5 comments about Microsoft Windows Scripting Self-Paced Learning Guide (Pro-Other).

1. This book had everything I was looking for and is a good source of information.



2. I've found this book with excellent content and very helpful for my clients ( I Work in a Technical Support Group for VIP Customers). The author drives you through with very clear language and at the same time funny and keeps you hooked to it.
   
   Highly Recommended! Specially for those deep into Thechnical stuff.



3. I use the book all the time to help groups of customers learn scripting. It jumps into useful examples early in the book. You build on those examples until you get to the point where you are combining the technologies to build useful scripts, like using Active Directory to create a list of computers which you then analyze and configure using Windows Management Instrumentation ( set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components can provide information and notification ). If you read only to chapter 15 you get a solid background of how WMI exposes a collection of COM scriptable objects that allow various applications to take advantage of the management information, including information about how Active Directory can be manipulated with VB Script.



4. I admit I avoided purchasing this book as I felt I was beyond it since I know Perl. I ran into it again when I purchased Microsoft Windows Administrator's Automation Toolkit (Pro-One-Offs). On the CD there is a e-book form of the book.
   
   I figured why not read it? One possible drawback exists if you pick up the automation toolkit book. You will not get a copy of the scripts. It's not an issue if you don't mind typing. Which for me is better as making mistakes and debugging helped me more then simply watching a script run.
   
   I noticed that the e-book might be an earlier version of the printed book as the scripting style changes for a copy of the scripts.
   
   As to the claims of the scripts not working; I ran into that as well but they are easy to solve. Well except one. You look for computers in AD, the scripting didn't know how to handle a Linux Samba entry.
   
   Overall the book is decent. I was looking for something to give me an introduction to vbscript. Something more then a beginning "howto" script book.
   
   There is not much discussion about the WSH engine. However, for me that was not an issue as I am still in the beginning stages of vbscript. This might be more of an issue as I get more advanced. But, this will probably get solved by an advanced book or looking on the Net.
   
   The book does some basic stuff in the beginning. Loops, if/then, Arrays. Part 2 of the book introduces basic administration. There you will be introduced to file system objects, WMI, and WMI queries. Part 3, takes more advanced administration issues with and introduction to LDAP, ADSI, Searching AD, Configuring Network components, logon scripts, working with registry, and working with printers. Part 4, deals with other apps such as IIS6 and exchange 2003.
   
   The appendix has some info on ADSI, and WMI. It's ok if you are starting out but I think it will grow past it's usefulness.
   
   The scripts in book are simple and straightforward. They don't have a great deal of intelligence built in to deal with unknowns. Probably, not needed as this is an introduction book.
   
   Overall I am happy with the book. It gave me an idea as to some possibilities and it helped me understand better on where to look for stuff.



5. I got this as a freebie ebook when I bought the WMI scripting book.
   What a total waste. I am new to Widows scripting but an old hack at *Nix shell scripting and perl. I needed to do some scripting for a client that doesn't have perl installed universally, but wants scripts to run universally on their windows servers.
   
   I wasted a couple of days beating my head against the wall because I used this book. I finally bought "Windows 2000 Scripting Guide" and got my scripts working.
   
   In addition to the complaints others have left indicating the the author does not explain the programming model, I found myself with a large hole in my foot because this author directed me to point a gun at my boot before pulling the trigger.
   
   I used the sample scripts in the book as a starting point in my scripts, but unwittingly injected really bad practices into my programs.
   
   The author states in Chapter 1:
   "So 'On Error Resume Next' tells the computer that when something is messed up (causing an error), you want the computer to just skip that line and try the next line in the script. This process is called error handling,"
   
   Actually, this is called ERROR HIDING (not handling) and it causes things that are messed up (causing an error) to be hidden from your view so you CAN'T find or fix them.
   
   This is the worst bad practice that can be taught
   
   Here is an example of how bad it is:
   while using this directive your code that looks like:
   IF condition THEN
   positive_action
   ELSE
   negative_action
   END IF
   
   will, when an error is encountered in evaluating the condition, get transmogrified into simply:
   
   positive_action
   
   The "condition" that includes an error ALWAYS evaluates to true.
   I can't think of a worse logic bomb to inject into your code or a better reason to skip this book.

No comments about Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 (Wrox Beginning Guides).

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.

5 comments about Writing Excel Macros with VBA, 2nd Edition.

