agree with most of the reviews here) is OK for a very early learning stage, but past the first few days/weeks learning VB6, it is not the type of book you feel like going back to, because of the way it is organized and the lack of detail with which some topics are covered, which is definitely the largest downside it has. I will always need another reference book by my side to compensate for the book's shortcomings.




3. This is a "from the ground up book" that introduces the extreme basics and takes you step by step through the lessons to the point where you can be writing simple programs within a few days or hours depending on how much time you spend at it. The review is missing a star because I was getting some what bored because it is so specific on so many things in the first half, but got better towards the end. The lessons force you to actually write the code and test and debug programs that accompany the book. You go to www.course.com and enter the ISBN number and download the student files. -The authors' approach to writing this book is unmatched. I also recommend "An Inroduction To Programming With C++" by the same author.



4. Programming With Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 by Diane Zak is probably one of the best beginner programming books I have come across. It is easy to read and follow, which for beginners is an important feature to take into consideration. A nice extension to the book is that the sample code for the tutorials are available via download from their web site so if you seem to get stuck in an area more than likely they have some form or another of that code working so you can at least see what it is supposed to do. The only group I would not recommend this book to is intermediate/advanced VB programmers because the book does move a little slower than others, and it can become repetitious by time you get to the 3rd lesson of a tutorial. After nearly completing this book I can see why my University would select this book.



5. The entire national chain of training schools COMPUTER LEARNING CENTER used this book as their introductory text for Visual Basic 6. The students learned with ease and developed indepth understanding of the different topics. The debugging exercises were particularly useful! It the text book of choice when I teach!

5 comments about MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET (MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit).

1. I purchased the first edition of this book--which is twice as big as the one currently in the bookstore (2nd edition). I was very disappointed with the first. As I browsed the 2nd edition in the bookstore, my faith in the MSPress series was not restored.

   Bottom line: buy the Amit Kalani book from Que instead. That is tremendously better. I think it is the best book for studying the material on the test. Also, don't forget to get the Trancender exams and flash cards. They too are also very helpful.




2. I usually enjoy MS Press titles, but this one was miserable. Other reviewers have mentioned the plethora of shoddy, uncompilable code, so I won't bother to mention any examples. It is worth noting, I suppose, that the VB.NET examples are in somewhat better shape than the C# examples because the authors apparently wrote their examples in VB.NET, but translated to C# without ever compiling, much less testing, their translation. How such a terrible mess could have slipped out the MS-Press door is quite beyond me.

   If you are technically astute and comfortable with C#, you can probably debug your way through the sample code and derive some benefit from the book. But then we get to area where this book falls down completely: the authors seem to be completely clueless with regard to sound software design. As a service to readers, let me offer some insights into where the book misses the mark so that your code will not similarly go astray:

   1. The authors describe abstract classes and interfaces, but do not describe why you would use one or the other. Of course, the key differentiator that the authors miss is that an abstract class can include default implementations of methods. Here's a rule of thumb: if derived classes can piggyback on an implementation of a common base method or methods, put the common code in an abstract class. Otherwise, use an interface.

   2. The authors explain that you cannot derive a web form from another web form (i.e., there is no visual inheritance). This is true enough, but many shops, including my customers when I was an MS consultant, plus the one where I now work, use a Page-derived base class from which all page classes inherit. This allows you to provide common functionality across all the pages in your site.

   3. On page 157, the authors would have us iterate through a RadioButtonList, check each one to see if it is checked, then perform some operation if it is. This is just dumb. A radio button list can have only one checked member, and it can be accessed by calling RadioButtonList.SelectedItem (or SelectedIndex or SelectedValue, depending on your situation).

   4. On page 200, the page class sets stores "true" in ViewState["Changed"] in the TextBox_TextChanged event handler, then checks the value of ViewState["Changed"] in the butExit_Click event handler. Again, the code works, but it's really dumb. Both event handlers will get fired in the same postback, so you ought to give the class that implements the Page a boolean member variable with a default false value. When the TextChanged event fires, set the member variable to true. Then use the member variable in the butExit_Click method. Using ViewState in this situation is kind of like sending a package to your next-door neighbor via Fedex, rather than walking over and ringing his door bell.

