Product Description
The new edition of the ultimate comprehensive guide to Microsoft Visual Basic

Where most VB books start with beginner level topics, Mastering Visual Basic 2010 vaults you right into intermediate and advanced coverage. From the core of the language and user interface design to developing data-driven applications, this detailed book brings you thoroughly up to speed and features numerous example programs you can use to start building your own apps right away.

• Covers Visual Basic 2010, part of Microsoft's Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), which includes C#, C++, Visual Web Developer, and ASP.NET, along with Visual Basic
• Explains topics in the thorough, step-by-step style of all books in the Mastering series, providing you ample instruction, tips, and techniques
• Helps you build your own applications by supplying sample code you can use to start development
• Includes review exercises in each chapter to reinforce concepts as you learn

All the books in the Sybex Mastering series feature comprehensive and expert coverage of topics you can put to immediate use.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

halfsatisfied
i am having both visual basic 2008 and visual basic 2010 books.
The 2010 is of course an update with little changes.
I am half satisfied.

Pro

--The author claims that you may have a basic understandable level of VB before going through his book
I believe you may be an intermediate developer to use this book

---The quality of example are good. You learn how to do lot of funny things.Things you never found in other books.At this stage you find the difference between this book and the others.


--and of course you ll master many things ! The amount of knowledge at the end of any chapter is substential.
As before i came through this book i have usedDeitel simply series,Murach vb 2008,Oreilly Programming Vb 2008,Wrox Professional VB2008.



Cons

--the style of writing is amaizing .But guess it a part of.Guessing thing is a good method of teaching in programming.Only when people have acquire all the basis.In the book there are lot of mistakes..The author present one Sub and let you guess the rest....

--The code is subject to trouble.the code files are marqued as unidentified.I am talking aboout 2008 Edition files.There are lot of syntax errorsto correct.The writer did not pay attention to that.

--Finally you dont know.It is not a tutorial book.You always have to guess how to design the example.
You always have to guess the code.When you go through the book you find the writer is and old timer with lot of experience.


Conclusion

I will say the technical writer of the book is weak.He may have correct many things.The way of teaching may be re oriented. The code reviewed.I rate the book three star : Because the design is weak.In design i mean the way of teaching, the code..

slam dunk
I bought this book without hesitation because I have his book of the same kind for VB.NET 2005.Brilliant guy, the 2005 book covered how to do many standard AND advanced things the best, modern way. This is a book for experienced programmers so I got it in addition to my recent purchase of a regular book on VB.NET 2010 that covers the fundamentals.He really knows how to target (i.e. topics, presentation and code examples) the experienced programmer who has to do some of it all.I still find his 2005 book useful even though I am using VS2010 !This new book will give me big advantages. ... Read more

Product Description
The book/CD-ROM set that VB programmers have been clamoring for is here!

Thousands of experienced VB programmers have already visited Rod Stephen's VB helper Web site to borrow from his extensive stockpile of ready-to-run techniques. Thousands more have swamped him with requests for a book/CD set with more working programs. In response to these urgent requests, this book provides an instant library of code for a huge number of intermediate and advanced VB techniques quickly and easily. For easy access, all techniques are grouped by topic. Programmers will get working programs which manipulate databases, use API functions, animate images, draw sophisticated graphics, provide print preview, and demonstrate complex printing.

CD-ROM contains all of the source code for the hundreds of programming examples. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great little book of VB sample programs
This is a great little book full of VB sample programs that will help the beginning to intermediate programmer.It is a great supplement to any VB course textbook.Rod Stephens briefly explains how the program logic works, then lets you work out the rest of the program.Don't worry, there is a CD with the book that has all of the completed programs.This is not a VB textbook or VB reference book.It teaches you how VB works or can work through example.If you sometimes need more examples than the average textbook has time for or space for, then get this book.It really opens up your eyes to what can be done with VB.

Ready to Run (Away)
This is the most basic code libray you can find just about anywhere else for free.The examples are so basic - if they at least gave better definitions it might be usefull...but the way it is it's worthless.I read some of the other reviews and bought this book...I went thru it in about 25 minutes, knew it all and found that I have don't things simpler than this book has.This might be good for the 1st time programmer at anything...otherwise save your money...you'll be sending it back like I am.

API calls in a nutshell
This book is an excellent little resource. It contains all the sort of utility programs you would love to get to know. Many of the programs use API calls to squeeze every bit of juice from your code. You may askyourself before bying this, 'if that's the case why don't I buy an APIprogramming book'. Well, you could, but this book shows API calls in neatlittle programs that are used so often. I spotted this book while shufflingthrough my father's books on holiday in Guernsey, I am now dying to get myhands on a copy. A useful tool to anyone who wants to produce efficient VBcode.

Great code to help in everyday programming situations
I found this book to be extremely useful as it is basically a library of VB code put together to help the beginner as well as the experienced programmer tackle and understand some everyday programming needs. The codeis well documented in the book so that you can follow the logic behind it'sconstruction and unlike many similar learning books it is not specificallytargetted at any particular VB version. Also, the code is available in it'sentirity to see and use. Many similar books will explain the concepts, butit's up to you to write it and make it work. This book is fairly unique inthis sense.Everything you need is on the CD and there's bound to besomething there for everybody.

Darn Good Book!!!
Hmmm..... An Example is Worth 1,000 words. .... I just bought the book recently.Found some of his VB programming techniques to be very clean and easy to understand. The 170 + programming techniquesin Rod Stephensbook will save me hours of development time in my projects. Time is money! This book will save me a lot of development time. so I can earn more $$$.Check out his otherbooks Mighty_Michael88 ... Read more

Product Description
Spend less time searching for Visual Basic commands and more time learning them with Visual Basic 6 in Plain English. Featuring a quick-reference format, illustrated tutorials, practical examples, and concise, step-by-step instructions, Visual Basic 6 in Plain English is the ideal guide for busy VB programmers at every level. The book covers such important topics as arrays, controls, forms, classes, objects, properties, data types, operators, debugging commands, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Impossible to finish the book
For 313 pages I thought this was a great book.All the code worked and there were no problems at all.Then in the 18th chanpter, after entering code to save a PRODUCT I started to get errors.None of the book code from the CD for subsequent chapters works either and there is no errata for this book on the book website and no way to contact the author.While I did learn something in the first 313 pages I consider the whole experience a waste of time since it is IMPOSSIBLE TO FINISH THE BOOK OR COMPLETE THE APLLICATION.

one of my best references
this has honestly got to be one of the best vb references i have ever read. it has almost everything in vb that you could wish to do as well as some examples so that you are not typing and trying. i consider this my vb bible i read it all the time when i need help.

Good Reference
The book makes a very good reference. That's about it. Don't rely on it as a tutorial because its not. There are not many sample problems to work on and most of them are very simple (not real world examples). One needs to have the full version of VB in order to build the ActiveX controls. The book serves as a good introduction, so you have to get a more advanced book (Visual Basic 6 from Scratch) to get some hands on, create useful applications, and really learn. The book had a few coding errors.

Good stuff
This is a great beginners book.It's written in an easy to understand manner. It doesn't use the "I've been doing this type of thing for eons so I assume you have even though your a beginner" techno-geek speek.If your a beginner, get this book.

