Book Description
Get the expert insights, indispensable reference, and practical instruction needed to exploit the core language features and capabilities in Visual Basic 2005. Well-known Visual Basic programming author Francesco Balena expertly guides you through the fundamentals, including modules, keywords, and inheritance, and builds your mastery of more-advanced topics such as delegates, assemblies, and My Namespace. Combining in-depth reference with extensive, hands-on code examples and best-practices advice, this CORE REFERENCE delivers the key resources you need to develop professional-level programming skills for smart clients and the Web.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent, monumental book - but not for everyone.......2007-05-31
Visual Basic appeared more than 15 years ago as a tool to define quick prototypes and develop GUI applications with ease. Its development environment, which the language was literally blended in, was remarkably easy to use. I remember those good old days when a fellow colleague of mine showed me how to draw VB forms and in less than an hour after I was already developing a new GUI application.
Visual Basic has gone through a long way since then. The language is nowadays a powerful, complex, potent medium to develop sophisticated applications. In fact, Visual Basic.NET is virtually on par with C#.
"Visual Basic 2005: The Language" by Francesco Balena tries to show - in a gentle yet dense manner - the long way that VB has pursued over the years and well as the current state of affairs. It succeeds on both counts.
The book is divided in four bigs parts:
1) The Basics - which introduces the reader to what Visual Basic.NET is all about, with explicit references to the differences between VB6 and VB.NET (very useful for VB6 programmers).
2) Object Oriented Programming - which presents the OOP support in VB.NET. This section is important because VB.NET departs from the old OOP support and gets more in line with the .NET paradigm.
3) Working with the .NET Framework - which may be seen as a natural continuation of the previous part in the context of the .NET framework.
4) Advanced Topics - which tackles how advanced .NET elements (like attributes) get handled in VB.NET as well as what VB.NET is still better than, say, C# (namely the interop with COM and Automation).
The book is truly monumental in form and dense in content. The style is slightly verbose but this adds value: you cannot skip pages without losing valuable information and in such conditions reading a book of this size is quite a task.
As an added bonus, the author presents several mini-projects that are in fact mini how-to tutorials: how to build a plug-in for WinForms, how to develop a n-tier application. Without the generosity of Mr. Balena you'd have to buy an extra book for an introduction in such useful stuff.
"Visual Basic 2005" has several minor drawbacks, though:
1) The remarks showing the differences between VB6 and VB.NET are scattered throughout the text. For a VB6 programmer this is difficult to follow and for a non-VB6 programmer this is slightly annoying. Perhaps Mr. Balena should have dedicated a special chapter to those differences and then forget about them.
2) The book does not say much about all the other .NET languages, as if VB.NET is the only .NET language under the sun. In fact, .NET diminishes the differences between languages without making them identical. This is not apparent from this book.
3) The book does not say enough about what is specific to Visual Basic, besides syntax. Why would anyone want to program in Visual Basic.NET when you have C#? In my opinion, Visual Basic.NET is not going to go away any time soon especially because it retains those qualities of VB6 - a verbose and intuitive syntax, a loose typing system (perfect fit for Automation interop) as well as a slightly better exception catching mechanism. In my opinion, "Visual Basic 2005" does not elaborate enough on such necessary topics.
Overall, the book is a must if you want to come up to speed with the Visual Basic language after years of programming in other languages. However, if you want to learn Visual Basic from scratch or if you want to use Visual Basic.NET for more "mundane" tasks - such as building WinForm applications - then this book is not for you.
excellent book for experienced programmer.......2007-05-19
I based my purchase of this book on the reviews on it, and I must say that they were accurate. This book is an exceptionally good means for an experienced programmer to learn how to program in Visual Basic 2005. Assuming one already is familiar with typical program mechanisms and mindsets, this book allows you to immediately become effective without wasting time discussing elementary concepts.
I should also add that the writing of the book is pleasant, the proofing very well done, and the overall appearance is quite nice. There aren't many books that get 5 stars but this is one.
