Product Description

Take your pick: you may either read this book cover-to-cover, or just refer to it when you want ready-made solutions of "drop-in" code. Either way, Database Programming with Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition will teach you to master ADO.NET programmatically and from within the VS. NET IDE.

You will learn the concepts of disconnected data access with ADO.NET. You'll also learn to create tables, constraints, projects, stored procedures, views, and triggers. The book will explain how to use SQLXML 3.0 with SQL Server 2000, and how to incorporate message queuing into applications using MSMQ 3.0.

Author Carsten Thomsen, a recognized Microsoft MVP, carries over one of the most popular features from the first edition: the real-world sample application that he built throughout. With this example code, you can connect to SQL Server from your choices of SQL Server .NET Data Provider, OLE DB .NET Data Provider, or ODBC .NET Data Provider. Exchange Server 2000 data manipulation is also covered, with original working code. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

nive work
A simple yet detailed book written by a very talented writer. I read the first edition and the second edition is by far a much better book, in particular in the way the material is presented. It does look as if the author needed some experience with the first book to really write some good stuff and he certainly delivers with the second book. I hope he'll do third with the new whidbey stuff coming out.

My favorite chapter is 19 and if you need a book that teaches you about database programming with VB .net and ADO.netb then this book is for you.

Good and detailed book
This is one of the better books I've read on the subject of database programming and in particular using the .Net framework. It starts off in a slow pace explaining the details of disconnected database programming and then chapter by chapter it explains how to work with ADO.net and it then rounds off with some 'extras' in teh form of SQLXML and Exchange Server connectivity. Really good book.

Neat and tidy
Very detailed book and extremely neat and tidy writing. Not so much more to add other than this is a great way of getting to know ADO.net and otehr database technologies and techniques.

Good precise writing
Although this is a somewhat old book, ie. it covers 1.0 of the framework its still an excellent book about many types of data access with .net, especially ado.net. I can recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn ado.net

Yes, this is the book I have been looking for
Been through a great number of ADO.NET books, but this is the only one so far that really covers everything I need. Not only does this book cover ADO.NET very well, including the exceptional tables in the appendixes but it also gives me msmq and sqlxml and thats good value. The authors writing style is conscise and accurate and not too dry nor does he fill the book with stupid remarks like some other authors. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is the definitive guide to using Visual Basic to create graphics applications and to add sophisticated graphics capabilities to non-graphics applications. An increasing number of businesses and organizations that use Visual Basic are discovering they need to support graphics in their in-house and commercial programs. VB expert Rod Stephens combines theory and technique to teach the fundamentals of graphics programming.Amazon.com Review
Would you ever write a complex graphics application in VisualBasic (VB)? Author Rod Stephens presents a convincing demonstrationthat Visual Basic 5.0 can handle just about any complex graphics task,including bitmap processing, complex scan conversions, fractal imagegeneration, 3-D vector graphics, and even ray tracing.

You'll needto understand VB basics before picking up Visual Basic GraphicsProgramming, but the book's clear writing style and measured pacewill help you master these relatively arcane subjects and add powerfulgraphics features to your programs. The book begins with a quickbrush-up on standard Visual Basic graphics features such as coordinatesystems, graphics objects, and calls to Windows graphics applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs), but quickly moves on to a broadspectrum of bitmap- and vector-oriented topics.

The world may notneed another Photoshop or AutoCAD written in VB, but if any aspect ofyour program could benefit from the addition of complexgraphics--possibilities include anything from an enhanced interface todata visualization--this book can show you how it's done. VisualBasic Graphics Programming also serves as a fine introduction tomany classic graphics techniques that are more traditionally presentedin C. The bundled CD includes all code examples from the book as wellas a large library of useful graphics functions and procedures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

It sounds good, but when the codes do not work
After reading some good reviews about this book, I decided to buy it. When I read it without practicing the
codes, I thought this book is amazing as it covers alot of graphic topics. However, after I did some exercises
by copying, executing, debugging, and testing the codes, I was quite dissappointed in this book. The codes do
not work right away out of the book. (I did not get the bundled CD-ROM). Some sub procedures or functions contain
undeclared or undefined variables or constants. Moreover some calls to sub or function contain extra parameters not listed in the function declarations. It took me a great deal of time to figure out the values of them,
and oftentimes I just gave up. I doubt that the codes in the book were modified to a certain point so that users
cannot just easily copy the codes and execute them. Therefore, users have to find some workarounds. Some graphic and
mathematic techniques are interesting; however, some of their codes are not commented and thus are at your effort to
find out. Some techniques such as logical pallete are not applicable if users use newer monitor, video card, and operating system.

Well-Done Stephens!
This book includes a lot of ideas and concepts that extremely serve graphics programmers. I really found this book very useful, and it gave me new ideas that enhanced my way in programming. Besides it gives the readerfull illustration for some problems in descriptive geometry and numericalanalysis. REALLY Well-done Rod! Adel

Excellent reference
This is a good book for anyone with some knowledge about Visual Basic who wants to know how to make better graphics in the language. It starts off with the basics--lines, API functions, etc. Later, it has sections on morecomplex topics, such as ray tracing and higher-dimensional graphics.