Excellent Beginners Book
This book is very good if you are just starting out.However, you'll quickly outgrow it and be looking for an intermediate book.It covers all the standard tools well and touches on ActiveX and database programming. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a complete technical guide to upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6 applications to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, it covers all aspects of upgrading from APIs to ZOrders. This book includes chapters on fixing upgrade issues with forms, language, data access and COM+ Services. It also shows how to add value to your upgraded applications with XML Web Services, ADO.NET and .NET remoting.Its has 'big picture' architectural advise, and includes a reference of function and object model changes from Visual Basic 6.The text is is decorated with hundreds of before-and-after code samples, and the companion CD is packed with useful upgrade examples. This book is an essential reference for the millions of Visual Basic 6 programmers who are considering moving up to Visual Basic .NET.Amazon.com Review
Ideal for any project manager or developer working in Visual Basic, Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET delivers an admirably lucid and valuable guide to porting legacy VB code to the new .NET framework. This book offers some indispensable advice on making this transition go smoothly.

The text is notable for its clear-sighted presentation style, useful for both project managers (who must plan when to upgrade code) and working VB developers (who must cope with a host of new APIs and language changes in VB .NET). The authors first establish the reasons why Microsoft chose to break literally millions of lines of code with the new .NET. They explore old and new VB languages and pay attention to features that have been dropped in the new version.

The heart of this text examines the Visual Basic .NET Upgrade Wizard in excellent detail, starting with a simple VB6 project upgraded to VB .NET. As the authors suggest, the wizard handles 95 percent of the port to .NET for your VB code. Much of the text explains what do about the remaining 5 percent of features that don't make the cut. One standout chapter here looks at which VB6 systems to upgrade first. (Not every legacy system will need to be upgraded, the authors prudently observe.) Another valuable section examines the "errors, warnings and issues" generated by the upgrade wizard, with specific suggestions on how to rewrite code that isn't translated automatically.

Later chapters look at specific areas of .NET that can "add value" to your projects, including the advantages of ADO.NET and Windows Forms versus the older ADO and ActiveX standards. There's plenty of useful advice for getting the old and new VB to interoperate, too, notably using ActiveX, COM, and COM+ controls within .NET (a perfectly acceptable strategy). Final reference sections list changes between VB6 and VB .NET, highlighting which language features are no longer supported.

Sanctioned by Microsoft Press, this title gives you the proverbial inside track on upgrading VB6 to VB .NET in an admirably well-organized text that's filled with practical advice. With millions of VB developers out there facing .NET for the first time, this title provides a worthy resource for moving old code into the future as smoothly and as cheaply as possible. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Overview of upgrade issues between Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic .NET (why Microsoft broke compatibility), advantages of VB .NET, the .NET Framework versus ActiveX compared; overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE, language differences between VB6 and VB .NET (including obsolete language elements), planning for upgrades (guidelines for project managers, prioritizing project upgrades), best practices for writing VB6 code that ports well; a sample VB6 project upgraded to .NET, comprehensive guide to the VB .NET Upgrade Wizard (plus the VB snippet wizard and command-line tool), debugging and troubleshooting in the VS .NET IDE (including the System.Diagnostics library), detailed guide on upgrading specific VB6 features (including controls, ActiveX, and database APIs); comprehensive guide to errors and warning messages, overcoming specific upgrade issues, guide to COM and .NET interoperability, 10 common upgrade problems explained; hints for overcoming language issues (including using Windows APIs in .NET), forms in VB6 versus VB .NET, using ActiveX components in .NET, ADO.NET database programming (including bound controls), redesign issues (rewriting OLE containers, paint, and clipboard code); upgrading COM+ components, upgrading VBA wizard projects, adding value to software with .NET features (new file and directory APIs, using the registry and Windows XP controls), xcopy deployment, guidelines for upgrading ADO and ADO.NET code, upgrading distributed code to Web services, and reference to VB6 in VB .NET changes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

One of the books long awaited
This is a great book for all of us to have to pass trough VB.NET.
Excelent material and giudance.

Upgrading toVisual Basic.Net
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.

Unexpected diamond
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.

All it takes to migrate
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! ... Read more

Product Description
Unlike most other database programming books, which discuss and present database programming techniques through huge blocks of programming code, this book uses a unique writing style to show readers how to develop professional and practical database programs using Visual Basic.NET 2005 Design Tools and Wizards related to ADO.NET 2.0, and to apply codes that are auto-generated by using Wizards. Avoiding overly large blocks of code, the book shows a simple and easy way to create database programs and enable the reader to build professional and practical databases more efficiently. In addition to Design Tools and Wizards, the runtime object method is also discussed and analyzed to allow users to design and implement more sophisticated data-driven applications with complicated coding techniques. Three popular database systems - Microsoft Access, SQL Server 2005, and Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE) - are discussed in detail, with practical examples and sample projects. This book will attract college students, programmers, and software engineers alike.Sample code and additional exercise questions for students, as well as solutions and lecture slides for instructors are available via the web (www.cambridge.org/9780521712354). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Database Programming with Visual Basic.NET

This is one of the best books so far I have read for this topic - Database Programming with Visual Basic.NET. Unlike other similar books, in which a huge block of codes starts from the first page and ends until the last page of the books, this book starts with a new style - Design Tools and Wizards, which greatly reduced the learning curves and simplified the program development processes, to help beginners to learn the database programming in a much easier and simple way!
In addition to that new style, three popular databases, MS Access 2007, SQL Server and Oracle, are covered by this book with a quite few of real example projects. The book also contains the real time object method, which is suitable to experienced database programmers and made the database programming as a fun. A lot of advanced database programming techniques, such as stored procedures and Web Services and applications, are discussed in detailed in the book with real project examples.
I highly recommend this book and hope your guys can learn something useful from this book, too.
... Read more

Product Description
In this one-of-a-kind book, Microsoft MVP Danijel Arsenovski shows you how to utilize the power of refactoring to improve the design of your existing code and become more efficient and productive. You?ll discover how to perform unit testing, refactoring to patterns, and refactoring to upgrade legacy Visual Basic code. As you progress through the chapters, you?ll build a prototype application from scratch as Arsenovski walks you step-by-step through each process while offering expert coding tips. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A worthwhile, unique, focused book for VB.NET developers
This is a unique book. It is non-introductory material, and it specifically targets VB.NET developers. This is a refreshing change, as most specialized books for .NET target C#.

Refactoring in Visual Basic introduces the reader to the concept of refactoring, using some simple examples, and then moves forward with various larger examples. The examples are all based on a running sample, which is explained early on in the book. Danijel describes each refactoring technique and the problem that it addresses, both in general and with respect to the running sample. By the end of the book, the reader has a healthy knowledge of various refactoring techniques and is able to start on his own refactorings.

Some nice mentions in this book include unit testing, refactoring to patterns, refactoring code from VB6 to .NET form, and VB9 features.

Throughout the book, the relevant smells are shown in light gray boxes, which helps to distinguish them from regular text. Unfortunately, there seems to be some repetition between the boxed text and the normal text...this was slightly offputting, but not a big issue really.

This book is a worthwhile read for any VB.NET developer. It is very focused on the topic, and it provides discussions specifically regarding code in VB.NET.

Buy Both it is worth it!!!!
Both the VB.NET and C# & ASP.NET Refactoring books are great.Each has it's own unique sections, while at the same time they cover the same refactorings, smells, and Object-Oriented Design Principles in detail.

I bought the VB.NET version because I have been stuck on a VB.NET project for the past 3 years (actually 3 months, but it sure feels like years).

I have not seen the weak static typing to strong dynamic typing explained so well and in such detail anywhere else.The information in this chapter teaches the developer how to use VB.NET to program a quick prototype or industrial strength applications.He goes into tremendous detail on how to properly use the Option Strict, Option Explicit, and Option Infer statements.