   5. On p. 254, the authors recommend instantiating a single database connection in global.asax and making it available for each user connection by setting a session variable in the Session_Start event handler. Supposedly, this design "conserves resources and makes it easier to maintain connection and adapter settings...." In fact, what this will do is make your web site scale miserably because every single user will have to wait in line while the others take turns sharing that single connection. **I cannot emphasize enough how bad this design is.**

   Windows servers have built in connection-pooling capabilities that do a great job of conserving resources while providing good scalability. Just instantiate a new connection for every database operation, and allow the Windows infrastructure to do its magic behind the scenes. And if you're smart, you'll do this in a class (or classes) in a distinctive logical tier that most designers call the data access layer. However, the three-tier (later n-tier) design revolution that swept through the Windows software world starting about 6 years ago seems to have completely escaped the notice of our authors.

   6. On p. 261, the authors use a typed dataset with a type name of dsContacts. They also have a member variable with the name of dsContacts. Does anyone else see the potential for confusion here?

   7. On p. 385, the authors recommend using user name as the primary key for a user table. The problems this database design will cause are severe.

   * When the second "John Smith" or "Mary Jones" tries to access your system, you'll get a database error. The only workaround is to get John or Mary to use a different name. Yeah, right.

   * Using a long string as a foreign key on other tables that reference the user table leads to inefficient space utilization and terrible performance when you do joins.

   Anybody who knows anything about database design knows that you set up some kind of guaranteed unique key, such as an auto-increment integer, and make name an attribute of the user.

   8. The authors fail to note that if session state uses the sqlserver mode, session state will survive a reset when web.config is changed, so users will not be adversely affected.

   9. On p. 408, the authors ignore the security implications of causing an authentication cookie to be written to a user's hard drive. This is a recipe for disaster for users who are accessing a web app from a public location (library, kiosk, Kinko's, etc.) because subsequent users will have access to their credentials by virtue of the authentication cookie already on the hard drive. Do your users a favor and set the createPersistentCookie parameter to false when you call RedirectFromLoginPage().

   I could write a much lengthier list of "really dumb coding ideas" to accompany this list of really dumb design ideas, but space does not permit. So let me conclude by stating what should by now be obvious: if you have extensive experience with object-oriented web programming in a multi-tier design paradigm, but simply lack exposure to ASP.NET syntax, you can probably find something useful in this book. Otherwise, stay away!




3. The authors were apparently faced with an aggressive deadline for this book because it's exceptionally bad, even relative to other MS Press books. Due to the inaccurate writing and poor editing I wasted many late-night hours trying to get the sample code provided for the labs to run properly. Very little of the prescribed code even runs at all, without modification. Corrections for the most obvious errors are published on the MS Press support site but many of the other problems are quite subtle. I'm a decent programmer -- If I do say so myself -- but I had to spend a lot of time on ASP sites researching solutions to all these errors.

   The code design recommendations are also surprisingly poor, the type of code one would expect from a very junior developer, possibly someone who's not even cut out for this line of work.




4. Definitely this book contains some useful material. The first chapters make a good impression, but as you go further you start to see that something is wrong. The author was facing an aggressive deadline and did not take into consideration anything.
   The book will be thrilling to read for someone who already knows and have a hands on experience with .NET, because the book will make you think by making you try to resolve the unclear material. The author definitely knows his stuff and demonstrates that fact to you, but don't hope for any explanations they are beyond the scope of this book.
   Also you will enjoy the wonderful late night "I WON" feeling, after succeeding actually to RUN the most of C# examples.

   I kinda regret reading this book, because I have to read now an other one to pass the test.




5. This is a useless book. It has so many errors that you will have headache. Very poor explanation. Normally MS Press books are good but Microsoft did a very poor job on this. I should use this book in fireplace to get some benifit out of it. I would like to give this book negative star if I can but I cant.

2 comments about Visual Basic .NET All in One Desk Reference for Dummies.

1. hi
   well I have tons of "for dummies" books(from spiritual to graphics and programming and the like) and this is the first that isn't good.

   problems:
   just some i'll like to mention.
   -the author writes code for you to copy and doesnt include the "_" between the lines (other manuals/tutorials/books at least tell u to put "_" , since they dont have space to write the full code in one line), so if you go by his code format you will keep getting errors.
   -on one hand the author seems to write nothing about certain vb.net code and on the other hand he writes tons about the difference between vb6 and vb.net.
   he devotes tons of the book on stuff that is new to vb.net compared to vb6, while not actaully describing vb.net stuff in the first place.

   in conclusion:
   if your coming from vb6, this is a great guide/reference for u. if your not, using the help(references/tutorials/info that u can get on controls/commands) that actaully comes with vb2003.net is far more effective.