Rod Stephens is a very good teacher for an apt student
This is a very good programming book, especially in teaching graphics techniques.It starts out a little over simplified, but eventually it evolves.The first few chapters you build a simple graphical applications. Then luckily you start over with a more organize application.

RodStephens has a great style of teaching and this is only the first book Ibought by him three years ago.All his other books are very useful.

However as another critic here said the code it not in ready to run formfor other applications.If you are an apt student and programmer theconversion is not difficult. This is a teaching book, building complexclass function libraries was not it's goal.You will have tons of fun withthis book and all his others.

thank you...thank you...thank you ....but!
I'm a developer in development company and one of the languages I using it is the : VBx language. I searched for all VB source code in the internet, that teaching the graphics techniques, but no way, then I found this bookit's very good, covering all subject that you want to know, specially themathematical formula, which is unavailable for programmers in one book, Cprogrammers will not have peace now in multimedia field.

But I have twocomments about this book : 1- All examples in the book are not designed tosupport the JPEG,GIF image format, when the book work in VB5 . 2- Someexamples not working and giving this message "This monitor does not supportpalettes.". But again I can say thank you and I'm happy to have this bookin my computer library. ... Read more

Product Description
This guide features a range of advanced graphics and sound programming. Also included is a full guide to the QBasic language and all the information you need to make your QBasic programs run faster. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Great Reference Guide!
I enjoyed every topic covered. It opened my eyes a little more on QB. It truly is the next level up from your ordinary QB programming.

Wonderful
Very, very nice.Forget the petty nitpicking, this is a GREAT book for people serious about using QBasic as a programminglanguage.If it had a true introduction to QBasic for beginners it would be the one-stop-shop for the language.As it is, though, you need to be somewhat familiar in order to appreciate just how good this book is!

Best Basic Game Programming Book
The Revolutionary Guide to Qbasic is by far the best book out there for programming games in basic.It is filled with chapters on sound and graphics that nearly every other book on the market neglects to include.I make games in my spare time and until now have been picking apart other games and asking more experienced programmers how to write complex sections of code.Well, no more!This book has it all: 3-D scrolling, tile based gaming, creating music, and more.Why buy another book about how to make a loop or print data to the screen?This book it truly the best way to advance your hobby in Basic programming.

This the one stop book for QBasic
This book is great.Despite one person's comment on the authors' English it is not bad.I understood it perfectly.No book will make sense if you carefully select a part that needs another paragraph to make sense.Thebook has a great disk of code along with info on advanced QB topics.Greatbook!Buy it!

THE BEST!!!
This book, I feel, is the greatest QBASIC tutorial/reference ever written.It is definitely considered to me a sequel to all the other QBASIC books on the market, in that it seems to take you not only one, but many moresteps ahead.I have been looking for a book with even just a little bit ofadvanced graphics and sound programming.Buying this book got all that andtons more.I pity all those who don't own this title! ... Read more

Product Description
This guide is both a concise overview of the MS-DOS Q Basic programming environment and a ready reference to each statement and function. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an introduction to XML for both beginner and intermediate Visual Basic and Active Server Page developers with over 50 pages of example code.It provides a best-practices approach to VB development and explains 3-tier concepts and UML.Also discussed are business-focused reasons for implementing XML within a company and on Web sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Out of Date
It is not often I pass a hard judgement on something.I read some excerpts on the web and bought this book in hopes it was very authoritive. Most of the code examples did not work, even after I downloaded the errata.I had to have one window open on the W3C site in order to track the errors and to get some example to work.When the author went the VB examples, there was no lead in.I recommend the authors' website, but not this book.

poor reference
This really is a poor reference and tutorial. But...
I haven't found anythingbetter.

Who's definition of "in-depth" are we using?
After a mere twenty-two pages into the book, I was starting to doubt the usefulness of this book.The very top of page 22 talks about "examples above" on handling special characters.Flip back to page 21, however, go to the bottom of the page and read about examples that "are described below".I give up, are the examples on the magical page 21 1/2?

While other reviewers seem willing to let slide the number of typos, omitions and code examples that simply don't work, I am less forgiving.I got this book on the assumption that I would be able to learn how to integrate XML with my knowledge of ASP.Most examples in this book, however, are for Visual Basic, and while that only requires little to moderate tweaking, the pure ASP examples in this book are almost non-existant.

Add in the fact that the book constantly interrupts a lesson to add new concepts we're supposed to either immediately understand, or bookmark and thumb through the book hoping they remembered to include the examples, makes this a frustrating book to learn from.Doing a quick search on Google for "XML help basics" gave me more insight into XML in just a few minutes than reading this book for a few hours did.

Close....but yet so frustrating
I agree with a number of other reviewers, skip this book.It is more frustrating than it's worth.Shame too, cause it starts out strong and then just fades away.