I was so impressed with the VB.NET version of the book that I bought the C# and ASP.NET version of the book.The C# and ASP.NET version of the book contains two chapters on refactoring ASP.NET code.

Both books have chapters on LINQ and other language enhancements, Refactoring to Patterns, Advanced Object-Oriented Concepts, Code Organization on a Large Scale, and multiple chapters on refactoring and smells.Throughout each book the author touches on Object-Oriented Design Principles.Both books have a list of all the refactorings, smells, and Object-Oriented Design Principles page numbers so they are easy to find.

The author points out that one of the motivating factors in writing these books was to give us the refactoring techniques in the languages we work in.I agree with his motivation, all the other books I have read used Java as the language and although I learned a ton from them, each language has its own subtle differences.

The author's style of writing make reading these books a pleasure.They are very well organized.

Both come with well organized and very usable code downloads.

Both of these books are highly recommended.They definitely make learning refactoring and Object-Oriented Concepts and Design Principles very enjoyable.

Very well done!
Arsenovski has done a great job with this book. It is clearly written, easy to follow and very practical. A great one to keep on the shelf and reference as needed. The free tools that he covers in the book are a bonus! They really help to get you applying what you've learned quickly.

I highly recommend this book for any .NET developer, not just those who use Visual Basic.

Great value
Not a typical Wrox title, generally these tend deal with specific technology in "no-nonsense" fashion. This book has more theory in it and is not technology specific, you will find it valuable if you program in just any version of Visual Basic .Net and any type of application. Not likely to become obsolete very soon, since basic premises of refactoring will continue to be relevant even in upcoming versions of VB.

Great book for putting your team on agile track
I am working with group of developers that came to VB .Net from VB6. Currently we are in process in improving the way things operate using some agile stuff. The overall disposition is pretty good, team has already been formed and things like daily stand-ups, client involvement or short iterations are generally welcomed by all. However, when more technical, code level stuff is discussed, there is more discussion (if not opposition). These folks pack years of experience and will not accept that you can teach them their job just like that. There is no way you can force things like unit testing or refactoring. You have to be able to hold your ground and answer all the questions with some good arguments.
This book gives you in-dept view of refactoring with a lot of practical, code examples. This means that you are well prepared to answer any uncomfortable question. It builds up gradually, so it is easy to follow.
Almost every chapter ends up applying the stuff that was just exposed on a sample application with a lot of code. Surely author spent a decent time on this title. You can download the code and see it progress from chapter to chapter. This gives a great insight since you can read and debug the code at the same time and not just some toy or isolated example.
Here is chapter to chapter break-down of the book.

Chapter 1
Intro chapter, defines refactorings end code smells and explains the kind of baggage VB carries because of its origins. Cool section on misinterpretations, this will prepare you for some tough questions that might come from uninitiated developers or managers.
Explains the importance of writing simple, comprehensible code. For example:
Dim oXMLDom as New DOMDocumet() vs Dim portfolio as new DOMDOcument.
The first statement gives you no idea of what first DOMDocument represents, in second it's the portfolio, and if you know the application context you will know what to expect.

Chapter 2
Teaser chapter but also good single-chapter sample of some typical refactoring work. Captures well typical process of development of VB applications. Starts out with few event-handling methods, ends up with number of domain classes and some inheritance thrown in.

Chapter 3
Chapter on refactoring tools, also gives you some insight of how different tools like refactoring add-ins and unit testing framework fit the big picture of agile development process.

Chapter 4
Intro chapter on application that is used to illustrate refactorings throughout the book. Explains the business case, requirements, lists some use cases. It is important to understand the context of the application to be able to follow-up on refactorings. Also some funny stuff here, like freshman developer that takes pride in copy-paste development.

Chapter 5
In-dept discussion on Static vs. Dynamic and Strong vs. Weak Typing that is rarely dealt with in such depth. This is basically controlled with Option Strict and Option Explicit options. If you program in VB, you must be aware how these work out.

Chapter 6
Chapter on error handling, especially legacy vs. structured error handling. Again, something everyone should know, but rarely explained in such depth. Cool stuff is step by step recipe for converting legacy to structured.

Chapter 7
Deals with some core refactorings like Dead Code Elimination, Scope Reduction etc. It's like cleaning up your code for some serious refactoring stuff.

Chapter 8
First step in structuring your code is getting serious about the problem (or business) domain. Also explains Rename and Safe Rename refactoring, talks about Interface vs. Abstract class, Open-Closed principle etc. some serious OO stuff.

Chapter 9
Some core refactoring stuff. Teaches you how to eliminate duplicated code and why it is the worst thing it can happen to your code. Explains Extract Method and Replace Magic Literal with Symbolic Constant variable. Nice and simple example based on circle geometric shape on how procedural design is transformed to Object Oriented design (Module and Shared method rings a bell?)

Chapter 10
If only method extraction would be as simple in real life... This chapter goes further with method extraction and deals with some common problems like temps.

Chapter 11
Where do objects come from? How you design classes? Some core OO stuff in this chapter, including Extract Class, Move Member (Method or Field) refactorings, smells like Database Driven Design or Data Class, Large Class, OO principles like Single Reasonability Principle etc. Lot of stuff and handful of pages in this chapter.

Chapter 12
Build upon previous chapter. Deals with inheritance, polymorphism, genericity. Explains the difference between class and interface (or implementation vs. interface inheritance), difference between delegation and inheritance and criteria to chose one or another, list some common misuses of inheritance etc. Again, a number of refactorings like Replace Inheritance With Delegation or Extract Interface, Extract Super etc. Some heavyweight OO concepts in this chapter, takes a time to digest.

Chapter 13
Explains what is important when taking a birds-view of software. This chapter is especially important for software architects. Talks a lot about dependencies in software and why you should minimize dependencies in your code.

Chapter 14
Single chapter for huge subject, still a lot of material covered. Design patterns are the most advanced subject in OO, so refactoring your code in order to make use of patterns is in no way child's play. Mostly deals with creational patterns. First mention of Dependency Injection in some VB book I come across. Now taking into account that Unity application block [...] has been released in April, this is really cutting edge stuff!

Chapter 15
Talks about latest VB improvements that come with VB 2008. Starts with XML enhancements like XML literals and then the rest is about LINQ. Explains a LINQ implementation called LINQ-to-SQL. This is first Microsoft Object-Relational Mapper (ORM). Again, cutting edge.

Chapter 16
If you still deal with VB6 code, than you know that migrating to .Net is no easy ride. This chapter explains some techniques that will help you migrate your code and make it .Net in sprit, not leaving it crippled by simple migration that will only make it execute in .Net. VB6 lacks inheritance, generics etc, so you need refactorings to make it VB .Net.

This book has no real competition as far as I know, no book on refactoring or agile for VB .Net developers. The one that come close is Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# (Robert C. Martin Series) but it is for C# developers and requires a lot higher starting point.
When other books come up, I am sure Professional Refactoring in VB will continue to hold its ground. Highly recommended!
... Read more

Product Description
The author team of Julia Bradley and Anita Millspaugh remain the guiding light in Programming with Visual Basic 2008 for countless students around the world. How better to master the most popular object-oriented programming language than to use the bestselling textbook? Be at the cutting edge of technology with examples, feedback questions, and a full Hands On Programming Example.Apply the concepts yourself with Case Studies and Exercises.Screen captures, step-by-step exercises, and thorough appendices ensure that Programming Excellence Begins Here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Excellent
It was the book i need for one of my classes and was very informative.