2. Please do not torture yourself by buying this book. The title of Visual Basic.Net for Dummies would indicate that this book is appropriate for somebody who wishes to learn this computer language. It is a horrible learning tool.
   
   Twenty-five years after engineering school, I wanted to refresh my computer programming skills which were very good. However much has changed and I needed a guide. The frustration that I encounter with this book is greater than I ever experienced in Engineering school. Remember, engineering school is designed to be very challenging. I told my wife that I thought that I was smart, but my brain must have degenerated since my high honor college days.
   
   Then, I read Murach's Beginning Visual Basic.Net. What was difficult was now clear. Buy Murach's book if you want to learn this subject. Thank goodness for Murach. He showed me that I still had a functioning brain. I was not stupid. Visual Basic.Net for Dummies is very stupid.

1 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 2005: RELOADED, Advanced.

1. I am a systems development manager with 30 years programming experience. An acquaintance is taking a beginning VB programming course, using this text, and has asked me to review some of his assignments. I was dismayed to see an example of a Circle Class presented in this book in which a Radius property has public getters and setters and the abstract parent class has a public Area property getter. In the constructor for the Circle class, radius is a required argument. On instantiation, Area is immediately calculated and stored as part of the class instance. The Circle class also allows the radius to be modified but area is only calculated on instantiation. Therefore, a consumer of this class, without prior knowledge of this very odd design, could easily change the radius then ask for the area. They would receive the area based on the radius at initial instantiation, not the correct area based on the modified radius!
   
   With all due respect to the authors, this is terrible programming and has no place in a textbook. It teaches bad programming to students that will eventually enter the workforce. It does them and their eventual employers a disservice.
   
   It would have been valuable for the authors to follow up this example code with a critique and point out its flaws to readers; however, I saw no such follow-up. I would not recommend this text for a programming class.

5 comments about Network programming in .NET: C# & Visual Basic .NET.

1. This book took me from 0 to 50 on network programming in 1 long day.
   
   It is written for someone familiar with .net and wanting to do network programming in .net -- either C# or VB.net.
   
   The coverage is very broad -- starting from sockets, to email, to http/web, to encryption, network utilities, etc. Each section is short and sweet, but still specific enough with an example that you feel you can jump in and start coding this.
   
   Also, the author is clearly a practioner himself -- this wasn't just reciting the msdn library, this was the tips and tricks on what parts really matter of each aspect of networking, with real life situations.
   
   This was one of the top few, if not the best, computer software books I've read, in terms of taking me from virtually no knowledge of a subject (outside of a network theory class a long time ago) to feeling confident that I can use the material in a commercial application.
   
   Two drawbacks:
   - Would have been nice to be able to download the sample code form somewhere as full apps. Retyping it is a bit of a pain.
   
   - I'm using the VS 2005 beta and a couple of the namespaces like system.web.mail have been obsoleted.
   
   However, if you're trying to learn about networking and using a .net enviornment, this is a good investment of time.



2. I purchased this book because I wanted to do socket programming. However only 30 pages is devoted to the topic. Threads are not covered as all and I found more information on the web then I found in this book.
   
   The fact that you can not download the source code is another blow against the book.



3. I was going to buy the book, but after discovering that the associated website required me to install Firefox to view it (and how egotisitical and biased is that?), and then didn't format code samples in anything remotely like viewable, plus that most people comment on a lack of code in the book (or that is doesn't work), I think you'd have to be dumb to part with the money for it.



4. A poorly written book!
   
   It appears as if the author chose his chapter headings and section titles well to make it look at first glance like an in depth material covering a broad range of subjects. However, if you read the book you will notice that each section starts with a poor superficial introduction of the subject matter with absolutely no in depth material, followed by a very good example. I must say that most of his examples work, but you will have to scratch your head to know why. He doesn't even comment on his own code other than in a superficial way.
   I tried to search for a good book on the subject and couldn't after a year of using this one. Being this the only valid source up there, you probably won't have a choice but to get it. It'll get you started, but you will end up having to purchase another book to complete your knowledge.



5. This book is awsome, I spent money on hireing people to make simple network aps for me that far exceeded the 35ish dollars spend on this book. I have yet to come across a book that "teaches" to the new commer. So far ive understood every thing the author has wrote. Im a complete new comer never touched the networking stuff(at least not got anything to work) and ive already created a couple usefull things. Alot of people are upset the source code was not included but personally I dont mind retyping it yourself helps you learn. Again if I could I would rate more stars kudos to the author.