Best book on VB.NET.......2007-03-29
I have read through a few best selling VB.NET books and I believe this is the best book on the topic. The best part about this book is that it does not give the rehashed technical manual feeling that most other books would give you. Instead, you can tell the author had been planning to write this book for a while and he added many fine details about VB.NET and Framework which might have been puzzling you. However this book only comvers the core topics and there are some other fine details which are missed, so I recommend you reading together with Visual Basic 2005 Programmer's Reference (Programmer to Programmer). That book gives you the rehashed feeling, though.
Very Good Reference.......2007-03-27
If you are looking for a beginners book then go elsewhere. If you are looking for a very well written reference on the more advanced features of VB then this is your book. It covers all advanced aspects very well and has lots of sample code to assist you in your development efforts.
As a very experienced VC++ and STL developer switching to VB, I needed a reference on how to code my ideas in VB2005. This book was the best investment of the 5 books I have purchased on the system.
VB 6 TO VB 2005 With Ease.......2007-03-15
I found this to be the best source I've read that reveals the code changes from VB 6 to 2005. The code samples explain in detail how to easily accomplish tasks in VB 2005.
Book Description
Visual Basic 2005 focuses on enabling developers to rapidly build applications, with enhancements across its visual designers, code editor, language, and debugger that help accelerate the development and deployment of robust, elegant applications across the Web, a business group, or an enterprise. Now you can teach yourself the essentials of working with Microsoft Visual Studio- 2005 and the new features of the Visual Basic language#151;one step at a time. With STEP BY STEP, you work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises. Whether you're a beginning programmer or new to this specific language, you'll understand the core capabilities and fundamental techniques for Visual Basic 2005. Each chapter puts you to work, showing you how, when, and why to use specific features of Visual Basic and guiding as you create actual components and working applications for Microsoft Windows-. You'll also explore data management and Web-based development topics.
Customer Reviews:
Good for starters.......2007-09-25
This book will get you going on using visual basic and visual studio 2005. I had last used visual C++ V6.0 in an academic setting, and this book helped me migrate to the latest version of visual studio and the VB.NET language quickly. The code examples provided are easy to use, and understand. I found the organizarion of the book to be just right. Now I want more.
Great for beginners!! .......2007-09-25
I'm taking a VB 2005 class in college and the book we are using is not for a true beginner (VB 2005 How to Program by Deitel), it is very fast paced and confusing at times. The book also uses console programming through most of the book (VISUAL BASIC!!! VISUAL IS THE KEYWORD); I dont know how it got a good rating. Anywho, in order to learn VB better I hunted down this book. It is well written and easy understood. He uses nice concepts and examples. I've learned more in the first 3 chapters of this book than I had the book for school. I'm half way through and understand everything I have done up to now. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who is a true beginner.
Absolute beginners only.......2007-08-22
I know PL/SQL, SQL, PHP, some Bash scripting skills and can "read" Java to a certain degree, but am new to the world of developing Windows apps, and was looking for a book to start building applications in VB .NET 2005. Unfortunately, I'll have to look elsewhere.
This book does a great job of guiding the reader trough the basic features of VB .NET 2005. Every chapter, and every section includes some basic examples, which you can either build yourself, or study from the included examples CD.
If you're totally new to programming, this is the book for you. However, if you already have experience with any programming language, this book will not do much for you. I only rate this book 4-stars because of its value as what it IS: an introduction to the language (I breezed through it, examples and all, in about 8 hours).
Good for beginners.......2007-08-08
This book is well suited for beginners or near-beginners who want to learn basic programming in VB2005. Sometimes I felt it would have helped if I had had some earlier programming knowledge/experience, this way I would have been able to grasp the consepts easier as this book does not really discuss programming-theory on a broader level. It is a good book to start with if you plan to learn more about programming in asp.net.
Better than expected.......2007-07-03
I knew the very basics of VB 2005 and was worried about buying this book however I learned a whole lot of things I never knew, it gave me a good solid base to work from a must buy for anyone wanting to get started on VB 2005.
