Customer Rating: 
Summary: Getting down to brass tacks
Comment: This is the most PRACTICAL book I've seen on VB.Net. I've been working with VB.Net since it came out, but there were still a lot of problems with common situations. For example, he explains and illustrates Crystal Reports bettern than the only book I've found on Crystal Reports. He gets into the arcane world of forms that update SQL databases and the black art of binding with a "here's how to do it" approach. Generally speaking, he seems to have gone through the million-or-so class libraries and told you about the ones you really should know about and how to use them. A joy and a relief!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not a book for beginners
Comment: Being new to VB I expected this book to help me through the rough spots. I am a embedded programmer who uses mostly assembly language, but wrote a fair amount of C programs on the PC using the old Borland 4. I find that seeing some examples is my best way to learn.
You would have thought with 25 years of experience I could figure out how to code in VB.
Well, this book looks like some C++ I have seen, not like any basic I am familiar with. Most examples look like cryptic C++. Perhaps this is the way VB6.net is, and, if so, I should have bought visual C++ because I know C, just not C++.
I suppose the book is fine for experienced VB programmers, but I cannot recommend it as a highly experienced programmer 'trying' VB for the first time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Available for free download at msdn.microsoft.com
Comment: These are 101 code examples, provided by Microsoft, offering various "how-to"'s in the form of code samples. Some of the topics are:
* creating menus
* validating listboxes
* how to use reflection
* receiving and processing data using a SQLDataReader
* comparing data binding in winforms and webforms
* creating a Windows Service
* how to use role-based security
* the try / catch / finally block for exception handling
* understanding the garbage collector
as well as dozens others (101 in all, right?) including several examples of using GDI+ in Winforms. Code, documentation and, where needed, support files (e.g., .txt or .xml files) are provided. This is good stuff but the fact is, you can down the entire set of code and documentation for free at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/downloads/default.aspx In fact, Microsoft has updated these 101 Code examples (originally designed for VS.NET 2002 and originally released in early 2003) for release 1.1 of the .NET Framework and VS.NET 2003. Both the original and updated 101 Samples are available for download along with 101 Samples for C#. I recommend these code examples, but I suggest you just download them rather than buy the physical book. The code, itself, get 4 stars for usuability. If the book was free (or the material was not already free), then the book would get 4 stars, too. I won't take stars away just because you can get the material for free. Why not 5 stars? Some of the explanations could be clearer. Some of the code examples are more like snippets than fully usuable components, programs or apps, so you will need to study the code, but customize it for your own use.
Customer Rating:
Summary: best intro vb.net i have come across
Comment: few words for a book organised withs tons of examples
which work. this is one of the only books which
have tons of information and no need to look elsewhere
the author has outdone himself this time
Customer Rating:
Summary: If only this book came out two years ago...
Comment: I've been developing .NET apps for just about two years since beta 1 and really wish this book was around when I first started. The only thing I can say bad about it is that I would have liked it before I spent a lot of time trial-and-erroring my way through things. I can't blame the authors though, books this cool take a while to write!It's really a cool layout and and you feel yourself caught in the momentum. Example after example and very concise and to the point. Few books make their point(s) so quickly and succinctly. Not a lot of fluff or general comments (which certainly belong in many books), but it really gets to the point on each and every example. I found it very easy to read, it made me want to read on, it was very well written and all of the code worked flawlessly. If you are starting out in .NET, this book will save you HOURS, and in many instances, DAYS and perhaps weeks. If you are an experienced developer, there is still a lot that you may have not come across yet and this book will certainly have some great information for you. I've never purchased anything by Sean or Campbell, but if this is any indication of their work, I'll definitely be buying whatever else they write.
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