5 comments about Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6.

1. Let me begin by saying that I'm the author, so let's get that out of the way.

   I'm posting here to point out that the book has a tremendous amount of support materials that have never been advertised. Each of my books has a support page containing a current list of errata, downloadable files (completed exercises from the book), extra links to extra materials I have written and my email address in the event you have problems. I also run a series of online classes so that if you would like to learn with me in a more structured setting, you can do that also. You can access those materials via this link

   http://www.johnsmiley.com/books.htm

   I should also say that this book isn't for everyone---and you can read through some of the other reviews posted here to see why and why not.

   I wrote this book for beginner level programmers, and the book is written in a unique style.

   You (and I) can thank the now defunct Wrox Publishing house for the style of the book that some people absolutely love and others (primarily hotshot programmers with lots of experience) hate. The book is written as if you are participating in an actual classroom---many people, particularly those learning on their own or in an Independent study setting find comforting.

   My thanks to the many people who have written to me to tell me how much they've enjoyed my books and how they have helped them achieve their goals of learning to program.

   John Smiley




2. I'm a hobbyist, not an IT professional, and have been programming in BASIC since I bought my first PC in the 70's. When I decided to tackle Visual Basic to write programs for Windows, I purchased five "how-to" books on the subject. Unfortunately for me, John Smiley's book was the last one I bought. If I had ordered "Learn to Program" first, I could have saved more than $100. This is a clear, concise, and sure-fire way for the beginner or experienced BASIC programmer to transition to the powerful yet simple language of Visual Basic. John Smiley's book easily allows the reader to understand the concepts of event driven programming and the differences from procedural driven programming. Consider it a "must have" for the novice with little or no programming experience.



3. If you are a busy person, you work a lot with programmers and you need a general understanding of programming, this is not the book for you.
   If you have time on your hands, and you want to learn VB, this could be the book for you.
   After I bought this book I realised I was fooled by the title. It should be called 'Programming in Visual Basic for beginners'. The point of this book is to teach you to program in VB6, not to teach you the basics of programming using VB as an example language. While I can understand that the verbose classroom approach may appeal to some, I found it patronising and time wasting. I eventually bought 'Sams Teach Yourself Beginning Programming in 24 Hours' by Greg Perry which gives a concise summary of programming basics, an overview of the most common languages, and exercises to drive home the lessons. Exactly what I was after.



4. After programming in various languages, such as C and Perl, and using the Win32 API to write Windows applications, my company bought the rights to a product built on VB and ActiveX. The Visual Basic language, which in my mind was relegated to "script kiddies" and fly-by-night vendors, had found its way into our hallowed halls.
   
   I found this book enlightening and very informative. John's treatment of the SDLC was very brief, yet helpful. Wheras most techical manuals border on mundane, this book was anything but boring. The "classroom" setting was a great medium to keep my attention page after page. It catered to the beginner in me, which was a relief.
   
   Some books will just gloss over functional parts of development tools. Not only does this book come with a working version of Visual Basic 6.0, John goes to great lengths to walk through the menu system, debugging functions, and certain control parameters.
   
   Each section in each chapter contains a discussion (this is the "classroom" converation part) about the exercises. I found that each exercise works as written in the book. At the end of each chapter is a Summary and a Quiz. The Quiz answers can be found at the back of the book, however, I found that some of the Quiz answers were wrong, but was glad I had enough knowledge from John's writing to recognize a wrong answer.
   
   If you have a desire to learn how to program, have some knowledge of windows operating system, and enjoy good stories, then this book is for you. Keep in mind that John only covers the tip of the iceberg. You will truly need another book to actually do anything more than create simple forms and process the "Click" event (read the book to see what I mean).



5. I have worked through the first 7 chapters of "Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6" written by John Smiley and published by Active Path with the latest reprint September 2001. I will finish the remaining 8 chapters in a few days.
   
   This is a good book to work through the uses of the basic VB6 controls.
   
   But the book is nearly useless for providing a quick way to understand VB6 code syntax. The VB6 program provided with the book has the HELP disabled. So, one is always "googling" to get syntax and examples. Plus, the program will not produce executable runtime VB applications.
   
   The cover states about the software "...including a fully working version of Microsoft Visual Basic..." I consider runtime and HELP to be an integral part of a *fully* working version.
   
   As to the title of this review, one should be be careful with which Smiley "Learn to Program..." book one is buying.
   
   But, I would buy again. Just wanted to let you know what you were getting.

