5 comments about Murach's Visual Basic 2005: Training & Reference.

1. My perspective on this book is that of a true beginner. I know a lot about programming and languages, but have no experience designing or writing programs/code beyond following the bouncing ball in books such as this.
   
   This book is great...and not so great at the same time...for a true beginner. It is exactly as advertised, "No other book teaches so much, so fast, so thoroughly," but therein lies the problem for we experience-challenged readers. The pace is quick, i.e., topic-to-topic, and many times I had lingering questions about what I'd just read while finding myself halfway into the next topic. The book assumes a certain level of knowledge and/or experience that is somewhere between novice and expert...and I'm still at the 'step-by-step book' stage...so I expect to get a lot more from it in the months ahead than I have thus far. I know enough now to know that what I will need is in there...
   
   That said...whatta book! It will be among the most used of my reference books because it covers such a wide range of topics so well and because it covers those topics comprehensively. As my understanding of the language progresses, I'll have this book to refer to when I need to learn more about specific aspects of the language and its implementation.
   
   I've wasted some money on VB2005 books, but not on this one. Anne Boehm and Mike Murach delivered the goods.



2. I've been a self-taught developer off and on for ten years and I've relied on books primarily for learning new languages. And the Murach series are consistently the very best texts for self-paced learning. The latest VB offering carries on the tradition with very clear and consise explanations, along with helpful real-world application demonstrations and exercises at the end of the chapter. And none of the pages and pages of errata you must sort thru with many companies (Wrox ... God, don't get me started. :o( ). I'm giving it a FIVE to offset some of the ridiculous assertions made elsewhere about this excellent text.



3. This is good for people with no experience on VB programming. The step by step coding and explanations are the best of this book.



4. As a beginner, This book is very easy to understand and to follow the instruction in building the case study.



5. This is a good book, but many of the assignments are confusing. There were many assignments where the instructions could be interpretted in several different ways.

1 comments about Visual Basic 2008 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Recipes: a Problem-Solution Approach).

1. I was looking for a good summary of threading for a current project and this book provided the code I needed. It is one of the best books I have seen that explains the examples and concepts in well-tested fashion. Too many times I have bought books where the examples don't run on the latest software or they are written by C# programmers who don't know VB. Although some of the samples are trivial, the book is a great reference from anyone doing daily VB 2008 programming. My only complaint is that I wish the source code for the examples was available on a website or CD. You can cut-and-paste the code from the ebook, but it is a bit cumbersome.

5 comments about Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Step by Step, Second Edition (Step By Step (Redmond, Wash.).).

1. My programing background was in C++, Pascal, and Delphi, so when I got a new job and had to learn VB 6.0 I scrambled to find a book that could teach me the fundamentals. I can honestly say that after reading this book in two weeks I learned VB 6.0. Great book for developers who are beggining or just want to refresh their knowlegh in VB 6.0, a must have.



2. I'm only on page 78, and already I can tell that I'm going to enjoy and learn from this book. Not being familiar with Mr. Halvorson's work, I was a little leary when I noticed that this book was published by Microsoft Press. Dreading page after page of nearly non-human jargon and wording, I was most pleasantly surprised when I began my journey through the easy-to-read pages. If you can follow a recipe, you can learn from this book. Heck, even if you can't follow a recipe, you can still learn, as long as you're willing to do the exercises. Being a beginner in the programming field, I can heartily recommend Microsoft's and Mr. Halvorson's version of VB 6.0 training.



3. This is a great reference book.
   I found the sections on serial communication particularly helpful.
   I'd especially recommend it to someone who is just starting out with VB6.
   It may help you to avoid some bad programming habits.
   
   Cheers.



4. Very good examples. Even comes with CD so you can run the program and look at the code real time. The solutions are everyday answers to problems.



5. It addresses learners at different levels in Visual Basic programming. Learners will find it a good resource for learning VB programming. Recommended !

5 comments about Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic 2005, An (6th Edition).

1. This book is, almost, total garbage. Only reason why I bought the book is becuase my course requires it. In the book, author talks about one thing, then all of a sudden you are faced with a new concept, and 2 lines later, another concept. I was very dissapointed becuase the key terms sometimes,or never, are not clearly explained and leaves you in frustration and deep anger.



