5 comments about Learn Microsoft VBScript In a Weekend.

1. First of all, by no means did I expect to 'really' learn VBScripting over a weekend. I only purchased this book as an additional learning source as I believe in approaching learning through a repetitive process.

   This book attempts to make learning VBScripting fun by almost immediately showing how to apply VBScripting to Web pages. It doesn't do a good job at really digging in to VBScripting that would be useful to an Administrator working in computers. Feels more like something for someone retired sitting at home playing with his computer for fun.

   What really bothers me about this book is I would expect a bit more care to go into proof reading and correcting mistakes with a book on programming or scripting. How can someone teach me about proper syntax when they fail to include the correct spelling for the basic english language?!!

   This book is also FILLED with typo errors, incorrect screenshots, and outdated or useless website references which often make the book difficult to understand or follow.

   So, thumbs down on this one. Keep looking. You'll find much better books.

   (...)




2. There are not very many up-to-date books that cover VBScript and most of them are aimed at experienced programmers. This book is perfect for first time programmers, future web developers and would-be system administrators. It assumes very little prior experience and takes you from A to Z in 7 easy to read chapters.

   Don't expect to read the entire book in a single weekend if you plan to follow along and recreate all the example scritps for yourself. Still, if you want to learn how to work with VBScript this book will give you a big head start. I recommend that you read this book first and then move on to one of the more technical VBScripts books.




3. This is a good book. There are not many books in print that focus on VBScript and most of them seem to me to be written for hard core programmers. Learn VBScript in a Weekend goes a long way to filling the void of 'unwritten entry-level books' on VBScript.
   
   It easy to understand and doesn't overwhelm you with technical mumbo-jumbo. Its probably not something a master programmer is looking for but for people new to VBScript and the WSH or for new programmers book I think that this book provides a great starting point.

   It begins with a good introduction to VBScript. After that the author shows you how to use VBScript to help spice up your web pages. The last half of the book is dedicated to covering VBScript and the WSH. Here you'll learn how to do collect system information, work with the registry, write to event logs, create log files and reports, interact with users using popup dialogs and a lot more.




4. This book is for beginners. It is very well written and keeps your attention. I recommend it as a first book. For the guy that only gave it 1 star, who in their right mind would think they can pick up a 350 page book on vbscripts and think that they will be able to administer their network? That aside, i suggest everyone that is interested buy it. It's probably the only updated book on vbscripts that you will find and well worth the 25 or so bucks.



5. I too found the book lacking in its explanations. In most cases it failed to breakdown the scripts adequately. It also failed to provide comprehensive examples.

   For instance the SetTimeOut function was not adequately explained as to what its syntax is and how it functions.

   When Frames were addressed the book provided three separate pages. How would a beginner know how to put all of the pages together to achieve their goal? The book should have shown what a script that includes frames looks like when it is complete.

   I am sure there are other examples of what is lacking in this text but I will never know. I am moving on to another book that hopefully will provide me with strong basics I am missing with this book.

   The only saving grace for me is I have a background in VB and VBA. Heaven help anyone who does not come to this book with previous VB knowledge.
   This was written as if the author was trying to make a very tight deadline and shame on Premier Press for publishing it. The above favorable reviews must have been written by family and friends.

1 comments about Microsoft Management Console Design and Development Kit (DV-MPE Software Development Kits).

1. This book is a complete waste of money. It is basically a printout of the Platform SDK and MSDN documentation.

1 comments about Programming and Problem Solving with Visual Basic .NET.

1. This one of the best books I 've read on VB.NET among many.

   It has a lot of merits but the one that sets this apart is that it views VB.NET in the general context of programming and programming practices. It does not stay only to the particulars of the language but also uncovers the theoretical foundations upon which these particulars lay. And it does this in a very gentle way that not only won't intimidate you but will help you get a deeper sense of what you do very smoothly.

   And although I had already read a dozen of books on VB.NET there were a lot of things I learned from this book. For example, how variables are stored in memory and what that means to programming.