5 comments about Serious ADO: Universal Data Access with Visual Basic.

1. This is a good book that explains the intimate details of ADO but the format of book leaves a little to be desired. On most pages the 3/4 of the page has the text and the left 1/4 of each page is blank or contains subheadings. There is no clear-cut separation between 1 subject and the next. While reading this book, if you do not pay close attention, the subject will change. The author clearly knows ADO and how to apply it to Visual Basic 6.0 but it appears that he repeats the text in several parts of the book especially in chapter 3 - RecordSets with SQL Data Sources. Maybe it was my imagination but several times I had a sense of Deju-Vu. Didn't I read about this earlier in the book? Chapter 4, 5, and 7 (Explicit Connections, Explicit Commands, and Disconnected RecordSets) are very good and you will want to read these chapters religously. Installation of the files on the CD caused some problems on my PC, which has Windows XP Home Edition. If you like Shakespeare, you'll like the examples in this book. Beware the Index is not in synchronization with the actual page numbers.



2. "Serious ADO" is written by Rob Macdonald, an independent software expert specializing in enterprise system design using Windows, COM(+), ADO, and MTS. The book is based on the authors real world database development experience. It is designed for intermediate to advanced Visual Basic developers. The book teaches how to use ADO to build component-based systems and web applications as well as traditional client server systems.

   The first part of the book is titled "ADO In Depth". It provides detailed coverage of ADO's components and how they work. Real world code examples are provided for better understanding of all concepts. Oracle and SQL Server are covered, including the major non-traditional data sources. Key concepts such as locking, transactions, connection pooling, and marshalling are covered.

   Part two is titled "ADO at Large". It explains how ADO is used in real world scenarios. Topics include advanced user interface creation, binding processes, Data Environment, and Microsoft Transaction Server. It shows how to use ADO to build components that benefit from MTS and COM+.

   If you are an intermediate to experienced Visual Basic database developer, then this book is a must.




3. I attribute this book with solidifying my ADO skills.
   
   It covers the standard topics I have found in other ADO texts as well as an introduction to more advanced concepts with a functional level of depth. So the information is not too cursory, nor too detailed.
   
   There is a good introduction to connecting to and using data warehouses. The coverage of hierarchical recordsets was also good. The coverage of the basics (connection, recordset, command, et. al.) pivoted around the 'devil is in the details' type of information, which, with ADO, is appropriate.
   
   Of all the ADO books I have read, I most highly recommend this one. It is not well suited for the absolute beginner (i.e., you don't know what a recordset is) or high-level expert, but it should be suited for anyone in between. It took me a while to get into this book, but I feel it paid off.



4. I have gone through this book time after time and there is no better ADO book. It covers it all.



5. with one flaw - the index is consistently off by a page or three. (a corrected index is available at apress.com)
   
   And, there is one caveat - this is NOT a book for the VB/database beginner. If you're just starting VB6 database programming, I would recommend Freeze's "Visual Basic 6 Database Programming Bible," instead.
   
   If you can live with the fact that you need to subtract a couple of pages from the page number in the index, then this book provides outstanding technical coverage of ADO. Now, it appears that Rob used ADO v2.5 for the code used in the book, and there have been some improvements to ADO (it is now at v2.8) which make a few of the timing comparisons, within ado now a bit obsolete. (some recordset operations are now more efficient than they were with v2.5, for instance,) but it this book is still my first, and usually only reference that I need to pull off the bookshelf.

1 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 Unleashed.

1. "Visual Basic .NET 2003" is a wonderfully organized, concise (despite its more than 1000 pages) book that acts both as a reference and an introduction to this fascinating area of programming. Through clear writing and thoughtful organization and layout, the authors clarify the foundations of the .NET framework and provide numerous illuminating code examples offering practical ways to use it.
   
   I investigated this book because I enjoyed other books in the "Unleashed" series. I found the reviewed volume helpful from its discussion of basic Windows forms, controls and events to its examination of COM interoperability, remoting and threads.
   
   If you are getting started in Visual Basic .NET and want to gain an overview of it and proficiency in it, this is the book to get.

1 comments about Learn Microsoft Visual Basic .NET In a Weekend (In a Weekend (Indianapolis, Ind.).).

1. I must say... THIS IS A GREAT BOOK! i am a vb6/asp developer and had some contact with vb.net before but couldnt quite understand some parts of it until i read this book. It set me on the right track to begin working with both asp.net and vb.net a must have for anyone who wishes to learn vb.net the right and quick way.