2. I really must take issue with the contributor who described this book as garbage.
   Having decided to learn programming on my own,I tried several "beginners" books without much success. I could complete most of the projects offered by these books which were, by and large, well intended and well-written. And yet... somehow I never really got to grips with the language. That is - until I bought David Schneider's book. Sure its old fashioned but, in my opinion, thats one of its major strengths. It lays down a solid programming foundation following a logical well-established pattern. The best way to learn programing is by doing and there is an abundance of graded exercises to complete to ensure the message really sticks.
   I can't understand why Dietel'a book on this subject is so popular. Yes it's good - but not as good as this one!
   .



3. same as the person said "this book is a garbage" he is right, this book is really a garbage.
   it's explanation is so terrible you can not believe.
   it says thing that it doesn't even mention on the previous pages.
   for example text alignment.
   one practice this book as you do do some text alignment, i was going crazy about that. i say "WHAT"
   i try to search thought the entire chapter about text alignments, there is nothing there.
   i just gave up on it.
   THERE ARE MANY MANY PARTS THAT AUTHOR DIDN'T REALLY EXPLAIN IT WELL.
   practice is awful, there is no help at all, he tell you to do something that he didn't even mentioned in the book.
   so i STRONGLY BE CONSIDER DON'T BUY THIS BOOK, UNLESS YOU HAVE A GOOD TEACHER TO TEACH YOU HOW TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC. MY TEACHER HE DIDN'T TEACH MUCH EITHER, HE ONLY SHOW YOU THE TEXT, WITHOUT EXPLAIN HOW U DO IT. "I WLL DROP THIS COURSE AND TRY TO TAKE ON ANOTHER TIME"



4. the book was brand new and i got it at almort 1/3 the price at the bookstore at school! It was a great investment!



5. You can buy this book learn a lot of useful VB.NET stuff especially if you are a newbie.
   Or like me you can buy all the other newbie books on VB.NET and when you get stuck with concepts like events, and advanced stuff in OOP, buy this book and learn it thoroughly. Quite contrary to some of the poor reviews you wont need a second instructor to learn VB.NET from this book. After reading this book, I was looking on amazon for other computer books by the same author. I found this book so much useful...

5 comments about Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 2005: The Language (Pro Developer).

1. I based my purchase of this book on the reviews on it, and I must say that they were accurate. This book is an exceptionally good means for an experienced programmer to learn how to program in Visual Basic 2005. Assuming one already is familiar with typical program mechanisms and mindsets, this book allows you to immediately become effective without wasting time discussing elementary concepts.
   
   I should also add that the writing of the book is pleasant, the proofing very well done, and the overall appearance is quite nice. There aren't many books that get 5 stars but this is one.



2. Visual Basic appeared more than 15 years ago as a tool to define quick prototypes and develop GUI applications with ease. Its development environment, which the language was literally blended in, was remarkably easy to use. I remember those good old days when a fellow colleague of mine showed me how to draw VB forms and in less than an hour after I was already developing a new GUI application.
   
   Visual Basic has gone through a long way since then. The language is nowadays a powerful, complex, potent medium to develop sophisticated applications. In fact, Visual Basic.NET is virtually on par with C#.
   
   "Visual Basic 2005: The Language" by Francesco Balena tries to show - in a gentle yet dense manner - the long way that VB has pursued over the years and well as the current state of affairs. It succeeds on both counts.
   
   The book is divided in four bigs parts:
   1) The Basics - which introduces the reader to what Visual Basic.NET is all about, with explicit references to the differences between VB6 and VB.NET (very useful for VB6 programmers).
   2) Object Oriented Programming - which presents the OOP support in VB.NET. This section is important because VB.NET departs from the old OOP support and gets more in line with the .NET paradigm.
   3) Working with the .NET Framework - which may be seen as a natural continuation of the previous part in the context of the .NET framework.
   4) Advanced Topics - which tackles how advanced .NET elements (like attributes) get handled in VB.NET as well as what VB.NET is still better than, say, C# (namely the interop with COM and Automation).
   