Book Description
- Popular author Ivor Horton uses his trademark approachable writing style to provide novice programmers with the basic tools as they learn Visual C++ 2005
- Readers will learn how to program in C++ using Visual C++ 2005-without any previous knowledge of C++
- More than 35 percent new and updated material covers the new release of Visual C++, and exercises and solutions help readers along the way
- Demonstrates the significant new features of Visual C++ 2005, providing improved flexibility in developing Microsoft applications in C++
Download Description
Popular author Ivor Horton uses his trademark approachable writing style to provide novice programmers with the basic tools as they learn Visual C++ 2005 Readers will learn how to program in C++ using Visual C++ 2005-without any previous knowledge of C++ More than 35 percent new and updated material covers the new release of Visual C++, and exercises and solutions help readers along the way Demonstrates the significant new features of Visual C++ 2005, providing improved flexibility in developing Microsoft applications in C++
Customer Reviews:
Superb Learning Tool.......2007-09-15
This book is well written and very clear. It is helping me relearn C+ after switching from Borland to Microsoft.
Review.......2007-07-20
I got this book as an introduction and reference to the .Net framework. The book did a quality job of discussing the nuances of Visual C++ as opposed to regular c++. I do wish it made a better distinction between the two. But I was satisfied with my purchase.
Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2005 (Programmer to Programmer).......2007-07-13
I think that this book is very good for beginners. It covers in detailes most of C++ language aspects and provides comprehensive examples. So I'd give five starts for C++.
For MFC however, I think that the book isn't complete enough (well that's probably because MFC is huge and it's just impossible to cover everything in detailes). The good thing is that author tries to give the concept of the structure of MFC which sometimes is more important than providing all the detailes about particular language or library. So I'm giving five stars for MFC too.
There was one thing I didn't like though. Some examples on MFC were written as if they just wanted to make it work. For example, "Sketcher" program was ok in terms of OOP but in terms of good organization of your code its readability (for possible future changes) and its efficiency is questionable.
Thus overall I'm satisfied with this book and it's worth the money I spent on it.
Nice introduction to Visual C++.......2007-04-19
I bought this book from Amazon. Its a nice introduction to Visual C++. Ivor Horton gives a gentle introduction to C++ and then leads into Visual C++ Windows programming. The book should be easy for beginners to read and is detailed enough to enable an experienced programmer to write commercial Windows programs.
On the negative side, the book has many errors, and in my opinion is a bit misorganized
Informative, but long winded........2007-03-22
I bought this book because I've had little experince with C++ or Visual Studio, and I wanted something that would be in-depth and thorough. While this book is a very authorative resource, it seems that he repeates himself too often. Also he doesn't give enough examples. But all in all it was a good buy for the money.
Book Description
With Visual Basic.NET, Microsoft transforms Visual Basic into a supercharged tool for developing next-generation Web services and Windows applications. Now, learn Visual Basic.NET hands-on, through thousands of lines of live code in hundreds of complete working programs -- explained with exceptional clarity by the renowned programming trainers of Deitel & Associates!
Visual Basic.NET How to Program starts by introducing the Visual Studio.NET development environment; then covers all key VB.NET programming fundamentals, from control structures to methods, arrays, and object-oriented programming. It delivers in-depth coverage of VB.NET GUI development; multithreading; graphics and multimedia; XML programming; database development with SQL and ADO.NET; building Web Forms and Web Services with ASP.NET; network programming; data structures; accessibility; and more. The book contains hundreds of real-world tips and techniques for writing high-quality code, improving performance and reliability, and efficient debugging.
For all beginning programmers -- and developers experienced with traditional languages -- who want to master Visual Basic.NET quickly.
Customer Reviews:
Not impressed.......2007-09-16
I'm taking a VB 2005 class in college and we are using this book. I am not a programmer, I am a Systems & Network Analyst and I read lots and lots of computer books and I have to say that his book reads horribly. I find myself confused at times and its very fast paced. Also, our instructor assigns us the exercises at the end of the chapters and the exercises are truly hard. The exercises want you to create something that was "supposedly" covered in the chapter. Not that it wasnt covered, its just that it did not go into depth as much as it should to do the exercise. Everytime I have to work an exercise I have to look else where to find a solution or sample code. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless you have taken and Intro VB class or read an Intro VB book.