Code Examples are REDUNDANT.
Code Examples are INCOMPLETE in the book. (Even the "Complete" examples.Had to download the source code and go line by line to figure out what was "missing".VERY FRUSTRATING.

Book skips arround quite a bit and is confusing at times.The Summary Case (3 tier architecture) which I was looking forward to was pretty much......um USELESS.

Oh well, I didn't listen to the others, maybe you will listen to me.Take a pen, paper and write down the 3 useful pages in this book and save your money.

A good start on XML
This book doesn't cover all detailed XML is got for you, and it doesn't intend to either. However, Wilson's book gave me a good foundation to explore the XML world. Good choice if you want to start nice and simple, and then focus on details later. Don't get me wrong, this is not a brochure either; it does come with plenty source code and examples. ... Read more

Product Description
It doesn't matter if you're new to programming or just to VB.NET, Visual Basic .NET Programming gets you up and running with the new version and offers a comprehensive introduction to Windows and web application development. From language fundamentals to ADO.NET, XML, and Web Services, Harold Davis's thoughtful approach emphasizes meaningful tasks that tie in with VB.NET's principal strengths. For example, you'll learn to build a Web Service, implement XML support, and use object-oriented techniques-without getting mired in theory but also without sacrificing the understanding you need to apply your skills in new situations. Much of the book is devoted to Windows application development, covering new ways to program standard elements, as well as emphasizing Visual Basic's new programming features. Want to build a desktop program with an oval interface? Want to create robust class libraries, components, and controls? Implement printing as a program feature? Start and stop a service? Every chapter provides solid examples that will help you learn the language and, more importantly, create effective applications with it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Excellenct resource for beginning programmer
I have finished reading this book for a long time, but I still use it with the task at my office. Now I design my database application using VB.NET as the interface. Whether this book guide in overall concept but the explaination style is very good and easy to uderstand. I recommend this book for the other people who want to learn VB.NET from the beginner should try to use this book.

A Special Treat
I have been programming since IBM produced the 7090/7094, with the first symbolic assembler/compiler.I have not completely adapted to object oriented programming yet (but am commited to modular, well-documented code that avoids arbitrary assumptions that prevent smooth future growth).

The first time I got one of Harold Davis' books, I was impressed: "Finally, a book for programmers that is really accessible!"I was tired of voluminous books of "how to"s that did not provide a good conceptual structure.(Some of us need that to help the memory, and sense of mastery.)

He writes in an easy-to understand style in which the basic concepts are included along with the clear and straightforward "how to"s.It is clearly a book suitable for beginners and for experienced, moderately advanced, programmers at the same time.(Something I formerly did not believe was possible.)As one reads and occassionally rereads the material, it becomes evident that the content is really quite dense.One can read simply, follow the instructions - that are clear and easy to follow - and, if a deeper understanding is desired, then go back and re-read the material, more slowly.It is all there.

In this latest book, he has brought this style to a very fine level.I was intending to "retire" with Visual Studio 6.After, reading the first few chapters of this book, I am eager to take his "journey" into VB .net.

November 24 review below has it ALL WRONG!
First and foremost, let me say that this is a **GREAT** book! I don't know who that guy (or gal) is that blasted this book on November 24th, but I'd bet that s/he hasn't even read it and obviously doesn't understand the target audience--people like me who want to learn how to program using VB.Net. This book is one of the clearest books about VB.Net that I have found. I own 3 other VB.Net books and I wish I had found this one first.

Waste of time, waste of money
This book is both a waste of time and a waste of money. Why?

1. The book tries to be too many things to too many people, and fails miserably on all accounts. If you're new to programming, "nondeterministic finalizers" are introduced on page 6. If you're an experienced object-oriented programmer, OOP isn't introduced until Chapter 15. If you're a VB6 programmer, I couldn't find a clear attempt by the author to demonstrate the differences between 6 and .NET.

2. In my understanding, the most important update to VB.NET is its uptake of object-oriented programming principles. The back cover of the book says that the author also wrote "Visual Basic 6 Visual Quickstart." I have not read that book, but would not be surprised if its contents were similar to this new book. The author has basically ignored all of the important updates to VB.NET, and has provided a tutorial for VB6. If you're a new programmer, this book will teach you the wrong things right from the start. If you're an experienced programmer, you'll be frustrated by the mickey-mouse approach which doesn't make use of your prior knowledge.

3. Chapters 16-20 (the last 5 in the book), which "introduce" ADO.NET and working with XML, among other things, are pretty obvious page-fillers. If you're looking for pages 90% filled with screenshots, this is your place to find them. Appendices A - E are also page-fillers. Appendix A tells you how to use the VB Help System. If you need help using help, what are you doing programming?

4. The author expressly states that his favorite update in VB.NET is the ability to use windows of any shape. That about sums this book up.

Let me restate - this book misses just about every target audience I can think of.