1. This is a very specialized book with a very specialized core audience and this text does what it says it does -- teach you how to write Excel Macros using VBA. Nothing too exciting here folks, very dry reading that is a necessary reference if you need to have more control over Excel than the everyday user does.
   
   I remember long ago when I needed to work on building some installers and I had never worked with Installshield before. There was one book on the market that was helpful in completing this task, and there is a very close correlation here as well. There simply is not enough of a market to provide a wide variety of different books to choose from when needing to learn how to write Excel macros. Any user would want a book that helps them complete their task at hand and this book gets my seal of approval in helping to do just that.
   
   **** RECOMMENDED



2. "Writing Excel Macros with VBA" is an excellent book on the use of VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) for Microsoft Excel. Steven Roman provides a significant amount of information in a relatively short volume.
   
   While this book is accessible to Excel users of a variety of skill levels, it is best suited to numerically-inclined and experienced users of Excel. The book offers a good introduction to the VBA programming environment and the Excel object model.
   
   Steven Roman has written the best book on Excel VBA that I have read to date.



3. I program in VB & needed a reference to the Excel object model. This book is an outstanding resource!



4. Not a bad book but it takes some work to get through the dry parts. I think that the book is decent.



5. This book is the equivalent of the eastern-European piano teacher I used to have when I was a kid: proper learning involves strict discipline and sufferance. If you don't read this mind-numbing book from cover to cover, you won't get anything out of it.
   
   I usually love Oreilly books, but this one has simply been useless for me. Time and time again I open it up for help, and I never find any answer.
   Actually, last time I looked up a particular topic, it essentially said "You can do it this way, but there are better ways of doing it", and gave no further information. That's what I call useless information.

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

4 comments about ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)).

1. (Full Disclosure: I was a tech reviewer for this book and received a free copy)
   
   I've been using the various incarnations of Microsoft data access technologies for quite some time and have been using ADO.NET for a few years, so I wondered whether I was going to learn anything new from this book. It covers all of the territory to get started (connection strings, basic usage of ADO.NET classes, etc.), but what I really appreciated was that it topics that advanced ADO.NET users would find useful and I certainly learned a few new tricks.
   
   The topic on writing provider and database independent code (Section 10.22) which covers how to do it right if you are targeting .NET 1.1 (which we do) was particularly useful to me. Chapter 10 (Optimizing .NET Data Access) is just generally a good chapter no matter what your level and covers asynchronous SQL calls (executing and cancelling), ASP.NET data caching, paging queries, SQL Server stored procedure debugging and more.
   
   Since my job was to actually run every code snippet, I can vouch for their quality. Most are built off the AdventureWorks sample database that comes with SQL Server Express, so they are ready to run. The rest come with full DDL to create what you need (databases, stored procedures, etc), and the code and SQL is available online so you don't have to type it in.



2. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a review by a "technical expert". I really liked how the book was laid out with a problem-solution-reasoning approach (known as a recipe). Each one was generally useful for those unaware of how to do things in ADO.NET. The examples were short and too the point. The topics were quite varied so just about everyone will find something in this book. In particular the recipes on getting schema information programmatically will really benefit a lot of people because it is neither common nor easy.
   
   I had only a few complaints about the book. The first complaint is with the title. It says ADO.NET v3.5 but in reality almost all the recipes cover any version of ADO.NET from v2 on. This might cause some people to shy away from the book. This book is really for anybody using ADO.NET.
   
   This leads me to the second complaint. There really was no 3.5 content mentioned. LINQ and SQL 2008 were mentioned a few times but they aren't specific to ADO.NET v3.5. LINQ itself seemed out of place for the topic.
   
   The final complaint I had was that the recipes are mostly designed to be copy and pasted into working code. The code samples don't really follow what I would consider an appropriate pattern for professional code. Therefore simply copy/paste will cause more problems than not. It really would have required no additional lines of code and would not have complicated things to have "done it right". Still this seems to be standard practice for most technical books so I can't harp too much.
   
   Overall I recommend this book for anyone who works with (or will) ADO.NET of any version.



3. The 'ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook' is a great resource for every .NET database developer out in the world. With 950+ pages of content you will not be reading thin, as this goodies book comes with 222 tidbits of information that will help you in your everyday work.
   