   This book is for beginner-intermediate programmers.

3 comments about Creating and Consuming Web Services in Visual Basic.

1. I just got this book and more or less tore through it. The book does a great job explaining the ins and outs of creating Web services with VB.NET. I especially appreciated the great coverage of using attributes to shape the WSDL and data used in the Web service. The book really helped me out a lot. Highly recommended.



2. If you are like me, you may have thought that the only good Web service support for ASP.NET was offered through C#. The three guys who wrote this book show that this just isn't true.

   The book doesn't spend too much time on the protocols-- instead it explains how to use them from VB. If you need to understand the SOAP and WSDL real deeply, get a different book like Seely's SOAP book from PH-PTR. This book is about writing Web services, nothing more or less. The chapter on SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI is nothing other than an overview. Hey, you've been warned.




3. If you are a seasoned Visual Basic developer with no familiarity with .NET, C#, or Web services, this book will get you where you need to go with a minimum of theoretical explanations and examples that are straightforward and to the point. It provides a quick overview of key concepts and then plunges into practical instruction that brings VB 6 experts up to the latest rev. You don't have to learn a new language to take advantage of .NET services. I work with Deon and have worked with Eric, and they not only have the understanding but the technical chops to back up what they are saying here. Buy the book, don't wait for the movie.

4 comments about MCAD Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual Basic(R) .NET and the .NET Framework Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 70-310) (Exam Cram 2).

1. This book is a good learning practice to vb.net/.NET. I have read other book, but too much introduction.

   I follow through all the example in this book and type it up myself.

   I really recommended this book to user with experience in programming and want to go straight into coding.

   Author Well Done.!

   I'm currently studying for 70-310 exam and will comments on it when I have finish the exam.




2. I passed 70-310 by using this book and the Transcender practice tests. For me, the Transcender tests filled in some gaps in the material that this book didn't touch on or didn't touch on in great detail.

   I like the Exam Cram series because I find them easy to read. Most of the chapters are short (10 - 20 pages), easily digestible pieces, which I prefer. I also appreciated the programming examples in this book, since they allowed me to get some practice creating projects and writing code. I could use the Visual Studio .NET help system to look at the class members and answer any curious-type questions I had. If you learn better by working on hand-on examples, you'll appreciate them too.

   If you are new to Visual Basic and object oriented programming, do not buy this one right away. Learn more about VB.NET first and then buy this book to pass the test. If you are a seasoned programmer with VB experience, get it along with practice tests. I can recommend Transcender, but then again, those are the only kind I have used.

   Good luck on the exam!




3. I used this book and Gunderloy's 70-310 book. This book alone will not help you pass the test, but it is worth the price for 2 whole practice tests and over a 100 chapter-end questions.



4. I will suggest this book to everyone who want to pass and study for the exam quickly. I have been reading this book and I found that this book is really easy to read and has a good depth. It is a "to the points" type of book, and doesn't give me too much unnecessary information like normally other book does.

5 comments about Programming Microsoft Visual Basic .NET for Microsoft Access Databases.

1. Nice walkthrough of setting up database security (MDW file). Only reasonable source I found for this.



2. The target audience for the book is, quite simply, Access developers who are accustomed to VBA and/or VB 6.

   This book serves a good purpose, as the .NET materials I have seen to date all refer to SQL Server in their examples; they acknowledge Access, but fail to show its uses. I am not crazy about seeing "old" technology such as ADO used in some of the examples, but for a book of this nature (transitioning between coding languages) I guess that is inevitable that some old/new information would be included at various points.

   Do not purchase the book if you're intending to use the built-in VBA capabilities of Access or other Office applications -- that's strictly not covered. What you will find, though, is a good sense of how VB.NET operates on its own, and how to create applications that draw upon the data stored in your Access databases.

   This should be a good base point for someone who's developed in Access, and wants to investigate moving forward; it should be a means to an end, rather than the destination itself. Additional reading on ADO.NET and classes will be helpful, I believe, to continue fleshing out knowledge to be truly effective in your work, but this book does a good job of introducting those concepts.