Aweful college textbook, beg your school to use another
I am not going to repeat the exact words of all who have disliked this book as I agree with all of the other examples given by reviewers, jumpy, confusing, missing info, etc. This book along with my instructors use of short cut words for commands has me totally lost. I believe that to get thru this class I might need to purchase a better rated book for explanation.

Not sure what everyone's problem is?? It's a good book.
I've read so many reviews of this book and everybody says it is hard to follow or ... I think this book is excellent and makes visual basic fun to learn, granted I've had a little programming experience before entering this class. I took an online programming class with Python through MIT and compared to what I had to read for that, Programming in Visual Basic 2008 by Millspaugh is a picture book.

Absolutely the worst textbook I've had to purchase yet!
I'm taking a beginning Visual Basic course and this is our textbook.The book jumps around from topic to topic and doesn't actually show you what anything is doing.It's not chronological, so it's not like you can even follow the book, type in the code and get something to work.It's all very random and meaningless.When I need to figure out what something does, the book doesn't even explain it well.Also, the Case Studies the end of each chapter are USELESS!It shows you how to create the user-interface AND it gives you all of the code.Talk about a no-brainer???You don't have to use your brain in order to do the homework, which means you aren't learning ANYTHING!So, now I've been given the "calculator" challenge.I'm completely clueless, because the book taught me nothing so far!If I could give this book a 0 stars, I would!

Programming in Visual Basic 2008
It is a very explicit and easy-to-follow textbook; it's flowing from one chapter to another.
Its clarity and many illustrative examples I wished I would have had in all my textbooks.... and they were plenty! ... Read more

Product Description
MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 2010: COMPREHENSIVE teaches students the essentials of computer programming using the latest Visual Basic programming language, Visual Basic 2010. ... Read more

Product Description
Visual Basic 2005 Programmer's Reference

Visual Basic 2005 adds new features to Visual Basic (VB) that make it a more powerful programming language than ever before. This combined tutorial and reference describes VB 2005 from scratch, while also offering in-depth content for more advanced developers. Whether you're looking to learn the latest features of VB 2005 or you want a refresher of easily forgotten details, this book is an ideal resource.

Well-known VB expert Rod Stephens features the basics of Visual Basic 2005 programming in the first half of the book. The second half serves as a reference that allows you to quickly locate information for specific language features. It's a comprehensive look at programming using the increased set of language options offered with the VB 2005 release, confirming that there has never been a better time to learn Visual Basic than now.

What you will learn from this book:

• The fundamental concepts of object-oriented programming with Visual Basic, including classes and structures, inheritance and interfaces, and generics
• How an application can interact with its environment, save and load data in external sources, and use standard dialog controls
• The syntax for declaring subroutines, functions, generics, classes, and other important language concepts

Who this book is for:

This book is for programmers at all levels who are either looking to learn Visual Basic 2005 or have already mastered it and want some useful tips, tricks, and language details.

Wrox Programmer's References are designed to give the experienced developer straight facts on a new technology, without hype or unnecessary explanations. They deliver hard information with plenty of practical examples to help you apply new tools to your development projects today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Good book
Good book and well written.I like the lots of examples.Very detailed and a great book to use as a reference.

Highly recommend!!!
Programming is not my primary field, but is something that I need to do from time to time.The last time I had programmed was with Visual Basic 4 and the syntax has changed since that time with Visual Basic 2005.I purchased 3 texts and this was the best one that helped me get used to the new syntax.

Good content.Poor index.
I had not used Visual Basic for several years before purchasing this book.I had forgotten a lot, and lots of things have changed.As I worked my way through this book, I found the actual content to be extremely useful.There is a good overview of a wide range of topics.The example programs are excellent starting points for understanding the various topics, and most proved easy for me to expand upon.

As I progressed through the book, I would frequently have the desire to use syntax, functionality, examples, etc. that I was sure that I had already read about.Unfortunately, it was not very long before I realized that the index was very underdeveloped for a book containing this much information.The index is a very important part of any good reference book, and is a big weakness of this otherwise good text.

Slightly Problematic.
I was somewhat frustrated that the chapter dealing with structures and classes said that... Classes are faster when dealing with arrays... Yet there was no example of how to use classes with arrays... And for me, I don't see any other way I would want to use classes.

For example... I was trying to make a layer system for an image manipulation program.

Code such as:
DIM layers(10) as new bitmap
So in order to get layers I had to resort to 3, 3dimensional arrays.
RED(x,y,layer number) etc.

I am sure the book is only frustrating to me because I used it mostly for the graphics section and for code tailored to manipulation of graphics.

I am sure this book is all fine and dandy if you are reading it with no particular focus in mind. But, if you are reading a chapter and then immediately try to apply it to a specific situation, you may come into problems that the book does not address.

But I guess that is how programming works. Even if you know what you are doing you still run into problems when you take your idea from... idea to actual programming.

Must have!!!
I have found, Visual Basic 2005 Programmer's Reference (Programmer to Programmer) to be a very good reference source. The book offers both Visual Basic references, and .net framework references side by side. I as a newer programmer (novice - intermediate ), and have been looking for a bridge, that goes between beginner and advanced. Visual Basic 2005 Programmer's Reference, has done just that!

The gap that existed for me, was filled in quite nicely. I have been struggling with more advanced concepts and now, I have begun to make the progress that seemed to elude me.
If there is anyone out there looking for the same "bridge", I would recommend this book without hesitation.
... Read more

Product Description
Visual Studio .NET All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies is a value-packed, easy-to-use reference that provides broad coverage of Visual Studio .NET tools, languages, and environment for experienced Visual Studio programmers and developers who want to get up to speed rapidly on this missioncritical Microsoft initiative. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Visual Studio.Net All in One Desk Reference for Dummies
Very good, has lot's of practicle examples. A must have

Visual Studio.net not for dummies
The title of this tome is very misleading.I was expecting to find a guide to ease me slowly into the nomenclature and conventions of this very powerful software suite, but what I found was an advanced tip guide for intermediate users already familiar with version 6.0.Being a dummy myself in this field, I was very disappointed with my somewhat large investment in this guide.Also, it is not written in the plain, folksy manner that defines the best of this series.There's $35 I'll never get back.Definitely not for beginners!

Disappointing
Although usually I'm a big fan of the Dummies books, I was really disappointed by this one.

First of all it is not as "hands-on" as other Dummies books. For absolute beginners there is too much general theory (the kind of "I will explain something you don't know by something else that you don't know either"). On the other hand there is very little explanation on what exactly happens in the examples. Experienced programmers however will find this book not going deep enough. I guess the authors tried to satisfy all and ended up satisfying none.

Second point is that there are plenty of errors in the book...That's pretty frustrating if you want to get a program running, because you never know if it's YOU who made a mistake or if there is just another error in the book. I regret that I wasted so much time on this book, just to find again and again that there was an error in it.

Last point, which is crucial if you want to work with Visual Studio .NET on your own computer, and need to install everything on your own: there is little help on how to get the prerequisite software installed and running, like e.g. IIS (Internet Information Services) and Front Page Server Extensions. You will need them to work with Visual Studio .NET, and installation can be very tricky (actually I know of noone who got them running right away). So if the book doesn't cover these topics, it would at least have been helpful to add some resources where you can find help...

.NET for Dummies should .NET BY Dummies
Tons of errors, some don't even pass the simple syntax test.