   Subjects covered include:
   
   - connecting to a variety of data sources
   - working with disconnected data objects (datasets)
   - querying data
   - executing functions and stored procedures
   - using LINQ
   - searching and filtering data
   - adding and updating data
   - copying/transferring data
   - database integrity
   - binding data to web forms
   - XML data
   - optimizing .NET data access
   - debugging stored procedures
   - doing batch updates
   - enumerating SQL servers
   - SQL Server CLR integration
   
   I feel that is an outstanding companion book for .NET database developers that are looking for a resource that specifically outlines tasks into a neat, organized manner. Instead of thumbing through a book to figure out a particular way to do something, these common tasks and questions are broken up for ease of use and efficiency. If you are a .NET DB developer you definitely owe it to yourself to add this great book to your collection of technical books immediately.
   
   ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



4. [Also posted on my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/luisabreu/archive/2008/06/11/book-review-ado-net-3-5-cookbook.aspx]
   After several days, I've finally finished reading this book. This is really a very complete book wit lots and lots (and lots!) of examples. It's fair to say that it covers most (if not all) ADO.NET related scenarios (I'm an SQL Server user but if you're into Oracle then it also has several examples that show how to use ADO.NET and Oracle).
   
   I do have one complaint though: chapter 8. Currently, I'll personally "hurt" anyone that is working on the same project as me and that uses ADO.NET objects on window forms or ASP.NET front ents! Ok, I'm not violent, so I wouldn't really hurt anyone :) serioulsy, don't use ADO.NET objects on your UI.
   
   Having said this, I still recommend it (specially if you're working with ADO.NET).

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 Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library (Pro-Developer).

1. Having sweated through thousands of pages of other C# books, I found Francesco Balena's eloquence as refreshing as a perfectly chilled Corona. It immediately tightened my loose grip on particulars such as string formatting, delegates, generics, regular expressions and interoperability. And it is the best discussion of the base classe I've ever seen. Be aware that this book does NOT intend to teach programming. However, if you're someone who can code in some OOP language, knows C# syntax, and seeks professional proficiency in this language, then in my opinion, there is no better book you could own.



2. If you have C# skills of no less then an advanced beginner, and want to find yourself securely in the intermediate range, then you have found the right book. Read it once and you will find your skill set drastically improved. Read it twice and study it thoroughly, and you will find yourself getting turned to for help from your more senior developers. Quite the ego booster.
   
   It's well written, has appropriate examples for the target audience, and doesn't get bogged down in beginning C# material. It has plenty of advanced material, if that is what you are looking for.



3. I sought and purchased this book for the purpose of moving to C# 2005 from 2003. I have an extensive library of language and class references, guides and detailed texts for .NET 1.1. Much of that information will, of course, serve me well with the newer language, so what I sought was a good, basic introduction to C# 2005 that covered the important differences in the base classes. This book seems to have been written exactly for me!
   
   Balena has an easy style of writing, also, that just seems to allow the information to jump right into your brain. There are other authors whose technical expertise is obvious to me, and whose books I regularly look to buy, but whose writing have quirks that can distract me at times. Balena is not such an author. Clearly, he knows how to make proper use of the IBrain.InputInformation(T info) method, rather than using the older, weakly-typed IBrain.InputInformation(object info) method. OK. Bad joke. But I hope you got my point!



4. Francesco Bakena is a well-known author, the book is good.
   The themes and the examples are clean. The same line as Visual Basic. I recommend.
   Manoel de Assis - Brazil - [...]
   
   Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library (Pro-Developer)



5. I have read a few programming books and I can honestly say that no single one has had more positive impact on my level of programming skill and knowledge than this one. Let me preface this by saying that this is not a beginner book. That is, if you have never programmed with C# before, this is not the book for you. However if you have just finished a "beginner" book and are looking for the next step, then I highly recommend this book for you. Whether you are planning on getting into ASP.Net development, WinForms, SOA, or even XNA, this book will provide you with a firm grasp of the language fundamentals that will make jumping into any or all of the above much easier. The book is broken down into several chapters, each one covering different key topics of the C# language such as basic data types (what is boxing? How does the compiler handle value types vs reference types and why should you care?), Generics, Serialization, Reflection, and COM Interop, just to name a few. Mr Balena also maintains an online blog at the Code Architects site and has even been kind enough to personally answer a few of my questions that I had about the topics covered in the book. I can't recommend this book more, it really did make the difference for me between being a C# enthusiast and a professional C# developer.