3. I'm a brand new developer using VS.NET, and having never used Visual Studio before I've grown very tired of every single book on .NET
   spending %60 of their time explaining how it was done in Visual Studio 6, and how it is done in Visual Studio .NET. This book isn't much
   different except that I see a shocking amount of emphasis on the "old" ADO method of data access. In fact, if I read this correctly,
   there is more written on ADO/ADOX than there is about ADO.NET.
   
   This is about the 10th book on .NET that I've purchased and every one so far (especially those from MS Press) spend 2-6 chapters talking
   about .NET, what it is and why is is so bloody terrific. Book authors, PLEASE, lets stop introducing and re-introducing the same stuff
   in EVERY .NET book! Write a "Beginning .NET" for all that stuff and save your readers some time!
   
   Overall my opinion is that this book is mediocre. What this book is is a general .NET book with an
   emphasis on database programming (albeit with the "old" ADO stuff).
   
   In short, I'm glad I bought it used for only $10.



4. As I read the review that compained about the heavy use of ADO rather than ADO.net in the first part of the book, it seemed to me that the reviewer missed what Dobson was trying to do. This book really teaches two subjects--VS.Net and ADO.Net as it applies to Access. I appreciated that he used the old familiar ADO while discussing the new, unfamiliar VS.Net, and then, when the reader should be comfortable with the first topic, began to teach the second. I think he did a good job of laying the groudwork for using Visual Studio.net before then introducing the complex topic of switching to ADO.net. I would recommend this book for anyone transitioning from VB or VBA to .net using Access databases.



5. I have been working in this profession for 30 years and have migrated from COBOL to VB-3, to VB-6, and now to VB.Net. The title of this book is "Programming Microsoft Visual Basic.Net for Microsoft Access Databases."
   When I started reading the book it began with very basic VB for the first 128 pages. Then once you do get into the VB sections of the book, there is a lot of repetition and not all of MS Access/VB programming is covered. Everything is done using embedded SQL commands. No raw access to MS Access. Try and find an INDEX change, or a SEEK command.
   Rick, you should publish a second book and finish the topic and send it to everyone who purchased this book free.

No comments about Process Engineering and Design Using Visual Basic.

3 comments about Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET w/accompanying CD-ROM.

1. With so much misinformation and speculation about migrating apps to vb.net, I decided to go straight to the horse's mouth for the word.
   This book does the job. It demystifies the migration story. It shows how to migrate apps to vb.net, and has complete reference material about potential problems and how to fix them. It contained less hype and more fact than I have come to expect from Microsoft. I particularly liked the sections that list the differences between vb6 and vb.net. This is exactly the information that I was looking for and the only place that I have been able to find it. Other notable chapters cover COM Interop, migrating COM+ services and troubleshooting migration problems.
   With the help of this book, I have migrated several of my applications to vb.net, a much easier job than a lot of the reports and newsgroups have made it sound.

   Vb.net is NOT a whole new language for us developers to learn, I believe it adds a new dimension to the same language ensuring that we as Vb developers will still have a job in 10 years when java users are well and truly obsolete! I recommend this book to everybody moving apps from vb6 to vb.net.

   Bring on vb.net Microsoft, I'm ready!




2. When I first got this book, I did not think I would like it very much. After all, how much can one write on upgrading from Visual Basic to Visual Basic .NET?

   While I believe most people will rewrite rather than upgrade, having experienced the wizard's decisions, this book has a lot of good advice to both make this an easier task and to make the right decisions in your current code if you have ever thought of upgrading.

   While you expect this book to have a good deal on Interop, the gem here is the great explanation of remoting. While web services are the talk of the town, the ability to create server to server communication without creating another layer, is very important. For me, this section, alone, was worth the price of the ride.