   The book is truly monumental in form and dense in content. The style is slightly verbose but this adds value: you cannot skip pages without losing valuable information and in such conditions reading a book of this size is quite a task.
   
   As an added bonus, the author presents several mini-projects that are in fact mini how-to tutorials: how to build a plug-in for WinForms, how to develop a n-tier application. Without the generosity of Mr. Balena you'd have to buy an extra book for an introduction in such useful stuff.
   
   "Visual Basic 2005" has several minor drawbacks, though:
   1) The remarks showing the differences between VB6 and VB.NET are scattered throughout the text. For a VB6 programmer this is difficult to follow and for a non-VB6 programmer this is slightly annoying. Perhaps Mr. Balena should have dedicated a special chapter to those differences and then forget about them.
   2) The book does not say much about all the other .NET languages, as if VB.NET is the only .NET language under the sun. In fact, .NET diminishes the differences between languages without making them identical. This is not apparent from this book.
   3) The book does not say enough about what is specific to Visual Basic, besides syntax. Why would anyone want to program in Visual Basic.NET when you have C#? In my opinion, Visual Basic.NET is not going to go away any time soon especially because it retains those qualities of VB6 - a verbose and intuitive syntax, a loose typing system (perfect fit for Automation interop) as well as a slightly better exception catching mechanism. In my opinion, "Visual Basic 2005" does not elaborate enough on such necessary topics.
   
   Overall, the book is a must if you want to come up to speed with the Visual Basic language after years of programming in other languages. However, if you want to learn Visual Basic from scratch or if you want to use Visual Basic.NET for more "mundane" tasks - such as building WinForm applications - then this book is not for you.



3. The things I like about this book are that the topics it covers are very well done. It covers some of the trickier aspects like threading and regular expressions. Being an experienced programmer I like the fact that you can jump around in the book to just the aspects of the language that you are interested. I will warn the novice programmer that this is probably not a good starter book, but if you are ready for the material you will find that it has a good balance of code examples, and explanation.
   
   There are just a few spots in the code example where I can see a slightly better implementation, but if you are an experienced programmer this will not be difficult at all to see yourself.
   
   Last but not least, the appendix is one of the beefiest one's I have seen in ANY programming book. If there is anything I hate about tech books is a lousy appendix and this one is top notch.



4. I made an international request for this book and in the ship info they told me that the delivery of this item would be delayed... but it didn't. i got this book sooner than expected.
   
   it was a geat thing that i got this book before the estimated delivery date!!
   
   thanks
   amazon



5. I had a case dealing with Version Tolerant Serialization, after searching the web; they all came up short. I double checked the book later, and found the answer I needed. That 1 time more than paid for this book.

2 comments about Programming Excel with VBA and .NET (Programming).

1. When you attempt to get into a new area of coding, it is best to have an authoritative reference. Confidence in your source really helps in getting through the inevitable rough spots. "Excel with VBA & .NET" seems to fill the bill. It certainly does not hurt to know that the author was on the Microsoft OLE Automation team when VB was added to Excel.
   
   The "comprehensive" half of my review title comes with the packed 1100 pages. All the programming basics, all the programmable objects, all the usable features are covered. In addition, the book covers extending Excel with add-ins and dealing with security.
   
   My own interest in programming Excel objects is related to my job as a GUI interface developer for browser-based applications. As more information and functionality goes to the Web, the convenience of taking HTML data displays and exporting them to Excel is finding an expanding and demanding market. I was somewhat disappointed that the book did not approach more topics from the perspective of this modern trend.
   
   A friend preparing to teach Excel VBA next fall grabbed the book from my desk and had a look. She was certain "Excel with VBA & .NET" would be an excellent platform and reference for that class. That high recommendation certainly trumps my quibble about not having more material on browser implementations.