5 comments about Visual Basic 6 for Dummies (for Windows).

1. When I was trying to make the upgrade from Visual Basic 4.0 to Visual Basic 6.0, this was the first book that I bought. This book is very easy to read and there are ample examples to illustrate each principle that the author is trying to teach you. I combined this books with the 4 "Learn to Program Visual Basic" books by John Smiley to give me a solid foundation in Visual Basic 6.0. The cartoons in this book will reduce down the stress of trying to learn something new.

   Now that I am moving into .Net technology, I really appreciate how good this book was for people who have little or no experience with Visual Basic. This should be your first Visual Basic 6 book. By the way, Visual Basic 6 and the legacy source code that goes with it will be around for years to come.




2. I used this book, and found it very helpful to begin writing vb code. The only drawback is that it is of course covers only the basic stuff with very little background info. If you want to get started in VB, I would suggest this book to anyone.



3. I bought this book and quickly discovered that Visual Book 6 is no longer the latest tool for VB programming. Microsoft has introduced Visual Basic 2005--which you can download free from Microsoft.
   
   Consequently, any book on VB6 is really a waste of your time. You would just end up converting your VB6 code to MS VB 2005. Why waste time learning old commands? Go right to the latest.
   
   If you want a great book on MS VB 2005 try Michael Halvorson Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step by Step.



4. I generally like Dummies books, but this one is a little weak. The book covers a lot of topics but is really short on examples. I went through 90% of it and still didn't feel like I could actually write a meaningfull program. I purchased "Microsoft Visiual Basic 6.0 Professional step by step" by Michael Halvorson and found it to be MUCH better. I'm about 50% of the way through it and have learned a lot more.



5. Having been to school for this subject but never quite understood the workings of this program, this book has been an eye-opener

5 comments about VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel (Business Solutions).

1. I found this book to be one of the best references for Excel VBA development. The book is easy to understand and follow. Contains a large amount of examples that can be easily understood. Addresses many critical aspects of excel VBA development. Not too much was spent on forms/GUI development so you will have to look elsewhere if you into that. Also addresses interfacing Excel to databases using ADO as well as API programming which is critical for superusers to extend the power of excel without the limitation of data storage. Overall, the authors have a superb job and I consider this book to be an essential of my Excel VBA library!



2. The book is useful. The worksheets downloaded from the Internet are also very clear.
   Sometimes you expect more explanations on statements which use new features not connected with the subject being reviewed.
   I think that I shall not need to purchase any other book on this subject.



3. I am very satisfied with the transaction. The shipment was on time and the product is in good quality



4. Bill Jelen is a brilliant self-promoter. His book is even more brilliant. His newsgroup, MrExcel Message Board Forum at www.mrexcel.com, is an invaluable resource.



5. If I could give 0 stars, I would.
   
   This book is poorly written and poorly edited...and I have the version "Reprinted with corrections." Flipping through it in the bookstore, it seemed promising - enough so that I actually bought it. After three chapters, however, I am ready to throw in the towel.
   
   This is a technical book. It's about programming. It contains examples of actual code. The examples have to be correct to have any credibility. Once you lose that, every line becomes suspect. Let me provide you just a few examples.
   
   On page 32, the colorindex for "yellow" is given as "6"; on page 33 it is "30".
   On page 41, "Selection is actually a property and not an object." When I reach page 50, "Selection" has become an object again.
   On page 62, in the third example within Table 3.1, the delimiting comma is inside the quotes.
   On 67, " Notice that that the offset..."
   Also on that page, the resizing example at the bottom is wrong. If I have a column and add two more to it, I end up with three. Maybe Mr. Excel is using a higher level of math when he says "Range("Produce").Resize(,2) and says "Remember, the number you resize by is the TOTAL number of rows and/or columns you want to include."
   
   What really rolled my eyes back in my head was on page 63, when I encountered .range(.range, range) with insufficient introduction. A relatively simple statement with a single range reference suddenly morphed into a triple range reference with an indecipherable comment about "an extra range at the beginning of the code line." This makes absolutely no sense, and coupled with the authoring or editing miscues mentioned earlier, it is not even possible to determine if this is a typo or simply a badly written passage.
   
   Whether I ultimately can gain any value from this book remains to be seen - assuming I am able to actually make sense of the content. For me, it was a total waste of the purchase price.