Example:
Page 708 -
str = "Update Employees set Department = "@DPT, & _
& "Description = @DSG where EmployeeID = @ID"

Notice the use of & _ & at the end of the first and start of the second lines.This is wrong but not terminal.The real problem is that you will get a syntax error after Department = "@

These lines should probably read:
str = "Update Employees set Department = @DPT, " & _
"Description = @DSG where EmployeeID = @ID"

Now this is not just one isolated problem, there are many many more and when I emailed them for some help I did not get a response.

This book will not just waste your money, it will waste an even more precious resourse-- Your time.

...

Not a Visual Studio .NET book, it's a .Net language book
Well, I already have a number of .NET language books, I did not need any more.I enjoy the for dummies books because they start at the low level and work upwards from there.What I was looking for was a book that would tell me how to use Visual Studio.NET to it's maximum potential.Instead, I got 7 mini-books on how to program in each of the languages that Visual Studio offers.The title should be Programming in .NET for Dummies rather than using VS.NET in the title.I can write in any of those languages by using notepad, so this is a very misleading title.
However, I will not give this book an awful rating since it seems to be good at what it does say.Just be careful that you don't buy this thinking you're going to get a good reference on how to use Visual Studio - because this ain't it. ... Read more

Product Description
The niche of this book is that it not only focuses on the topic at hand but it also provides a battery of tools/skills that will take the user at a higher level and help him/her realize the skills “without waiting to read another book” on some other topic they need to know if they wanted to implement it in real life.It is a self contained, stand alone book.Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours follows the step-by-step approach of the Teach Yourself series and gives the reader a quick, concise introduction to this programming language.It will explain the basics of Visual Basic through task-oriented examples and a hands on approach.Topics covered include:Basics of Visual Basic development, Understanding the concepts of properties, methods, and events, Creating and implementing ActiveX controls, Integrating data into applications, Adding and manipulating graphics, Testing and debugging applications, Printing from your applications.Amazon.com Review
Providing a decent overview of how to construct graphicalinterfaces with Visual Basic 6, Sams' Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6in 24 Hours quickly teaches the novice Visual Basic programmer howto write simple applications that work. Readers should keep in mind,though, that this book addresses Visual Basic from a beginner'sperspective: you'll want another book to help you with morecomplicated aspects of the language.

Fortunately, the authors don'tget bogged down in documenting every last menu item and button in theVisual Basic 6 environment, as do the authors of many introductorybooks. Rather, they explain how to write real--if simple and somewhatacademic--programs. This book would be stronger if it included morematerial on the "Basic" portion of Visual Basic--the actual code thatmust be written manually when you reach the end of the visualenvironment's capabilities. While the authors provide plenty ofinformation on each of the popular graphical user interfaceelements--list boxes, labels, and the like--they don't pay enoughattention to the language that endows those components withfunctionality. To be fair, though, many books about visual developmentenvironments fall into this trap.

ActiveX controls, which you cancreate with Visual Basic 6, don't receive much space either. This ismore a function of the language than of this book--no noviceprogrammer will write controls of any consequence without firstgathering some experience, certainly not in 24 hours. --DavidWall ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

VB 6 in 24 Hours
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.It is a great read and very informative.

Poorly written.
I have had good luck with this book, ONLY because I have had other programming languages. It does get into actual coding, but does little to explain how it works.

The authors experiments in the CD are quite lame. The ones that DO work off the CD offer no usefulness.

If you are good with programming already, this book will be useful if you are new to VB, cause you can figure out how to make bigger better projects. But most of what you do in VB will be of your own experimentation. Don't count on this book offering any real programs. It merely gives you the puzzle pieces, and it is up to you what you do with them.

Useless Book..Don't waste your money
A Great Introduction to VB
U Gotta be kidding me
This book SUCKS!
If you really want to waste your time reading this get it from a library
and
If u have nothing to waste ur money on u can buy this

lol

A Great Introduction to VB
At the University of Redlands, one of my biggest gripes was the use of ineffectual textbooks - the type that are better used as doorstops than for actual learning and/or reference. I had struggled with the idea of wasting money on books required for each class and tried something a bit different when I took Visual Basic 6.Instead of the required doorstop textbook, I purchased SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS.I was very happy with that decision!

SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS provides a good overview of Visual Basic and is definitely written for beginners.Even with this agenda, not every menu item is shown so the reader feels like an idiot.I found the answers to my questions easily and this book gave me a basic understanding of how VB works.Examples of code provided in the book teach the reader to write code rather than have him/her following along with few brain cells needed.

Towards the end of the book, space is given to "Sprucing Up Programs" and glosses over more advance techniques using VB, like ActiveX controls.In order to learn more advanced VB, a different book will be needed, as this one should be used for an overview and introduction only.

The CD that accompanies this book will give the reader practice writing code.Some of the items covered here are:Labels, buttons, text boxes, controls and properties, message boxes, output boxes, looping, dialog boxes, printing, database basics, graphic image controls, and much more.

During my Visual Basic class, my fellow students struggled using the standard text.I breezed through my assignments and tests.A few weeks into the class, one friend asked if he could look at my book.After that, copies of SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS started showing up and the standard text soon disappeared off many desks.We all agreed it was a much better choice for our needs!

SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS is a great beginning source and will help the novice understand the basics.It is not intended as a die-hard resource book, but an introduction into this powerful programming tool.

Good for beginners
Having read some of the articles being written about this book, it made me think. The title of this book should give the person the idea what he/she is getting into. It is giving you the basics in the quickest time possible, nothing more. So why all the ado?

This book is good for re-hashing or for someone new to VB as a supplement to what the student may be getting from a class room or work. Nothing more, and for that it works well. With a title such as "Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours" would you expect to be an awesome programmer? You won't. Will it help you as a supplement to a class or work? It will.

Some of the criticisms of this book are really not called for. It is for all intents and purposes a decent book. ... Read more

Product Description
With detailed technical information delivered straight from theMicrosoft Office 2000 documentation team, programmers, administrators, andpower users get the authoritative guidance they need to develop applicationsfor the world's most popular office suite. This practical and precise guideoffers hands-on detail for everything from automating individual tasks tocreating full-fledged custom apps. Coverage includes planning and developingOffice 2000 solutions, working with data, designing multiuser solutions,optimization, security, and distribution. The companion CD-ROM comes loadedwith customizable sample solutions, plus valuable appendixes.Amazon.com Review
Is it your job to develop applications in the office, or wouldyou like it to be? Either way, you are going to need MicrosoftOffice 2000 Visual Basic Programmer's Guide. In one package, youget information on understanding your users' needs, where to startdesigning your Office-based solutions, coding, debugging, add-ons,data, security, and all the new features of the Office 2000 suite.

Sound like a lot? It is, and it's not for beginners. The authorsassume a working knowledge of Visual Basic for Applications and HTML,as well as a familiarity with SQL. If you're not quite there yet, trya different book and come back when you're ready, because it's worthit. The authors guide you along each step of the way--from definingproblems to putting the final touches on your solutions--with clear,straightforward text, plenty of hands-on coding examples, and ideasfor further learning.