Finally, an easy approach to VB NET!
I bought Harold Davis's "Visual Basic 6: Visual QuickStart Guide" because I've always wanted to learn to program. And I did! Now that VB .NET is here, I've been at a loss as to how to proceed. Thank goodness, Mr. Davis has written a book about this latest (and greatest!) version of VB. This book has everything I've been needing to get going with tips on migrating my programs and what's new or just changed from the previous version. I really don't understand the one star review from "The Geek" down below. He's comparing this book which is for novices and intermediate programmers with books for experts. Sounds like apples and oranges to me. If you're looking for a great book to get you started with VB .NET, then buy this book! ... Read more

Product Description

As you work your way through An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic .NET, you'll learn how to analyze the business requirements of an application, model the objects and relationships involved in the solution design and, finally, implement the solution using Visual Basic .NET. Along the way you'll also learn the fundamentals of software design, the Unified Modeling Language (UML), object-oriented programming, and Visual Basic .NET.

An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic .NET is logically organized into three parts.

• Part One delves into object-oriented programming methodology and design, concepts that transcend a particular programming language. The concepts presented are important to the success of an object-oriented programming solution regardless of the implementation language chosen. At the conclusion of this part, a case study walks you through the design of a solution based on a real-world scenario.

• Part Two looks at how object-oriented programming is implemented in Visual Basic .NET. You will explore the structure of classes, class hierarchies, inheritance, and interfaces. The .NET Framework is introduced along with the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE).

• Part Three returns to the case study introduced at the end of Part One. Using the knowledge gained in Part Two, programmers will transform the design into a functional VB .NET application. The application includes a graphical user interface, a business logic class library, and integration with a back-end database.

Customer Reviews (7)

This Book is Excellent!!!
This book is excellent for beginners. If you've never programmed with OOP before, this will give you a good overview of the project, including planning, from start to finish. It was this book that gave me the basic overview i have today. I wish i know of something that went even more in depth.If you already know VB.NET, UML, and OOP this book is for the very beginner. But as a starter, it is excellent. I also liked Sams Teach Yourself Object Oriented Programming in 21 days. It is also great. It explains OOP concepts in more detail. This book teaches you how to do the programming, the Sams book teaches you the reason for OOP.If you are beginner these two books would be great to start with. Don't pay attention to the Java in the Sams book. It is not really a java book. It really is an OOP book.

This book is full of errors.
If you are trying to learn the concept of OOP with VB.NET, this is a good book to start with. If you are trying to learn how to program OOP in VB.NET, I would look else where. I found the book to be full of errors. You can download a list of errata from Apress, but don't expect to be able to fix all of the errors with this. I spent more time trying to figure out why the code did not work than I did learning OOP. I know fixing errors will help you learn what the code does, but that is not why I bought this book. If I could do all over again, I wouldn't buy this book.

A Great Starter!
I have several OOP books that I put aside because they became fustrating and/or clumsy.This book has made it possible to pickup those once forgotten books.

A big plus for this book is that all the examples work and you can download the chapter examples from Apress!The user friendly analogies make it an easy read.The only resistance I experienced was the free personal UML modeler that was referenced in the first part of the book.The first pass through these chapters I followed along by creating the diagrams by hand.After reading the rest of the book, I spent half a day learning the software and completing the chapter examples.

For me, this author paints a pretty good big picture of OOP!My other books are now helping with the details;)

Clear, concise introduction to OOP and VB.Net
This book is very well written. The material is organized well and the information is presented in easily digestable pieces.
The book gives anice overall background of OOP then shows how to implment it (on a very basic level) in VB.NET.

I highly recommend this book for VB programmers who have never incorporated OOP in their programs.

An Intro to OOP with VB.Net
To me "introduction" books are always an interesting venture.Some
are great experiences, and others are nightmares. Overall this book
was a pretty good experience, although there was a major bump in the
road (and a couple of minor ones). In the chapter summary below I will
go into a little more detail on the positive and negative points.

Chapter Summary:

Chapter 1: Overview of Object Oriented Programming
This chapter starts with a very brief overview of the history of OOP.

Brief is good. It also has brief definitions of OOP characteristics;
Objects, Abstraction, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Inheritance, and
Aggregation. It ends with a blurb about the history of VB.

Chapter 2: Designing OOP Solutions: Identifying the Class Structure &
Chapter 3: Designing OOP Solutions: Modeling the Object Interaction
These chapters go into UML and things like Use Cases, Class Diagrams,
Sequence Diagrams, Collaboration Diagrams, and Activity diagrams. This
seemed exciting to me because I never really get into anything like
this on the job, and I wanted to know a little more about it. Well,
while interesting this ended up being a bump in the road for me.

The Author says to either do the exercises with a UML Modeler you can
download from the net, or creating the diagram by hand. I wanted
to try the tool he used in the examples so I downloaded it. At this
point just let me say that you should be prepared to spend a lot of
time figuring out the tool if you decide to try it. It is not easy.
The directions for doing the exercises don't quite flow with actually
using the tool either. The author does state that it is pretty tricky
to use, but I really feel that the directions for these exercises
should have been better. I managed to get through some of the examples
in chapters 2 and 3 after a couple of hours.