2. "Programming Excel with VBA & .NET" is certainly a very 'weighty' tome. At around 1100 pages you certainly get a lot of paper for your money! However, do you get value for your money? I have yet to read a book on this topic which is more comprehensive in its coverage in terms of the description of the Object Model and the properties and methods, in many cases complete with useful examples. So in that regard it is an excellent reference. The benefit of the author being part of the Microsoft OLE Automation team when VB was added to Excel is very clear. The book also covers VBA itself in good depth. However, I feel that much of this could have been usefully relegated to a reference Appendix. If you are buying this book to learn VBA as such then there are many other excellent choices. The value in this book is in the application of VBA to Excel. You should not consider this book unless you are already very comfortable with VBA. If you are only just learning VBA but try to go on to read the rest of the book, you might find it hard going.
   
   I have read other books that devote more space to and explain better the use of Ranges in VBA code; "pictures are worth a thousand words". If you cannot assimilate this aspect of VBA programming with Excel then you will struggle. Because of the recursive nature of Range references in Excel it can be a difficult concept to understand. I know personally that when I got the hang of that and how to use relative referencing with the R1C1 notation and to use the Cell object my productivity went up tremendously, and my frustration level dropped accordingly. Excel is probably the most difficult and complex application of the Office products when it comes to the Object Model and accordingly programming in VBA. On balance I would have no hesitation in recommending this book as part of your Excel VBA programming arsenal. Typically no one book can give you all of the insight that you need. Accordingly I feel comfortable in giving it 5 stars.
   
   Cheers
   Graham Jones

5 comments about Programming .NET Components, 2nd Edition.

1. Book goes through the entire process of building controls, nothing is untouched. It dwells however much too long on the 'standard' topics of installation, distribution, setting up etc and is rather lite on the the real stuff like building controls that look and feel like commercial controls. Would be a good book if it had 20% of the pages.



2. While going over component and control design, this book teaches the principles of the component-oriented design philosophy. The author doesn't pander and isn't overly verbose; getting to the point and explaining his meaning efficiently and succinctly. Definitely worth the read.



3. This book is incredibilly well written and has a very comprehensive way of explaining the ways of Component oriented programing. Explains its differences betweent COP and OOP. You can easily understand what the author has in mind, BUT, I found one big flaw on this book. Not that this flaw will make the book less comprehensive, but it will make it less fun.
   In all concepts it presents Examples, but not exercises. It explains the features and then give a short example to it. It doesn't stimulate the reader to actually build a code within a major context. You read, see the example and move on to the next topic. It is not fun to just stay around and read and read and read without actually working with the book. It is still a great book, but the approach to the reader could be better.



4. Without any second thought I will place this book among the best books on the subject ever published. I hope everybody will agree that there are only a few books that worth reading from the beginning to the end without skipping a page. To me this is one of those rare books.
   The author manages to reflect on broad architectural concepts and yet be extremely specific. He was able to present the most complicated aspects of component oriented programming and the C# language in a very simple, yet concise manner. Many complex issues that may turn off even experienced programmers are described in a way that not only are very well understood, but could easily be migrated into a working program. The author has found an absolutely perfect balance of presenting general architectural aspects of the subject he is discussing and real life implementation techniques.
   I truly believe that anybody who is dealing with such aspects (to name but a few) as serialization, asynchronous invocation, multithreading, reflection, events, delegates, deterministic finalization, etc., MUST read this book.
   By the way, this author has published another wonderful book on Windows Communication Foundation - "Programming WCF".



5. A Classic Book that begins it's journey, where all books end. The true difference between a casual programmer and a disciplined programmer is more prominent in his/her code when they start using advanced features of the framework. A true programmer knows his stuff in and out and knows how to leverage the features of the framework effectively in every line of code. And to get to that level of proficiency it takes reading and practicing the concepts on daily basis. And if at all, there is any book out there, that will help you, then it is this book. A definite YES. 5 Stars.

5 comments about Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with VB 2005.

1. When I received the book I had a hard time putting it down. It hit the nail right on the head, as to what I was looking for. Detailed information is great, and can be used as a reference also. You don't have to waste time sifting through page after page trying to find what you need. One page has the details and the other is reference!



2. It seems to be just what I was looking for in a training and reference book.



3. I've spent hours and hours on Amazon, on messageboards, sitting on the floor at Borders reading thru every ASP.NET book available, and it seemed none came close to this book for real-world, comprehensive teaching and practice. I have not been dissapointed, as I am almost finished and the book has helped me get up to speed after a long layoff (I last programmed Classic ASP years ago). Each example builds on the previous one to build a completed application. Awesome.