   For most, the upgrade information will be the most important, which should come as no suprise. If you are currently writing Visual Basic 6, you can learn a lot about setting up your own code to make sure it does not become legacy code when you move to .NET. Even more important, however, is the fact that following these suggestions will help you create better apps, as the suggestions for your current code are good suggestions whether the code will be upgraded or not.

   One more nice gem before I sign off. The section on creating global components in .NET is wonderful. While most of your .NET apps are designed to sit in their own directories, knowing how to create shared components is very important for Enterprise development. If you are developing in .NET currently, this section details how to set up your own global components; this is an area where the documentation is a bit slim, so it makes a nice selling point for current .NET developers.




3. Upgrading to .net is a must have for any developer or company that is planning to use .net.
   I highly recommend this book to any developers or project managers who need to rapidly understand what's involved in upgrading to .net from VB. By purchasing this booking I upgraded a VB 5/6 to VB.Net and I'm about to deliver my first .net project on time and within budget.

   As with all VB releases I was both excited and daunted by the release of .net.
   Being a developer who has worked from basic to VB 6.0 I was suspicious of the learning curve involved and the bombardment of books about .net. In early February my manager informed me that a client of ours was insisting on moving their VB 6 app to use the .Net framework. Instantly before my eyes I saw late nights and busy weekends whilst adapting my VB knowledge to expand into the .Net framework.
   Like many developers before me, I smiled with confidence and told my project manager this upgrade could be done. As soon as his back was turned I searched the Internet and instantly got presented myriad of books about .Net.

   Scanning the list I saw a familiar name "Ed Robertson", I remember this guy from a developer day's conference. He was concise and accurate whilst presentation technical and conceptual information on how to upgrade from VB to .Net

   Needless to say I purchased the book and in 10 days it arrived. By resisting the temptation to start programming and actually reading the book first. I was very quickly able to upgrade one of the smaller Apps involved in system and then with planning
   I tackled with confidence the main application

   This book will teach you how to upgrade and more importantly what applications can be upgraded well providing you with an in depth view into the .net framework

   My recommendation is that anyone who going to use .Net should purchase this book.
   It will save you hours of programming and frustration as the authors drawing on there own wealth of .net experience cleverly guide you through the stormy waters of system upgrades.

1 comments about Visual Basic 2005 Instant Results (Programmer to Programmer).

1. Thearon Willis is a great writer, as from my past experience, but this book is not the one to learn anything from, unless you are looking for some very specific applications. It took me off guard, as I have never bought a book such as this before, but if a person is looking for an application that deals with pictures, this may be of great help in coding for the image application.

2 comments about Beginning .NET Web Services with VB.NET.

1. XML and XML Web Services are hot subjects, I should know having technically reviewed many books on them and also this book. So a book that tells the XML & Web services stories from a VB.NET perspective has got to be hot property - and this book is just that!

   Content varies from using VB.NET to enumerate an XML document to developing Binary & SOAP Serialisation class's - there is no "kiddie" dialog; it is full of real information & succinct step-by-step real-world examples to try out.

   It's a small & convenient sized book and that requires it to be fast-paced, progressive & well written: there is no getting bogged down in 70 page chapters of pure rocket science that send you into orbit. Best of all are the authors: they are down-to-earth, working along side you & sharing value - which makes for a very friendly & quick learning experience.

   The authors use XML Validator to define XML documents, which is cool, however Microsoft have a free download of Microsoft XML Notepad ... which I found much quicker to use to develop schemas structures, however.




2. I have the c# version of this book too as I am
   learning vb.net and c#
   The vb version of this book has a corrupted database file
   and other 2 missing database files.
   That makes 3 chapters which you wonder if the code is going to
   ever work in this beginner book
   For a book from Karli Watson after his brilliant book
   'begining c#', his reputation for quality is not going to
   hold water for people making his purchase. Certainly
   after anyone spending money on this vb.net or c# version

   of this book finds out that they are trying
   to sell you a book with questions with no answers
   I see other people can give the book 5 stars without
   testing the downloadables. Don't make any sense.