Good Book For Beginners.......2007-08-09
I have been used this book for my teachings to my students. It is a very good book to teach them the concept of procedural and object-oriented programming. The book is well-organized and impressively, my students understood the OOP very well. TQ.
Veronica Sanders.......2007-02-15
As a former IT Instructor, I give the thumbs up on this book. Its great, informative and very detailed. It takes a novice programmer to the intermediate level of programming.
.......2007-01-10
Only about a quarter of the way throught this text but I am enjoying its depth and coverage of programming concepts.
an excellent read.......2007-01-03
The book is very well set out and easy to follow. I cannot fault the way in which each subject is approached and explained. The questions and answers are a useful test to find out if you have understood the chapter.
If I were to say anything against the book it would concern the test examples at the end of each chapter. I know that the book is for teachers and their students so I understand that answers aren't given. It would, however, be nice to have a couple of questions with answers for those of us who are using the book on their own to learn Visual Basic.
I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn Visual Basic.
Book Description
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Unleashed is a deep dive into the Visual Studio 2005 tool. Specifically, it will provide you with solid guidance and education that will allow you to squeeze the ultimate productivity and use out of the Visual Studio 2005 development environment. This book folds in real-world development experience with detailed information about the IDE to make you more productive and ease transition from other development environments (including prior versions of Visual Studio). This book will also help you increase team collaboration and project visibility with Visual Studio Team Systems and it will give you straight, to-the-point answers to common developer questions about the IDE.
Chapters include:
- Code Viewers, Explorers, and Browsers
- Refactoring Code 8
- Writing ASP .NET Applications
- Defining Standards and Practices
- Introduction to Visual Studio Team System
- Work Item Tracking
- Unit and Load Testing
Customer Reviews:
No codes samples available.......2007-03-07
An excellent book. Lots of examples. Unfortunately, you will have to type in all the code examples yourself as the Sams Publishing web page does not have any downloads even though the back covers says that they are available.
Great breakdown on the tool for novices and professionals alike!.......2007-02-21
This book did a great job of revealing the breadth of features available in the product. I think this book is quite useful to not only those that are just getting started but those that are seriously considering implementing VS/TFS in the organization. Even if you are an experienced user of Visual Studio you will certainly learn several new tricks. In fact, I reference this book with my clients who are interested in rolling out VS and TFS.
Microsoft Visual Studio Unleashed.......2007-01-10
The book has been a disappointment; it assumes that the reader knows almost everything there is to know about the Visual Studio 2005 program, and the explanations are vague, and far and few in between.
I just wasted valuable money buying this book. I should have checked its contents at the local bookstore first before purchaing it.
This book is poorly written.
Full of insightful information.......2006-12-18
I was very impressed with the content found in this book, there was wide coverage of not only the in's and out's of using the IDE, which is an excellent introduction to any beginner, but also great coverage of Visual Studio Team System and the automation model found within Visual Studio allowing anyone to extend the IDE, which is more in line with an intermediate developer. This book is well suited for the beginning to intermediate developer looking to get up to speed with Visual Studio 2005. Great job Lars and Mike.
Nice information, puts it all in context..........2006-10-08
OK... I can see why Microsoft Visual Studio has been such a popular IDE for developers. Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Unleashed from Lars Powers and Mike Snell does a nice job in explaining the value of the latest version of this classic, as well as being an in-depth guide to the feature set...