4. I thought it was a good reference book - not one you could read cover to cover. It seemed to jump around a bit more than I liked. It covered most of the need-to-know topics.
   
   I tend to work in the source code window more than the design window, and this book tends to do the latter. It's not a bad thing, it's just different.
   
   All in all, it's a good book, but some of the topics/concepts seem forced into the application you are creating throughout the book.



5. I don't where the other reviews about this book being good for beginners is coming from.
   
   I have solid programming experience in C and Visual Basic 6 and two semesters of Java. I have also 10 years experience with regular HTML.
   I have even worked through all the exercises in Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB by Cristian Darie and Zak Ruvalcaba.
   
   Thank goodness I had that going for me, because I would have been lost otherwise in chapters 2 and 3.
   
   The example in Chapter 2 should have been about the Order.aspx page which is used in the remaining chapters of the book. Instead the authors go off on a tangent using as an example a different webpage which isn't ever used again later on in the book.
   
   The first 2 or 3 chapters are critical, and I strongly believe that the authors need to SHOW how to go about creating the Design views of Orders.aspx and Cart.aspx pages that they discuss extensively in Chapter 3. They basically just throw the screen captures up thinking that the discussion in Chapter 2 would be useful and helpful. Not!
   They also put up the code for both Product.vb and CartItem.vb without specifically telling the reader which should go where. A no-no for beginners.
   
   I also agree with a previous review which said that the dual-page approach is a great waste of paper because much of the text was redundant.
   
   I am not saying it's a bad book, but it is not as good as it could be.
   It is for people who have some programming and HTML experience.

5 comments about Advanced VBScript for Microsoft Windows Administrators (Pro Other).

1. It never ceases to amaze me how many scripting books, including this one, start off telling you that you should already have intermediate to advanced scripting skills before you read, yet spend an initial chapter explaining what an array or an object is. It leaves me feeling that their definition of what "advanced" is will differ greatly from mine. I am also always a little dismayed when throughout, a book plugs a costly script development studio and spends time pointing out why your chosen script editor isn't good enough for your projects.
   
   That said, Advanced VBScript delivers what it promises. It is written for intermediate to advanced scripters and has the primary goal of introducing scripting formats, utilities, objects and processes that might otherwise be overlooked. The beginning introduces you to the WSF XML format for scripts, why you would want to use it, and how to convert your existing scripts to this format. From there you are shown how to utilize scripts as COM objects, how to add an interface to your scripts via HTML and HTA applications, performing remote scripting, and expand your scripts ability using database, ADSI, WMI components. The last section focuses on working with Exchange 2003, MOM 2005 and Virtual Server 2005. At around 500 pages, the book is certainly not an exhaustive reference for each component examined. You are provided a good introduction and general instructions to the topic, given many recipe scripts for immediate inclusion in your environment, and then provided additional detail on where to go to focus on the topic.
   
   The book is formatted to not only be a start to finish textbook, but also serve as an excellent reference guide for the introduced components later on. Although you may find similar scripting information scattered about other VBScript books, here you have a great deal of well presented topics that cover a broad spectrum of concepts. Inclusion of this title to your reference library will provide you the information you need while keeping your bookshelf compact.



2. This is an excellent follow on book to "Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide," ISBN: 0735618674, which was my previous bible. I had long ago advanced past much of what is written in that excellent foundation book for VBScript, and this advanced volume really fills in the gaps. After purchasing numerous VB and VBA references that are nothing more than syntax libraries, I feel I finally have the big picture on the capabilities of this technology with this book. It is all clear.
   
   Combined with the Windows Internals book, I don't think there is anything I couldn't do now that I had wanted to do with this technology previously. The chapters on scripting database connections and HTAs are worth the price alone. If you do any serious scripting work, this book is the true capstone. And who else could publish such a book than the horse's mouth itself?