Chapter 4: Designing OOP Solutions: A Case Study
This chapter talks about the process by which one would design an OOP
solution with a case study. The Author goes into good detail about the
actual steps needed, and does a good job explaining the methodology by
which this is accomplished. He also gives some good advice on how to
avoid some of the more common pitfalls of designing an OOP solution.

Chapter 5: Introducing VB .NET
This chapter gives an overview of VB.Net as well as the .Net
Framework. After the overview it gives you a hands on tour of the
Visual Studio .Net IDE. Of course, you will need to have the IDE to do
the tour. This tour shows you many of the screens, option settings,
and menus of Visual Studio .Net. The second exercise shows you the
debugging features of VS .Net. At his point you will need files that
you can download from the Apress web site. I may have missed it, but I
never saw any mention that downloading files was needed for the
exercises. It certainly was not at the beginning of this exercise, and I
think their should be some kind of direction about it present.

Chapter 6: Creating Classes
This chapter is all about classes. How to restrict them, access to
them, creating methods, overloading methods, using constructors to
name some topics. This chapter too has exercises you complete with VS
.Net. They all seemed to work fine for me, and were very easy to
follow.

Chapter 7: Creating Class Hierarchies &
Chapter 8: Implementing Object Collaboration
These chapters discuss things like inheritance, polymorphism,
interfaces, delegation, error handling, shared properties and methods
to new a few. These two chapters also have multiple hands-on
activities so you can continue to learn how to operate VS .Net as well
as learn more concepts of OOP. These activities are well documented,
and I had no problems completing them all without incident.

Chapter 9: OSO Application Revisited: Implementing the Business Logic
This chapter helps bring together all the ideas you were introduced to
in chapter 4. From there it goes into data access by talking about
stored procedures, ADO.net, sqlclient namespace, and many other
details. In order to do the examples you will have to have SQL Server.

Chapter 10: Developing Windows Applications
This is a fun chapter that talks about windows forms, event handlers,
dialog boxes and different types of bound controls. This chapter is
full of hands on activities that are well done.

Chapter 11: Developing Web Applications
This long chapter deals with web forms, server controls, server
control inheritance, server-side event processing, ASP.net, state, and
many other things. It is all about designing an application for the
web. The activities are easy to follow, and work.

Chapter 12: Wrapping Up and Reviewing
A quick summation of what the book covers and some tips on where to
focus next.

Appendix A: Fundamental Programming Concepts
This appendix is basically a primer for beginning programmers.

Appendix B: Exception Handling in VB .NET
A quick 4-page explanation of how exceptions are handled in VB.Net

After finishing this book I had a hard time deciding what grade to
give it. I ended up giving it a 7 out of 10. The many problems I had
with the UML activities using the UML modeler were just too painful
and frustrating to give it higher than a 7.

I will admit that the rest of the book was great and would be very
useful to a beginner trying to become more familiar with VB.Net and
VS.net. The VS.net activities were flawless, and gave good hands-on
experience that beginners would love. The UML material was actually
good as well, but the problems with the modeling tool activities
really influenced my final judging of the book.

In summation, this book is without doubt a beginner's book. Do not buy
this if you already basically familiar with VS .net or UML. If you are a
beginner and do the UML activities with pen and paper I believe it will
be a great learning experience. ... Read more

Product Description
Explains how to build functional client/server database systems using VB/ADO/SQL-Server/MSDE. This book is an introduction to ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) database library and to the various database productivity tools integrated into Visual Basic. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn how to turn data into solutions with SQL Server 2000, Visual Basic .NET, and XML. Get a fundamental grasp of SQL Server 2000 data access, data manipulation, and data definition T-SQL programming techniques, Visual Basic .NET language enhancements, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment advances, and the state-of-the-art technologies of the .NET framework. If you're looking for expert insights on how to build powerful, secure solutions with SQL Server 2000 and Visual Basic .NET, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Collins input
This book is a solid introduction to SQL Server 2000 & VB.NET. I found this book to be both informative and easy to understand. That is missing in numerous books I have bought and found difficult to read and understand. The one item I had some problem with, Rick Dobson pointed me to the correct page in the book and that solved the issue. Great work Rick.

The best programming book that I have never read
I have read this book about SQL2000 and VB.NET. (Spanish Version)
I don't have words to say the wonderful that it's this book.
It' s the best programming book that I have never read.
Thank you to write it.
I wait a new version soon.
Best regards from Canary Island, Spain.

Five-star book - Six-star author
Rick's book is the best one I read on VB.NET with SQL Server. The flow of the book is unbeatable. Every chapter is clearly written and well planned to backup the chapters that will follow it. Executing stored procedures from VB.NET is the best part of the book because when I ran the code it worked. Other books I bought (too many of them!!!) do not compare to this book.
The other thing about the author is that he replied to my email about an issue not mentioned in the book as soon as he received it. I strongly recommend this book.

Superficial coverage of windows forms
Be warned that the "Programming Windows Solutions with ADO.Net" chapter (chapter 10) presents only toy applications.

Developers looking for real-world solutions will need to look elsewhere..