Contents:
Part 1 - An Introduction to Visual Studio 2005/.NET: A Quick Tour of Visual Studio 2005; A Quick Tour of the IDE; .NET Framework and Language Enhancements in 2005
Part 2 - The Visual Studio 2005 Environment - In-depth: Solutions and Projects; Browsers and Explorers; Introducing the Editors and Designers; Working with Visual Studio's Productivity Aids; Refactoring Code; Debugging with Visual Studio 2005; The Visual Studio Automation Object Model; Writing Macros, Add-ins, and Wizards; The .NET Community - Consuming and Creating Shared Code
Part 3 - Visual Studio 2005 at Work: Creating ASP.NET User Interfaces; Building Windows Forms; Working with Databases; Web Services and Visual Studio
Part 4 - Visual Studio Team System: Team Collaboration and Visual Studio Team System; Managing and Working with Team Projects; Source Control; Work Item Tracking; Modeling; Testing; Team Foundation Build; Index
For someone like me who isn't a .NET developer, I found Part 1 very useful. The intro and tour gave me a great overview of what the IDE offers, and I could easily relate the different parts to the environment (Eclipse) I'm already familiar with. With that background, I could have easily taken Parts 2 and 3 and become productive in relatively short order. The authors maintain a good blend of text to screenshots to code, so I felt like I was getting a combination of reference and tutorial information in one volume. The argument could be made that all this information can be found in the help files, as is the case with most applications. But it's a lot easier to learn a tool like this (at least for me) when there's a structured guide that puts all the information in context. The Unleashed titles do just that, and this one is no exception...
Book Description
A thorough revision to the Visual Studio 2005 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies makes this the ideal book for new programmers or Java programmers looking to get up and running with Visual Studio. The book will be a comprehensive, value-priced reference for the entire Visual Studio 2005. Microsoft’s catch-phrase for Visual Studio 2005 is personal productivity. The goal of personal productivity is to allow the developer to work at a higher level of abstraction. The goal of this book is to show the reader how to build applications using these productivity features of VS. As a result, language syntax and programming constructs are de-emphasized in favor of showing the user how to let VS generate the code.
This book takes a layered approach similar to how most applications are architected. When developing a new application, developers often divide up the work for the user interface, service layer (data access), and domain classes (coding). Whether there is one developer playing all three roles, or three developers doing each, this approach allows the reader to easily reference the layer they are constructing. Minibooks include:
Book I: Visual Studio 2005 Overview.
Book II: Getting Started with Visual Studio.
Book III: Building Applications with Visual Studio 2005.
Book IV: Getting Acquainted with Data Access.
Book V: Coding.
Book VI: Going the Extra Mile.
Book VII: Extending the Family.
Customer Reviews:
lots of rubbish.......2007-10-01
This book is big and full of rubbish. The examples are not useful and you have to read lots of pages to get a little bit of explanation which it could have been done with few lines. I would not recommended to anybody
Very good book for anyone wanting to learn VS 2005.......2007-02-23
This book gets to the point without speaking in another language so it's easy to understand. Even for the complete beginner or advanced user. It has great referrences and is easy to navigate. A must for your bookshelf.
Great value.......2007-01-18
Well written and packed with useful info. I'm a Delphi programmer (trying to learn C# using VS) and this is my first VS 2005 book. You get a lot for your money with this book and the author's writing style is clear, concise and often entertaining. I highly recommend it.
Book Description
This book will help you solve more than 300 of the most common and not-so-common tasks that working Visual Basic 2005 programmers face every day. If you're a seasoned .NET developer, beginning Visual Basic programmer, or a developer seeking a simple and clear migration path from VB6 to Visual Basic 2005, the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook delivers a practical collection of problem-solving recipes for a broad range of Visual Basic programming tasks.
The concise solutions and examples in the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook range from simple tasks to the more complex, organized by the types of problems you need to solve. Nearly every recipe contains a complete, documented code sample showing you how to solve the specific problem, as well as a discussion of how the underlying technology works and that outlines alternatives, limitations, and other considerations. As with all O'Reilly Cookbooks, each recipe helps you quickly understand a problem, learn how to solve it, and anticipate potential tradeoffs or ramifications.
Useful features of the book include:
- Over 300 recipes written in the familiar O'Reilly Problem-Solution-Discussion format
- Hundreds of code snippets, examples, and complete solutions available for download
- VB6 updates to alert VB6 programmers to code-breaking changes in Visual Basic 2005
- Recipes that target Visual Basic 2005 features not included in previous releases
- Code examples covering everyday data manipulation techniques and language fundamentals
- Advanced projects focusing on multimedia and mathematical transformations using linear algebraic methods
- Specialized topics covering files and file systems, printing, and databases
In addition, you'll find chapters on cryptography and compression, graphics, and special programming techniques. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook is sure to save you time, serving up the code you need, when you need it.