3. I picked this up after noticing it in a book shop (sorry Amazon!). I'm an Exchange administrator and this book gave me some great scripting tips for managing and monitoring my environment. I haven't gone much beyond that since, to my regret, but the concept of packaging scripts was news to me, and I would love to find the time to try out some of the other more elaborate techniques in there. But of course, I am an Exchange Administrator ;-)



4. Absolutely excellent!! Very technical and to-the-point, so this book might not be for the absolute beginner. But for the more experienced Windows systems administrator, this book is an absolute goldmine! Also, in my view, it balances perfectly between being a reference volume and a textbook; I've started from page 1, and will go throu the whole book (and I enjoy every minute of it..). But still, this book will be seen next to my desk, within reach whenever I need to look up something...
   
   With the book comes a CD with the whole book in searchable PDF-format. And I would like to thank Microsoft Press for doing that! I have put the PDF on my PDA, and can access its wisdom wherever I go! Great!



5. I have just recently started WMI and ADSI. I am a "top down" learner, get the hard stuff, then the simple stuff. This book is perfect for server '03 and windows system Admins. it is not a "solve every problem" I dont think it even solves most problems, but it does have tools and information that WILL make you a better windows administrator. If your just getting into scripting for windows, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a resource that you can read through and use as a reference, to learn better ways to script your windows administrative tasks, this is the book for you. the CD has great examples and tools, along with a PDF of the book. the book is laid out very well, with specific projects, which is perfect for using this book as a reference. I read it straight through and was able to use parts of it almost every day. all of the information in this book is available at the scripting center, this book just has gotten the really good stuff for Admins, and laid it out perfectly. This book has helped me to write programs that sometimes save me hours of repetitive tasks. Example: manually removing a network virus from computers when I know all the information, but the scanner does not. I am quite happy with this book, and would reccomend it only to people with a light background in programming, and anyone that maintains a '03/XP network.

5 comments about Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook: Solutions for VB 2005 Programmers (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)).

1. Very helpful for a casual programmer like myself. Just remember to download the "recipies" to avoid retyping.



2. If you're new to programming in Visual Basic .NET, but have programmed in some other langauge before, there is always this barrier that one faces when they know, to a certain degree, the task they want to accomplish, but often fall short trying to figure out the syntax or method to implement it here. That is what this book does. It's an essential cookbook, in the language of choice, that bridges that barrier.
   
   It's also a great side-companion for beginners, mainly because the intro books do a fair job of getting people started, but they also need to figure out specific tasks or methods of doing things that tutorial books won't cover. It does not overstate the obvious, and it serves up pretty clear impressions and explanations on what it delivers.



3. 'Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook: Solutions for VB 2005 Programmers' by Tim Patrick is a perfect reference and solution manual for any and all Visual Basic 2005 developers. Written in typical great O'Reilly cookbook fashion, this book is chock full of nuts with 700+ pages of goodness.
   
   Chapter Overview
   
   01. VB Basics
   02. Development Environment
   03. Application Organization
   04. Forms, Controls, Other Objects
   05. Strings
   06. Numbers And Math
   07. Dates & Times
   08. Arrays & Collections
   09. Graphics
   10. Multimedia
   11. Printing
   12. Files & File Systems
   13. Databases
   14. Programming Techniques
   15. Exceptions
   16. Cryptography & Compression
   17. Web Development
   
   This is simply a fabulous book that any and all VB programmers of today need to pick up. Not only will you save time, you'll enjoy doing it while reading this wonderful guide!!
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



4. There are various sections in this book that are pretty basic and unnecessary to even an amateur programmer but there are also lots of other sections that are just chock full of great stuff and even advanced programmers would benefit from them. It also suffers from the common tendency to say very simple things using a lot of words in order to take up a lot of space. I think I even found a tip or two which show up twice in different sections. That being said, there's still a whole lot of worthwhile material in this book.



5. As with most O'Reilly books, the reader is treated to a very good overview of the topic at hand. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has some experience with pre-.NET versions of VB and who needs to make the move to the .NET version. I found the chapters on strings and files especially helpful.
   
   I would like to have seen more information on the Crystal Report control that comes included with VB, as that seems to be the only reasonable way to create integrated reports. I'm finding Bischof's "Crystal Reports .NET Programming" book very helpful in this regard.