The enclosed CD-ROM contains all the codefrom the book, as well as white papers and sample applications. Office2000 is the most integrated suite yet, and VBA is better than ever formaking your applications shine. Your hard work, plus MicrosoftOffice 2000 Visual Basic Programmer's Guide, will make youindispensable in the workplace. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

microsoft
I would disagree with many people on this book due to the fact that this book is very helpful on using codes and debugging tools although its a definition guide on computer programming inwindows 2000it can teach you a lot of details on programming it is more like a beginners guide using many symbols and differnt codes this book is more of a book for people wanting to learn how to write files store files also deals with rewritting web pages or possibley a guide on how to develop folders spreadsheets graphs and many othe features i would say this book is really great for anyone wanting to learn c programming in windows environment as well as in the assembly language or DOS enviroment; although this bookdoes not teach you assembly language programming it is a way to start learning assembly language programming1

Falls short in creating realistic applications
I would agree with the review that states the authors were working side-by-side with the office development team as this book was written.However, I would disagree that such close input was entirely helpful.While the information contained in this book is a nice introduction to how things are "supposed" to work, as with so much of Microsoft's software, things never quite work the way they were designed, unless of course, you're doing exactly what the folks at Microsoft assumed you would do.Not only do some examples in this book fail to work, most examples are simple and obvious, the kind of thing a person might generate from looking at Microsoft's help information.Often they illustrate how the designers assumed their software would work.They often fail to demonstrate what the software can do--or much more important--how to get around the artificial limitations set by Microsoft.Some simple examples involve such basic building blocks as dialog boxes and menus (commandbars in Micro-speak).Some built-in dialog boxes have over a dozen arguments, but try finding out what those arguments do from either this book or from Microsoft's help information.As for the commandbars, even the examples from the book fail to work.

My advice?If you want to know what Microsoft intended, get this book.If you want to use Microsoft Office in a real world situation, keep looking.

Excellent Office-wide book
It's very hard to find a book on VBA that isn't based in one application, and doesn't begin at the 'Hello World' level. This book does neither. Instead it provides a good introduction to the object models of the Office applications, and includes well-written code examples. The breadth of content is impressive--from shared Office components to class modules. What a pity it's out of print!

Like walking the halls at microsoft
The intro materials in this book reveal that the authors were workingside-by-side with the office development team as this book was written.Such direct access to the people who know the most about the product isunusual and it shows in this book. A collection of truly "useful"information and sample code. This is not a rehash of online help or acollection of the "basic" programming info found in a lot ofreference books. The discussion generally gives you useful information and,the part I like the most, gives you sample code that works just the way itis in my own programs. This is not sample code of the type"MyControl.Backcolor = Red" that I see so much of. It appearsthat a real effort was made to write code that not only illustrates aconcept, but that is usable in other contexts without much, or any,modification.

Thanks for the resource....check it out - you will not bedisappointed.

Info for developers
This is a book designed for people that already know something about office and vba and who want to take custom development to the next level with more advanced techniques ... Read more

Product Description

PRE-PUBLICATION REVIEWER TESTIMONIALS

“The discussion of object-oriented programming is one of the best available.”
—Gavin Osborne, Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science & Technology

“The explanation of UML, intelligently integrated into the book, conveys the heart and soul of true object oriented architecture and engineering.”
—Jeff Jones, Route Match Software

Customer Reviews (6)

Too bulky, but topics are well explained...
I like this Deitel book over VB 2008 How to Program because it does not do too much spoon feeding, and the reason I purchased this is because of the ATM Case Study, nothing more. I'm trying to find books that deals with projects, not code-snippets only, so this book is just right, together with Dan Clark's book, and Julia Case Bradley's.

I gave it 4 stars only because of it's bulkiness, could have do away with a lot of space-consuming topics that the author tried to cover but with little success in my opinion, like ASP, etc, which a lot of books are centered on. Also, these books are too pricey, so better to just wait for a year or two after publication when prices have already dropped.

The Best you can get !
Well it took me more than an hour in a bookshop to put all the available books in front of me and compare them. Finally, I picked this one. At the time the main reason was the comprehensive coverage of the book on different aspect of the VB programming.
Now, I am reading chapter 22. So I guess I have a fairly solid understanding of the book. So , here it is:
- As I mentioned the coverage of different subjects is great.
- Great book to learn OOP in VB.
- You will find the pace a bit slow and it takes time to get somewhere to write serious programs. The reason could be the explanatory attitude of the author. For me that was exactly what I needed. A slow pace which explains things in details.
- The examples are well explained and you wont find any error in them.
- When you reach the more advanced chapters like Filing,XML,ADO, ASP , although it gives you a very good brief of the subject, you feel that it was incomplete. Which is fair enough. Each of those subjects may need a separate book for themselves.

In conclusion, this is a highly recommended book for someone who wants to properly start learning VB.

Excellent book
This is an excellent book on VB.If you are already a programmer or want to learn programming, this is the right book.It will give you an overview on programming concepts and deep details on programming with VB.

Another excellent book
I am an engineer that has been learning c# and VB to build some applications to help our department automate our processes and turned to the Deitel books for instruction.The Deitel series books are excellent.If you had to get only one reference book, I would suggest getting one of theirs.The "How To" books are textbooks and the "for programmers" books basically leave out the self tests and chapter questions.I have both the C# How to and the VB.net Programmers books along with a couple more brand X books.If you are looking for an excellent reference, get the Deitel "for programmers" book.It's a lot cheaper and will still have the information you are looking for.

Excellent coverage - except for one thing
As a seasoned Access developer, I was really excited at the launch of .NET in 2001 as I wanted to make the jump to developing VB/SQL applications.But alas, every time I made an attempt to develop a VB.NET application using Visual Studio 2002/2003, I would end up with a ton of errors that I couldn't fix, and I would always go back to Access because it was so much easier.The books around at the time were also difficult to understand.

Then I went to a developer conference in 2005 and saw the latest versions of VB.NET, Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005, and I thought Finally!! - Microsoft have made developing VB/SQL applications as simple as Access Database applications.So I wanted to find a book that covered all the cool features of VB.NET 2.0, as well as a discussion of OOP and UML.And just recently I discovered this awesome book by the Deitels.

This book is the perfect introduction to VB.NET 2.0 - for someone who has programmed, but not necessarily VB6.It doesn't discuss differences between VB6/VB.NET 1.1 and VB.NET 2.0, as most other books seem to waste space doing.Rather than have separate chapters for OOP/UML, it combines discussion of OOP/UML within the context of VB.NET concepts such as classes and inheritance, which by the way are exquisitely explained in a simple, readable format with relevant examples.

While the ATM case study, that is gradually built up throughout the book, is excellent, I just wish they had taken it one step further and discussed the design of the "Bank Database", and the relationship between the database design and the classes.Since nearly every business application built these days involves a database backend, this would have been worthwhile discussion.
... Read more

Product Description
Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual Basic 6 in 21 Days is a tutorial that allows you to learn about working with databases in a set amount of time. The book presents you with a step-by-step approach to learning what can be a critical topic for developing applications. Each week will focus on a different aspect of database programming with Visual Basic. Some of the topics covered are data controls, programming with the Microsoft Jet Engine, and programming with the ODBC Interface and SQL. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Good Reference Book
This was a good reference book. Especially for the money. I find it helpful to have 2-3 ref. books per language for review in case I need them. Amazon does an awesome job supplying thses type of books at a low price.

Database programming with Visual Basic 6
This book promises much, but delivers little. Both the book and the examples from the CD are so full of errors that it is more of an example in frustration than learning. It is nothing more than a usless piece of garbage

Everything Yet Nothing
This is neither a book for people who know nothing about database programming, nor is it a book for experienced programmers. Not sure where it's placed.

For beginners it's very difficult to figure out what the author is saying about DAO, RDO, ADO. This is exponentially exacerbated by the fact that MSFT seems to change its mind about the standard each time they bring out a new version of Access.

MSFT seems now to have settled on ADO as the standard, so with the bulk of this book focussing on DAO, it's not worth getting. But in reviewing, we must remember that this book was written way back in 1998 - an aeon in programming.