No silliness; just substance
Like most people, I appreciate humor. But when I'm pressed for time and need to learn the nuts and bolts of a programming language, I'd rather an author save his chuckles for his own time. Or her own time. Whatever. Dobson's book is right up my alley. It's serious, but not complicated. The pages are filled with good, technical information, supported by concise examples and efficient diagrams. No wasted space, no wasted words.In contrast, Karl Moore's book (VB .Net: The Tutorials), though quite informative, was annoying in its silliness. This tome served as a refreshing antidote. Of course reasonable people can disagree on the humor thing--the disagreeable can go to Moore's work. In this book, multiple topics are covered well: SQL programming, including the all-powerful stored procedure, Windows application programming, XML programming and ASP.Net programming. Dobson's treatment of SQL in concert with VB .Net should help anyone get up to speed writing DB applications in no time. It is a wonderful text that successfully paints with a broad and serious stroke. ... Read more

Product Description
Teaches readers all aspects of QBasic and provides a foundation in structured programming, with emphasis on problem-solving techniques. It covers the fundamentals of computer programming such as input, decision structures, and loop structures. The book is designed for use with the IBM-PC and it compatibles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Vision of the future
Visual Basic is an extraordinary combination of power and ease.Vis-Ba is the choice of all up and coming programmers.It is so well written, even microsoft has made it the official program for it's newest software of thefuture.Dave has done it again ... Read more

Product Description
In PROGRAMMING COMPONENTS WITH MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0, authors Guy and Henry Eddon take the component orientation of their popular book, ACTIVE VISUAL BASIC 5.0; update the content for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Windows(r) 98, Microsoft Internet Exploer 4, and the evolutions in COM; and present it to the growing audience for COM and enterprise titles.

PROGRAMMING COMPONENTS WITH MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 covers: ActiveX Controls and Active Documents COM Components Visual Basic 6.0 support for COM programming Scalability and Microsoft Transaction Server Universal Data Access Active Server Pages and IIS

Enterprise developers and experienced Visual Basic programmers will find PROGRAMMING COMPONENTS WITH MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 to be a valuable resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Strongly recommended
This book discussions of COM is very thorough and hands on exercises provide immediate feedback. This book will broaden your understanding of COM

Expensive Abbreviation of VB6 Online Help
Originally I bought Dan Appleman's book on ActiveX. Intimidated by its size and by what seemd to be digressions into nowhere, I switched to this one.Not a good move.VB6's own manuals do a much better job of leading you through the paces, and contain a bit more background than found here -- though it's still not enough.The authors furnish a few step-by-step recipes, but no in-depth understanding that allows you to move beyond the limited examples or design your own from scratch.They neglect to mention COM's performance hits and offer no workarounds.Even as a basic intro to ActiveX, you'll find more in the VB6 manuals.3rd-party books ought to supplement and enhance the original product's documentation; this book doesn't. Save time and money; no 3rd-party manual is a 100% substitute for the original product documentation, which in the case of VB5/VB6 is actually quite good (especially compared to what's in this book).Start with the VB6 online docs first, then go to Appleman's book for a deeper understanding of what's happening and what you can do with it.As it turns out, what I thought were Appleman's "digressions" were a preface to what COM/ ActiveX is about; perusing through 3 other competetive books revealed that they all use the same approach, but none are as complete or as clear as Appleman's version.This book by the Heddons is far too skimpy and incomplete to be of great use to intermediate/advanced VB users.If you want a general summary or to dip a toe in the water, save $$$ and read VB6's own chapter summaries from the online manuals.You will not be able to use the information in the Heddon book without covering most of the first 2 VB6 volumes beforehand.

Good book for even long-time VB programmers
This book briefly covers all the relavant COM subjects, without much depth. However, I found the section on ActiveX controls very useful.

For example, the section on page 129 on setting base addresses is a rarediscussion of base addresses for ActiveX controls and DLLs. Something likethis subject is often passed over in other books to make room for moredepth or programing examples. This book covers subjects like this in a waythat is easy to understand and use.

A broad survey of components for the VB developer
This is a well written and logical survey of COM from a VB perspective.With only 371 pages of text, it attempts to tackle a broad subject area.The level of complexity is comparable to what is expected in the VBDistributed exam (70-175), for which it is an excellent study adjunct.

Ienjoyed reading it from end to end, and keep it as a reference for certaindeveloper skills that I use infrequently.While I consider the book to beaimed at a "beginner" in COM, beginners in COM are at leastintermediate level VB developers.The moniker on the cover, "forenterprise developers", is a little misleading, since seriousenterprise VB developers will need more detail than is provided.However,in creating a survey aimed at broadening one's understanding of all ofMicrosoft's COM technologies, the Eddons are successful.

Weaknesses:Thebook is far too brief for so broad a subject matter.For example, a singlechapter on MTS (the lifeblood of n-tier architecture performance) can onlytouch the highlights.Creation of ActiveX controls gets much deepercoverage.Another weakness is the (not unexpected) Microsoft optimism withrespect to the performance and robustness of COM technologies.A healthydose of caveats is lacking.

