E. Cruz said
At first I was completely put off by the other reviewers bashing this book. Then a friend of mine bought it and I got a chance to finally hold it in the flesh. I agree with most reviews, but I think that this badly organized book has its place. For anyone willing to put up with the horribly layout of the book, some hidden gems can be found. For example, I've never found any other author outlaying the basic for printing from VB6 as easily and clear as stated in this book. Also, you can find a couple of useful excerpts (not full chapters, mind you) for the young programmer.
I think that many of the VB6 crowd (well, programmers in general) are a bit harsh: some are completely newbies regarding programming skills and some are know-it-all geeks. For them this book is almost completely useless. But for me, having a 15+ years plus in programming (BASIC and FORTRAN) this book is worth the money (barely), specially a used one.
I'd give it 1 stars for the many examples, 1 for the print section, 1 for the hand-holding and half a star for many funny moments throughout the book.
mxpayn65 said
the author did post his errata online and this book isn't really all that bad for those who'd like a decent intro to Visual Basic unlike what the book's haters would like to have you believe.
Mark Coe said
I bought this book because I got my start in computer science by learning ASP with a Sams book. Since that time I have earned my associates degree and am about to complete my BS in computer science.
As everyone else has already stated the book has many type errors. The most basic and obvious concepts are repeted over and over while the most complex issues are glossed over completely. My final and ultimate dissapointment in the book can in chapter 19, Connecting to the internet. The book has the reader do this in the very begining with a small paragraph explaining how you select 'yes' for the internet browser option while using the VB Aplication Wizard. So why devote an entire chapter explaining the same thing? Oh, the author does tell you about two other very important types of internet connections you can make using VB but it is just a mention. He does tell you what HTML is and show an example. HTML? give me a break I want the VB! Finally the chapter is concluded with a note, "This chapter is a high level overveiw of internet connectivity using VB. for a compete understanding buy another book." I would say by "high level overveiw" he means from far, far away, glossed over. Chapter 19 should never been put in print. I don't think the author thinks his readers are up to the task of comprehending the more complex programming issues. Or, he thinks we are just going to run out and buy another book in hope of finding the rest of the details. Well, he is correct I will be getting another book but it will not be one of his, and I don't know if I can ever trust Sams Publishing again.
This book should be re-named "Sams Give Yourself a breif Introduction to Some of Visual Basic's Easy Concepts."
Kaleem said
Hmm this is weird, I am the only one who is writing a good review on this book. Whats up with that. Maybe the people who wrote the reviews are not actually programmers but confused minds. Please accept my apologies. I think this book is a very good source on VB 6.0. I used this during my Master's Program, during my Internship and in my professional life. I dont know what people are expecting, but this is a good medium level fast paced source on VB 6.0. If you have to write a quick VB App, and dont have much time on your hands, pick up this book. If you want to be a VB guru then this is not what you want. But for starters and quick reference people who use VB 6.0 from time to time, I would highly recomment this one.
J. Yeager said
I have been struggling to learn VB 6.0 with this book, and I will tell you, it is terrible. The book starts out great, with a very thorough explanation and it doesn't overwhelm you. But, all the details it tells you not to worry about come back to haunt you as you progress. They don't just come back to haunt you; they slam you hard. This book goes from a snail's pace to WAYYYYY too fast, in a matter of pages. The book leaves out a ton of details. In one instance, you are asked to create a form with option buttons (radio buttons) that respond to the user clicking them with messages; well, they never even tell you how to write the code for an option button in the section that was supposed to cover it!!!!!! Horrible stuff here, people. To make matters worse, the book is strewn with a ton of errors! The very first problem they have you code has a mistake in it, that only a more advanced programmer would pick up on. The errors continue thoroughout the book and, in some cases, the whole program is completely out of wack. Not only this, but there are not many good sample problems to solve and the examples they give are incomplete, which only adds to the confusion. Simply do not buy this book if you are a true beginner and if you are not, then why would you need this book anyway???? I cannot recommend this at all, and am only giving it 2 stars based on the fact that it has a decent introduction to the VB world, but the substance is flawed. This book almost made me hate VB. Please stay away everybody:(
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