Customer Reviews:
Useful, but also contains filler.......2007-07-09
There are various sections in this book that are pretty basic and unnecessary to even an amateur programmer but there are also lots of other sections that are just chock full of great stuff and even advanced programmers would benefit from them. It also suffers from the common tendency to say very simple things using a lot of words in order to take up a lot of space. I think I even found a tip or two which show up twice in different sections. That being said, there's still a whole lot of worthwhile material in this book.
Perfect For VB 2005 Developers!!.......2007-04-06
'Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook: Solutions for VB 2005 Programmers' by Tim Patrick is a perfect reference and solution manual for any and all Visual Basic 2005 developers. Written in typical great O'Reilly cookbook fashion, this book is chock full of nuts with 700+ pages of goodness.
Chapter Overview
01. VB Basics
02. Development Environment
03. Application Organization
04. Forms, Controls, Other Objects
05. Strings
06. Numbers And Math
07. Dates & Times
08. Arrays & Collections
09. Graphics
10. Multimedia
11. Printing
12. Files & File Systems
13. Databases
14. Programming Techniques
15. Exceptions
16. Cryptography & Compression
17. Web Development
This is simply a fabulous book that any and all VB programmers of today need to pick up. Not only will you save time, you'll enjoy doing it while reading this wonderful guide!!
***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Outstanding Reference for the "Rest" Of Us.......2007-04-04
If you're new to programming in Visual Basic .NET, but have programmed in some other langauge before, there is always this barrier that one faces when they know, to a certain degree, the task they want to accomplish, but often fall short trying to figure out the syntax or method to implement it here. That is what this book does. It's an essential cookbook, in the language of choice, that bridges that barrier.
It's also a great side-companion for beginners, mainly because the intro books do a fair job of getting people started, but they also need to figure out specific tasks or methods of doing things that tutorial books won't cover. It does not overstate the obvious, and it serves up pretty clear impressions and explanations on what it delivers.
Great ideas for the newbie.......2007-03-17
Very helpful for a casual programmer like myself. Just remember to download the "recipies" to avoid retyping.
Very useful VB 2005 reference.......2007-03-09
I've found this book quite useful. There are lots of practical tips, tricks and techniques for VB 2005. I've gleaned a multitude of ideas for use in an intermediate VB class that I teach.
Book 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.
Download 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.
Customer Reviews:
It's nice if u have a good background!.......2007-04-08
The book is very nice and very reach, but it is writen in a brief language whitch is unsuitable for beginners.
Trust Me. Put this on your shelf........2007-03-20
This is must-have for all VB programmers whether you are a novice programmer like me or the serious developer.
This is the one of the two (the other book is Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 2005) that I would recommend buying. Visual Basic 2005 Programmer Reference is not the kind of books where you read it, learn something, and then throw the book to one corner. If this is the case, I would just recommend borrowing the book from a local library. But it is the kind of book where you will frequently refer to.
1000 pages of information neatly organized into 18 chapters and 18 appendices. The organization of content, especially the appendices is what makes me feel worthwhile to own this book; it provides you quick and easy lookup of information.
There is a chapter that offers a very good introduction to Windows Form Controls and a dedicated appendix that houses the related materials. This chapter-appendix buddy is easily one of highest frequency lookup because one just cannot remember so many controls with their vast amount of methods and properties.
Another worth mentioning is the Graphics Category which spans from Chapter 19 to 24, my favorite of the book. this is where you will get impressed by Mr Stephens 's expertise in coding drawing related applications. Through these chapters, I had learned lots of tips and hence, leading to the birth of my own custom graphing and painting applications.