I found the line numbering style reminiscent of the early days of DOS BASIC when every manufacturer had their own version.Ah, the days of my old Spectravideo.

Not a good book.
Although the book covers most of the topics associated with VB and database programming, it is riddled with grammatical errors. The source code listed in the book has errors. You will have to decipher before trying to make sense what the author is trying to explain.

Superb book but you must be a fluent VB programmer.
This is an excellent introduction to using the power of Microsoft's Jet database engine in VB programs. It covers all the basics and provides example coding throughout. Having worked my way through most of it, I can write powerful database programs easily and quickly, in a fraction of time and using a fraction of the code demanded by VB to achieve the same results. I can even understand those dreadful Microsoft Jet Database Help Screens now!!!!!! I recommend the book to experienced VB programmers.

The book is not a 'VB programming for beginners' publication - you need to understand VB before using it. The sample code is full of errors that only an experienced VB user can detect and correct. The authour insists on using the Visdata utility to create SQL commands but does not make clear how to translate these into VB code; a VB beginner would be hopelessly confused and not understand the power and flexibility of this command. Readers also need to understand the concept of relational databases. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive, easy-to-use introduction to Visual Basic contains: complete, solved examples that illustrate a range of material, from simple points to more complex programming problems; chapter-ending programming problems that reinforce concepts; and a comprehensive, annotated appendix for easy reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Easy to comprhend
I read a few pages and found it easy to comprehend. Hope to use it as a reference.

best 1st book
I had a project in a Nuclear engineering company that required a GUI for a FORTRAN based program. I waded through a few VB books but none were explained in a nice step by step fashion. Microsofts VB 6.0 step by step was horrible . Balena is a good book but for advanced readers.

So My first month was unproductive as I did not have a good book and was learning and proceeding by Microsofts online help .


then I got this book and I picked up VB in 2 days , and then after getting the entire picture and the basic concepts , I was able to delve into the more arcane matters using balena .

I reccomend this book for every First Timer in VB .

One Of The Finest Introduction to Visual Basic
If you are new to Visual Basic, this is the book for you. Buy this book and have a flying start with VB. In this very slender book you'll get the basics of Visual Basic programming. The book explains in a very straight forward & brief manner the IDE, how to work with it, variables et al in very precise way, thankfully no complicated way of discussing various issues. At the end of the book you'll find answers to various exercicse given in the book. That is indeed very helpful. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Visual Basic 2008
I thought it was great until Chapter 8 "Classes and Inheritance" which is where I'm at now.This chapter seems overly complex and I question the need for it. There must be easier and clearer ways of accomplishing the goals. It certainly not straight forward.This Chapter is convoluted.

Easy introduction, lack of illustration
Thought this was a well written book for the beginner, at least it appears to be a primer for beginners. Easy read and to be honest i thought the exercises at the end of each chapter was good but more examples could be created to illustrate key concepts introduced in each chapter.

So-so book
This would be a great book, but for two things . . . 1. The worst was, I got to page 332, then realized that the next page was 359!I want my missing 27 pages!2.The author's attempts at humor are just plain lame, because they distract from the content.You are in the middle of reading a sentence, and within that content, he throws in some off-the-wall comment . . . it was irritating, when you are trying to follow the flow of information.That said, there is some pretty good information in the book, otherwise, I would have considered it trash.

Great for getting ideas for your own apps
I don't feel this is a book for beginners, chapters 2-7 were easy to grasp, but after that it definitely gets complex. I would recommend the book for someone who already read a VB2008 intro book with at least some light OOP and wants to get some ideas for his or her own applications.For the solo developer I think the book is priceless.

One reviewer stated the snippets that are installed in visual studio for quick pasting of code was a bad thing but I found it it to be amazing.If you feel compelled to rewrite the code by hand, you could easily do so, but memorizing code is not the purpose of the book as it might be in a beginners book. The book also comes with a visual studio template project for each chapter, one for "before code" and one for "after code".The author explains where to paste the snippets in the "before code" templates per chapter while explaining what each snippet of code does. If you get stuck, just look at the "after code" template and run it/debug/step through it.

This method was very convenient/original and took away a lot of the tediousness of positioning every little label and button for all the forms and creating repetitive code.This allowed me to quickly understand why the author built the app the way he did and how the code worked.

VB Programming... Not so Much
OK, I'll try to be concise. I have experience in C++ and VBA but needed a deeper understanding to further my career as a controls engineer.

This book is good for teaching some basics in a strict didactic format. It is also good for starting fires -- it's made of paper.

Now, on to the rest. If you are hoping for a guided tour of PROGRAMMING, get a different book. There is a project that the author goes through step-by-step within this book (interesting but not useful in my opinion), but you won't do ANY of the actual programming. The code is contained in snippets that you will inert into the already created templates. Not really useful. It would have been much more useful to have the reader do the actual coding of the project and make the project less complex. Perhaps this book is geared for the much more advanced user, though it is not touted as such. The project is geared towards business applications which might be useful for some, but I needed to learn to write the actual code -- again, you won't write ANY for the "project" in this book unless you have an already extensive grasp of VB.

This book is an easy read and did not put me to sleep as other texts have done. The text is engaging with some weak attempts at humor. It also covers a great swath of VB commands and syntax at a decent pace; however, again, you won't be USING this new knowledge on any examples from the book. If you are completely new to VB, do not get this book, you will be disappointed. If you are intermediate to advanced, some of the advanced techniques that are used can be employed in code you might already be working on.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone as I found it to be useless in TEACHING VB. As a reference, maybe, but I learn from doing, not from reading.
... Read more

Product Description
Intro Programming course is estimated currently at 150-200,000 and growing.Visual Basic is taking over where BASIC, Qbasic, and QuickBasic once dominated, in the Introductory Business Programming course.That trend will continue as VB continues to encroach on other less progressive languages such as COBOL and the Basic variations listed above within CIS and Business departments.The courses that can be supported by this text are not specific to any one type of institution, since VB in a Business course is largely a functional topic needed by all types of students from 2-4 year, to Vo-Tech, to extended, to even adult education. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

good for a classrom book
good book as a classroom study, not so good as a self learner. lot's of info missing that you would get in an interactive environment, such as the exercise answers. and no website available for more info as many others provide. as a class text this is understandable as the students normally wouldn't have all the answers available to them except thru the teacher.

Programming in Visual Basic 6.0
I NEVER ordered this book but you sent it and charged me for it anyway. I returned it upon its arrival but had to go to extreme hastles to communicate with you people. Have you re-embursed my account yet? That's the first time I've ever had a problem with Amazon, but I still love you.

good service but need better packaging
the book was received in a good, timely manner at a cheap price
at a fraction of the cost of a new book, i am doing all my assignments and learning more about vb
the only thing that would need improvement is packaging
a cd came along with this book but since the packaging was done in an envelope it was broken in half which has prevented me from doing work at home
otherwise, this is a good seller and would deal with them again if they improve their packaging
thanks

A good investment
Concise, precise and with hands-on examples of entire projects. This book is scattered with coloured screenshots to illustrate their instructions so you never have to guess what the authors mean. Targetted at the absolute beginner (in programming) but as it is a breeze to read, the more advanced reader is sure to pick up a few VB gems on his stroll through it.