Conclusion: A good introduction to COM forintermediate level VB developers.A superb study adjunct for 70-175candidates.

A lot of breadth not enough depth
The authors do well to explore a broad range of issues but never really get down to the nitty-gritty of it. However, it is easy reading and if you are a COM amateur you will benefit from the content. Personal opinion: Buy Pattison's book instead. ... Read more

Product Description
This title brings the time-saving development power of Visual Basic to the creation of sophisticated Windows games and fractals. The book/disk pack provides 12 ready-to-run Windows games, complete with on-line help, playing instructions, source code and instructions for modifying the games. In addition, readers learn the fundamentals of game design and game programming, with an emphasis on Visual Basic programming techniques. Topics include creating device independent bitmaps, using drag and drop techniques, playing against the computer or another player, tracking player progress and keeping score, working with sound (using both the default PC speaker and the third part sound cards), controlling random events and generating fractals. Many tips and tricks that apply to games programming are applicable to business applications, including video performance, developing mathematical algorithms, creating on-line help and writing DLLS. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good but Old
This truly is an excelent REFERENCE book. The games aren't that fun, but the coding behind them is truly helpful. You're introduced to advanced API graphics routine, animation, as well as standard Windows guidelines.

Thisbook is rather old, however.It was published in '92, designed for VisualBasic 1, and Windows 3.0. Still, it provides some useful concepts for'newbies' and expierenced users alike.

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bkgjboirgjbljgnbkjnbjgknbfgjbngkjbnfgbn ... Read more

Product Description
ACTIVE VISUAL BASIC introduces the features and capabilities of Visual Basic that give programmers the power to create Internet-enabled applications and interactive Web content. After a technical overview ofthe Internet and Internet-related capabilities of Visual Basic, the book covers the Internet Control Pack and the creation of ActiveX(tm) controls and Doc Objects. Advanced topics in the final section include overviews of developing Internet servers and accessing the Windows(r) Internet API. Highly motivated developers, eager to get launched into the most exciting growth area for Visual Basic development, will want this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Easy reading and informative
Despite some errors in the exercises of the books, the materials covered were presented in a easy to learn and and no nonesense fashion. The book also covered Winsock and Internet controls,tips on using ASP serverobjects for which I find very useful to read on.

Very good book
There were some mistakes in the exercises of this book, nevertheless, theywere pretty straight forward and simple to understand.I enjoyed readingthe book for its simple methods in teaching the advance features of VB suchas COM and ActiveX, and I also like the many examples and exercises in thebook to keep the readers follow along and to get their hands dirty withcoding.It is easy to read and at the same time, very informative.

Excellent. One of the best books from MS Press.
This is an excellent presentation of using Visual Basic for ActiveXComponents and Controls.

A Visual Basic Developer's Bible
The Eddon boys clearly define the essence of VB development.You can literally pick this book up and read it from cover to cover or reference specific topics for review.The Eddons' provide a clear discussion of Microsoft's ActiveX approach as it relates to VB and VB related Web development (ASP, VBScript, and IIS). This book is not bogged down in endless code examples that have little significance to development efforts.It is a verbose descriptive book emphasizing theory and comprehension, sprinkled with precise examples that are easily understood and duplicated.Hands down this is the best book I have found on VB ActiveX and the Web.

This Book Was GREAT!
This book is a must for people that want TONS of code examples, learn how to build ASP pages, and more..But the biggest feature, you will learn how to make your own ACTIVEX Controls! I would recommend this book, for anyone who wants to have the apps support the intellimouse (Source with code included) and other neat stuff. The code projects are WONDERFUL. Also comes with Visual Basic Control Creation Edition! Also comes with a whole bunch of other neat programs that allow you to make ActiveX stuff, like ActiveX SDK, and lots of other stuff...But I would get this book if you have the money! Its a good reference, and a fun book to read through. Have Fun! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A GREAT BOOK TO LEARN QBASIC!!!
I bought a 486 IBM laptop in the mid-early 90s. And, since it came with QBasic installed,I decide I ought to learn how to use QBasic. Because I had good luck with Greg Perry's other books, I purchased this book as well. Greg in a concise and pleasant style went through the basic syntax of the QBasic programming language.

Too bad QBasic doesn't compile like C or C++. That probably killed QBasic's popularity. The book marched me right on through and made the topic easy to understand. I feel it will do the same for you, that is if you still have a use for QBasic.

Great for Beginners
Even if you've never programmed before "Crash Course in Q Basic"offers a no-frills quick introduction into this easy programming language.Take it one step at a time and soon you'll be writing simple programs. Bythe end of the book you'll have a good knowledge of the language and beable to write moderately complex programs. I teach basic programming tobeginners and recommend this book as an excellent reference.