Apart from supplying all the how-to information, Mr Stephens also packed some very useful code examples sprinkled across the book that will definitely enlighten readers. While the book provides tons of information like introducing the IDE, the Visual Basic Language, Object-Oriented Programming, Windows Forms, Drawing and Printing to File Handling..., I am a bit disappointed with the lack of contents for the more advanced topics like Regular Expressions and Threading. However, Mr Stephens do make it a point to mention these advanced topics and had provided some links for further read up. For these advanced topics , I recommend Programming Visual Basic: The Language by Francesco Balena which I used in conjunction with the reference book.
Finally, the purchase of this book also gave me an extra bonus. Whenever I encounter any problem, I just post it on Mr Stephen's site or at the Wrox forums, and Mr Stephens or other programmers will provide the help.
Exactly as described.......2007-01-10
This is an extremely handy collection of reference material covering many topics. It's well organized and easy to use. I find that browsing this book is easier than surfing the net for answers (most of the time).
Well written and intuitively organized.......2006-12-12
This was an excellent first VS 2005 book. It had more than I expected with its drawing tutorials and various IDE settings.
Its a good refernce for new programmers and seasoned developers.
Great help for me being a beginner.......2006-11-10
Answered many of the problem areas i had
Book Description
Visual Basic 2005 is designed for productivity…and so is this new addition to Murach's bestselling VB series. It moves at a professional pace to teach you how to develop Windows Forms applications using all the time-saving new features in Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Studio 2005.
That means you'll learn how to:
• create database applications using the new data sources feature and new data controls that are now layered on top of ADO.NET (database processing is the function that's changed most dramatically in this release of Visual Basic)
• use new object-oriented features like generics, My objects, partial classes, and class diagrams that save you time on everyday functions
• take advantage of new Visual Studio features like code snippets, Auto Correction, and ClickOnce deployment that simplify the tasks of creating, testing, debugging, and deploying applications
But if you're new to VB.NET, you'll also gain the core skills that haven't changed. So you'll learn how to validate data...handle numeric, date, and string data…do repetitive processing using arrays and collections…handle exceptions in a structured way…work with text, binary, and XML files…access data with ADO.NET…and make practical use of OOP features like inheritance and interfaces. What's more, these classic skills are seamlessly integrated with what's new, just as you'll mix new and unchanged features in your own applications.
But that's not all! Check out the extended table of contents and index in Search Inside the Book to see all that this book covers. By the end, you'll be producing Windows database applications at a professional level. And you'll be ready to master ASP.NET 2.0 web programming (please see Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with VB 2005; it takes up where this book leaves off).
Customer Reviews:
Among the best beginner VB texts, maybe 'the' best ..........2007-08-23
I've been a self-taught developer off and on for ten years and I've relied on books primarily for learning new languages. And the Murach series are consistently the very best texts for self-paced learning. The latest VB offering carries on the tradition with very clear and consise explanations, along with helpful real-world application demonstrations and exercises at the end of the chapter. And none of the pages and pages of errata you must sort thru with many companies (Wrox ... God, don't get me started. :o( ). I'm giving it a FIVE to offset some of the ridiculous assertions made elsewhere about this excellent text.
One of the best VB2005 Texts.......2007-01-18
My perspective on this book is that of a true beginner. I know a lot about programming and languages, but have no experience designing or writing programs/code beyond following the bouncing ball in books such as this.
This book is great...and not so great at the same time...for a true beginner. It is exactly as advertised, "No other book teaches so much, so fast, so thoroughly," but therein lies the problem for we experience-challenged readers. The pace is quick, i.e., topic-to-topic, and many times I had lingering questions about what I'd just read while finding myself halfway into the next topic. The book assumes a certain level of knowledge and/or experience that is somewhere between novice and expert...and I'm still at the 'step-by-step book' stage...so I expect to get a lot more from it in the months ahead than I have thus far. I know enough now to know that what I will need is in there...
That said...whatta book! It will be among the most used of my reference books because it covers such a wide range of topics so well and because it covers those topics comprehensively. As my understanding of the language progresses, I'll have this book to refer to when I need to learn more about specific aspects of the language and its implementation.