Excellent book to start VB6.0
I was lucky to stumble across this book in Amazon.com and didn't really know what I was getting. Once reading through the first chapters and trying some of the exercises I realize this is great. The book teaches you the correct way to program in simple descriptive language. I have now leant what I need to start my own small projects and have ordered the Advanced VB6 from the same authors, looking forward to getting it. The book also comes with the learning VB6.0 CD which gets you started. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces PowerPoint planning basics and design to help teachers create better learning environments for their students. It describes the benefits of multimedia, the design process, the benefits of having their students design multimedia and metaphors, and organizations for multimedia projects. This book can be used as a stand-alone book in a multimedia design class for educators, or it can be used as a companion for books that focus on multimedia design and use multimedia projects in classrooms but do not deal with a specific technology for implementing the projects. It also stands by itself as a how-to guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Powerless PowerPoint
As there seems to be a lack of material dealing with VBA in the PowerPoint world, this looked interesting. At close to $50.00, one would expect a comprehensive text on the subject. I went through the book in just over an hour because it contains very little useful information. The basic tasks it sets forward are bettered served not using VBA. The information which would have been valuable, ie. exposing useful methods and properties are not there. If you are looking for some really good examples of how to use VBA or other technical information on this very complex Microsoft Tool, this is not it. And the author and publisher should be ashamed asking so much for so little.

Nice book, but...
This is a nice book, but it is not for the beginner.Also, consider whether your IT department disables macros in your installation of PowerPoint.If they do, this book is useless.So, if you're very familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and macros are enabled, this is a great book.

Book is great... you do need a little bit of Visual Basic background.
This book is a great resource but you do need some background in Visual Basic. Don't let that keep you from buying the book though. The book is well written, the writer leads you through most of the tough parts some of the easy stuff is assumed though. No regrets... :-)

Very good for one specific aspect
This book is an excellent resource if you want to learn how to use Visual Basic to write interactive quizzes in PowerPoint.It is definitely aimed at educators. There are better books out there for learning PowerPoint, but this book is definitely outstanding in this one area.

The Power of a Programmer (without being one)
If you're like me, experienced with PowerPoint, but not a programmer, then taking a trip into the world of vba scripting with David Marcovitz's "Powerful PowerPoint for Educators" makes it easy and enjoyable. This book is like having a conversation with the author who has "been there and done it" in terms of developing script that is practical and useful in so many PowerPoint projects you may need to develop. Among other objectives, I had the need to incorporate an interactive leadership style self-assessment in my cbt of the same name, and thanks to David's book I was able to let the user make his/her selections (as well as change them too), track scores, and then take those scores on to subsequent slides to discern the meaning of each of them (not to mention printing as well as saving those scores based on user preference). And of course, all along the way, I learned a great deal about other scripting options that proved useful in this application as well as for future projects.
If you're at the stage where you need to use vba scripting, this is the book that should be your primer. It will take you where you need to go! ... Read more

Product Description
Are you hesitant to migrate to Visual Studio(r) 2005? Maybe you're ready to upgrade to Visual Basic 2005 but feel a bit overwhelmed by ADO.NET 2.0 and the Visual Data Tools of this new release. In this hands-on guide, I'll share with you the best practices, the latest features, and advanced data management techniques with Visual Basic 2005 and SQL Server or SQL Server Express 2005. Plus, I'll incorporate simple to moderately complex project examples that feature real-world, database front-end applications with Windows and Web forms.

First, I'll begin with ADO.NET 2.0 basics, then I'll move on to designing and programming smart clients with typed DataSets as their data sources. Gradually, I'll walk you through using DataSource, GridView, and DetailsView Web controls. Finally, I'll demonstrate how to take advantage of the new T-SQL extensions, in-process Web services, and notifications.

What you will learn from this book

• How to build usable Windows(r) and Web forms from a sample database in less than five minutes-without writing a line of code
• Effective writing of data validation code for bound text boxes and DataGridViews
• Ways to apply advanced ASP.NET 2.0 data techniques
• The process of creating and deploying VB 2005 SQL CLR projects

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced VB programmers who are upgrading from VB6 or VS 2002/2003 to VB 2005. Basic familiarity with the VS 2005 or VB Express 2005 environment is helpful but not assumed. No prior VB6, VBA, or VBScript experience is necessary.

Wrox Expert One-On-One books present the wisdom accumulated by an experienced author who is recognized as an expert by the programming community. These experts challenge professional developers to examine their current practices in pursuit of better results. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Not Very Useful
I bought this book when I was learning Visual Basic .Net and ADO.NET.I needed to do a standard business database application, and I kept going to the book for details on how do do things, and on an overall understanding of ADO.NET.But I rarely got any answers.

There may be some people who find this book helpful, but I am not one of them.

Rip Off
The kindle version is only approx 3 dollars cheaper than the hard back with probably 1/2 to cost to produce they are ripping you off if you buy this.Don't purchase this or any other book where they are doing this check the hard back price first.Let them hear your dissatifaction with your money.Check it before you buy!!!

This book is a mess
Wrox books are usually very good, but this one is disappointing. Just reading it would be a waste of time. And as a reference, never once has my question been in the index. Entire chapters of "Best Practices" are Lifted from Microsoft White Papers. After this review, I'm going to order the DB programming book from Theron Willis
and see how that goes.

What to say
I didn't receive my book yet. Ordered in july I'm still waiting to recive it...

Pretty good; but he's done better
I snatched this book up as soon as I saw it. I have three other of Roger Jennings' database books and they are great.

This one was a little disappointing. It has good information in it and it is informative. But, percentage-wise at least, it seems to contain a lot more filler, like unneeded code. The style of writing seems so different from his other books that I wonder how much of the actual writing Mr. Jennings did himself.

It's definitely not a bad book. Overall it was worth the money. Maybe the second edition will add more substance. I would actually rate it at 3 1/2 stars, but that's not an available option. ... Read more

Product Description
Presents focused explanations of the core features and complexities of Visual Basic 6, including creating and using your own ActiveX controls, discovering the Windows API functions, and learning the new Microsoft Visual Data Manager.CD-ROM included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

A lot of helpful content.
In this VB book, you can find whatever you want/need to find. Rob Thayer shows some of his techniques, which ARE sometimes quite helpfull. Basically this book has a lot of content for different sides of Visual Basic programming. Definately for a bit advanced VB 'users'. I give this book 5 because it helped me more than once with little problems like 'MAPI' etc. Really recommend it to any one who is into Visual Basic programming and want to become a skillfull programmer of it.

Good job
I use this book as an excellent reference for VB. We needed to write code for an internet application. Within a few hours of receiving the book we cleared up some confusion. Thanks Rolo.

Class Modules
This is my favorite book on Visual Basic 6.The "Unleashed" series is great.This book contains a great deal of information not available elsewhere and is written in an accessable style and comes in a very nice hardcover edition, most appreciated on these tombs.My criticism is the coverage of class modules which are a central element of VB.For example, take the topic of class instancing.This is a core concept in VB, as we all know.Yet its not discussed that I can find or referenced in the index.Chapter 11 covers "Creating and Using Class Modules" but it's an abstract discussion of planning.This is a significant oversight in a book that is held out as a "reference" work.

Brings you up to speed in all areas of VB6
Most of the Visual Basic books on the market are either for the beginner or they address only one advanced topic in detail. This book covers all advanced topics in detail and will transform an intermediate programmer to an advanced programmer. Warning: this book is not for newbies with no coding experience.

Visual Basic 6 Unleashed Professional Reference Edition
This is a great book that has taught me a lot, but I would like it tofocus on a specific topic, and for over 1000 pages you would think therewould be enough room to do so. But there is a lot of topics to talk about.They do have source code included in this book, but I would want just alittle bit more. Overall I think this is a really great book forIntermediate/Advanced Visual Basic programmers, no newbies... ... Read more