A very good book for beginning programmers.
This being my first programming book after learning GWBASIC, I found this book to be very well written considering the size of the book. If you just don't have much time to spend learning QBasic, this book takes you on a Crash Course(surprise) through the fundamentals of the language with plenty of examples demonstrating the topic effectively. I STRONGLY recommend this book if you want to learn QBASIC. ... Read more

Product Description
Excel 2003, along with VBA, XML, and other technologies, is a compelling application development platform. This book teaches experienced programmers and advanced Excel users how to create custom business applications with Excel 2003. Incorporating the most useful knowledge and techniques he acquired through almost a decade of experience with VBA and Excel, author/application developer Steven Hansen covers the most commonly used Excel objects and development practices. Topics include: VBA programming basics, VBA debugging tools/techniques, mastering the Excel object model, integrating Excel with other applications, working with external data, designing user interfaces, adding user personalization, and application distribution strategies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Right to the point!
This is my 4th MS Excel 2003 I've read. It is by far the most thorough, enjoying and easy to read and learn. It comes with many working examples and covers just every thing a starter, with a little bit of programming skills, would need to write his first applications. Very good study and reference book for every thing related to Excel programming. Enjoy!

Believe the hype!
I'm the author of this book and encourage you to check this book out. I wrote this book with a smart, motivated, corporate audience in mind. This book is packed with content and techniques that have been validated by nearly a decade of "in-the-trenches" corporate development.

I stand behind all of the listings in this book. If they don't work - chances are you're not doing something right. As any "Excel/VBA expert" can tell you, parameterized procedures will not show up in the Macro dialog box. If you have any questions I encourage you to contact me. Thanks & Happy Reading!

Don't believe the hype!!
I found some example code that I wanted to use, and copied the example word for word, and it wouldn't work, so I downloaded the sample files, an found that the same example (listing 7.9 on page 147) would not work either. I had to get another program off of the internet that WOULD work.

I later found that none of the examples that I downloaded worked!! I have discovered that this book is a complete waste of my money and valuable time. How Steven Hansen ever got this book published is beyond me. Obviously, Sybex does not have an editorial staff that verifies that any of the examples work.

Spend your hard earned money on any of the books that have been published by John Walkenbach. John is an expert that knows Excel backwards and forwards.

Best for Business Application Developers
There are many books on VBA programming, and many of them specialize in Excel.If you are (or hope to be) a *serious* business application developer with Excel using VBA, then this is the best book you will find anywhere.

If you are a first-time beginner, you may want to check out "Excel 2002 Visual Basic for Applications Step by Step" by Reed Jacobson before going on to this book.

Mr. Hansen does review the basics, but the book is directed primarily to a reader who has had at least some exposure to Excel VBA, although you do not need to be a seasoned expert.

You often see the phrase "Real World Examples" associated with books of this type.I don't know what "Real World" most of those authors live in, but Mr. Hansen is the first I have discovered who appears to inhabit the same planet that I do.All of his examples are going into my permanent code library, where I know they will be used over and over.

The approach to teaching the subject is also excellent.After a review of the basics, each of the important objects of the Excel Object Model is covered.This book does not attempt to be exhaustive.It is focused on the practical.Once you have "Mastered" these fundamentals, you should be able to develop more advanced techniques on your own.

Best in Class, Best in Show.Buy it.

Excellent, Excel VBA without macro recorder
This is the best book on Developing with Excel I've read (still reading). It is now known that Excel's macro recorder sometimes produces inefficient and un-maintainable code. So, the author doesn't waste time with the macro recorder, instead he goes directly into VBA. I particularly like his treatment of GetOpenFilename, GetSaveAsFilename, and "Breaking down into path and File name components". Chapter 11 on "Developing Class Modules" is also excellent in introducing this complicated subject gently. Besides, the concepts learned here can be applied to other Microsoft applications such as Access.
He has managed to present the material in just 585 pages in a logical manner. I always had the impression that programming books over 1000 pages are less approachable and therefore less useful than books under 1000 pages.
Congratulations and many thanks to the author Steven Hansen. ... Read more

Product Description
Moving from QBasic to C appeals to current QBasic programmers who want to learn the popular C language. This book focuses directly on the transition of programming in QBasic to programming in C. It covers all aspects of the basics of learning the C langauge, and includes tips and techniques for making the transition from QBasic to C. ... Read more

Product Description
This new text is specifically designed for courses titled Introduction to BASIC Programming or BASIC Programming or CIS. It is designed especially for students new to programming, and covers accepted programming practices including consistent application of the program development cycle, emphasis on program design, and adherence to structured programming.Features: * Each example program is a fully developed program, with complete flowcharts, illustrating the concepts of program design and coding that have been introduced in the text. * Student programming assignments are realistic business programming problems requiring the use of the program development techniques introduced. * The QuickBASIC statements covered are limited to those that could be expected to be included in an introductory programming course. * No previous knowledge of computers is assumed, and no understanding of mathematics beyond first year algebra is required. * The first five chapters are available as a supplement to an intro computer course. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Really useful, almost worth the ridiculous price
I got this book as a gift and was shocked when I found out the cost as it is suprisingly thin and looks like it should cost less than half as much, but it really is a brilliant book and I can find no other way to critisiseit.The examples are superb and the definitions for every command areconcise and accurate.A good idea if you can afford it! ... Read more