I've wasted some money on VB2005 books, but not on this one. Anne Boehm and Mike Murach delivered the goods.
Not useful unless you have never programmed........2006-12-15
I've worked with C and C++ for a while, but never basic until 3 weeks ago when I started the work on this project. I decided to order this book before I began getting my hands dirty with any of the existing VB that I would have to update. While I waited for this book I started working with VB and found that it was much easier than I had expected. By the time the book came in the mail I had practically no use for the "Language Essentials" or "Object Oriented Programming" sections of this book. All that left was a section on databases and XML, which is not really what I bought the book for. I expected this book to cover some of the extensive library that Visual Basic 2005 offers, but there as no coverage outside of a few number and string functions and the afore mentioned database functions. Do NOT by this book if you expect to ever use multiple threads as this book has only a SINGLE sentence on delegates, the means by which Visual Basic calls asynchronous events, and cross threaded function calls. I found this book to be a mediocre reference book for some of most basic library functions, so unless you have never seen a programming language before, or you want it for its database section I would recommend look for a different book.
Murach's Visual Basic 2005.......2006-10-19
I like the layout of this book. Each topic is explained in detail using paired pages with the first page of the pair containing the detail and the second page of the pair containing a summary of key points. There are also a number of benchmark projects that demonstrate the concepts that have been covered. I was particularly impressed with level of detail contained in the chapters on Database Programming and Object-Oriented programming. I would particularly recommend this book for beginning to intermediate level developers. I look forward to reading other books by this publisher.
Excellent Training and Reference Book!.......2006-10-09
This book should be required reading for any application developer using Visual Basic. The layout of syntax, guidelines, and examples on one page with explanations on a matching page provide an easy and quick reference to information. The "paired pages" format: How-to on the left page and examples on the right makes this a great reference book.
It is a straight-forward presentation of Visual Basic 2005 information and a book that will stay on my bookshelf.
Book Description
An in-depth reference for C# developers, this book goes beyond the basics and covers key, advanced topics of C# programming. An ideal base class library reference, this book provides expert insights, hands-on instruction, and practical code samples.
Customer Reviews:
The best!.......2007-07-05
Having sweated through thousands of pages of other C# books, I found Francesco Balena's eloquence as refreshing as a perfectly chilled Corona. It immediately tightened my loose grip on particulars such as string formatting, delegates, generics, regular expressions and interoperability. And it is the best discussion of the base classe I've ever seen. Be aware that this book does NOT intend to teach programming. However, if you're someone who can code in some OOP language, knows C# syntax, and seeks professional proficiency in this language, then in my opinion, there is no better book you could own.
Excellent Book.......2007-04-17
Balena, is an good author in Programming languages. This book explain the different topics in a simple manner easy for the newbie and experienced to keep track on business.
C#, is good for Visual Basic programmers with desires to work in C. The Class is the base in C++ and Balena makes a nice book explaining that.
Fantastic!.......2007-02-24
This is THE book to own if you do any kind of C# programming. Its not oriented towards web controls, or winforms, etc... but explains everything from files/streams, assemblies, attributes, the object lifetime, and ESPECIALLY Generics. The generics chapter alone is worth the cost of the book.
This is a TOTAL "look under the hood" of the C# BCL.
Great Book!.......2006-12-21
This is a great book and a must have for all the .net developers. I recommend CLR via C# along with this book.
Great C# Book.......2006-07-18
This is not a learn how to program in C# book. However, once you have at least some experience in programming with C#, this is the next book you should buy. The chapter on interfaces is worth the price all by itself. After reading it, I finally have a good idea of what interfaces are all about and the circumstances under which they should be used. As long as you keep in mind that it is not a beginners book, you will not be disappointed.
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- Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 2005: The Language (Pro Developer)
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- Sams Teach Yourself Unix in 24 Hours (4th Edition) (Teach Yourself -- Hours)
- SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055) (Certification Press Study Guides)
- Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, Second Edition (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
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Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Core Reference
Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))
Programming Microsoft ADO.NET 2.0 Core Reference
MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation
Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Language (Pro Developer)
