Customer Reviews (1)

required for school
Only reason I read this book is for school and it seems to teach bad habits.
You could tell it was written by former VB 6 and earlier programmers since they use old VB prefixes for all their variable names. Also not enough code examples. Only 1 complete runnable program per chapter. Didn't feel like I learned VB 2005 after reading this book. Too simplistic.
Good things were easy to read lots of use of screen captures. End of chapter projects.
Printing code that actually works.
Snowman program in graphics chapter. ... Read more

Product Description
New from the BASICS series, this text provides a step-by-step introduction to programming with Microsoft Visual Basic, C++, HTML and Java making it ideal for a survey course on these popular programming languages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Don't order paperback unless you want a workbook
Make sure you order the Hardback if you want the textbook. The paperback is not the same it is the WORKBOOK. I have been borrowing one from the library... and I guess I will borrow it a bit longer because I got the wrong book.

saved a lot
I ordered this book for my son for his class.They had the same book but hardback in the school library for over $100.00.Ordering it this way saved over $75.00 and was shipped quickly. Thanks. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an introduction to programming using Microsoft's Visual Basic.NET 2010. It is intended for novice programmers with little or no programming experience or no experience with Visual Basic. The text emphasizes programming logic and good programming techniques with generous explanations of programming concepts written from a non-technical point of view. It stresses input, processing, and output and sequence, selection, and repetition in code development. File I/O and arrays are included. Later chapters introduce objects, event programming, and databases. By taking a slow and steady approach to programming ideas, this book builds new concepts from what the reader has already learned. VB tips and quips inject both humor and insight. The book includes numerous programming examples and exercises, case studies, tutorials, and "fixing a program" sections for an in-depth look at programming problems and tools. Quizzes and review questions throughout each chapter get students to think about the materials and how to use them. Each chapter has a summary and glossary for extra review. The accompanying Web site, www.cambridge.org/us/McKeown, has code downloads, I/O, and database files from small, simple files to large files with thousands of records, flowcharts, deskchecks and audits to aid with program design, coding, and debugging; PowerPoint files for every chapter; and hundreds of ideas for programs and projects. ... Read more

Product Description
Pairing fundamental programming concepts with fun, engaging game applications, Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: RELOADED, Third Edition provides a solid foundation in programming principles and how to use them. The book begins by covering the basics, like creating user interfaces, and understanding variables, constants, and calculations. Building upon this knowledge, coverage progresses to more advanced topics like creating classes and objects and using ADO.NET 2.0. This edition leverages the powerful pedagogy of previous editions, but brings it up-to-date with Visual Basic 2008. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Simply GREAT
If you want to start learning visual basic then this book is for you! Very enlightening with plenty of examples and descriptions. This book was bundled for my class at Ivy Tech with Programming, Logic and Design comprehensive edition(PLD). PLD was useless and not for a beginning programmer this book allowed me to keep a passing grade in the class!!!

My Review
First off, I'll disagree with Student2011's review of the book. I'm not too sure why he's knocking it, it is overall a decent book to learn Visual basic 9 with. I was all for the programming exercises at the end of each chapter. They give you a step-by-step approach and apply the concepts of the chapter in the tutorial at the end of the chapter. I'll agree with ML's review when he/she said that Diane Zak throws out some programming terms but these are in bold in the book and if readers don't know what they are - they could do further research. Simple terms get introduced in chapter 1, like 'project, solution, solution explorer window' and a few others. What ML failed to mention though is that toward the end of each chapter before the step-by-step exercises, the author clearly defines these bold 'Key Terms' so the reader could quickly reference their meaning.

I felt the book was well put together. Not only consisting of minor key terms and step-by-step programming instructions at the end of each chapter to develop an application, but also Self-Check Questions and Answers (which came in handy for me when quizzing myself or having a friend quiz me), Review Questions, Review Exercises - Short Answer (Where you can give a 1 to multiple paragraph response to questions covered in the chapter) and also 'Computer Exercises' which focuses on you working on programs on your own but has somewhat of a step-by-step approach here as well.

The book is great for a beginner Visual Basic .NET programmers approach. The author does a good job in introducing TOE charts (Task, Object, Event). This is basically a chart that a programmer could reference their controls name (under object), give a brief summary of what the control can do (under task), and specify their respective event they'd like to reference for that control (like get focus, validate, click, etc) (this is under event). It event gets you started early with a solid fundamental approach like setting tabindex properties and accept/cancel buttons. I thought this was good because a lot of users like to tab over to text boxes and other controls when dealing with desktop-apps. Chapter 2's creating a user interface was pretty solid in covering these concepts.

If I had to complain about anything in the book it'd be chapter 10 - structures and sequential access files. While the author covers how to load files into controls and reading contents of them, Zak clearly misses to address the StreamReader and StreamWriter class - which plays a big roll in .NET when dealing with file i/o. Pulling specific data out of a text file or just writing certain pieces to a text file using the My.Computer.FileSystem.(MethodHere) wasn't covered. This left me reading chapter 10 with a question: 'Seriously - is that all you have on this subject?' Chapter 12 - the 'working with access databases and linq' chapter gives you a decent introduction to databases in .NET but I felt could be larger overall. VB.NET coders are mainly hired anyway to do database applications with SQL Server and Access Databases aren't used too much now days. Zak also introduced the concept of using Try...Catch statements in VB.NET in this chapter which I thought was very late to introduce considering this would of been very useful stuff to know earlier on. She doesn't even go in depth about it either and generalizes the concept by just doing a Catch ex As Exception as oppose to showing how individual exceptions could be caught by doing a Catch As . She may introduce the try/catch block very briefly but she fails to even acknowledge the finally keyword that exists in a try / catch statement and usually comes after the catch block. Usually in other languages, the finally keyword is executed after the catch statement. Programmers use this time to free up memory, etc. I've seen try/catch/finally used in Java and C# when dealing with data, and being introduced to it in a basic paragraph then being fed how it works in an example didn't 'take the cake' for me.

Overall - I give the book a 4/5 because of how decently structured it was. Diane Zak missed some concepts and could've put more effort into writing the book, but I suppose that's what Visual Basic Reloaded 4th Edition is for?

Very Poor!!
I am currently using this book for my intro to programming class.I have found that this book is worthless if you have no prior knowledge of programming.It lacks clarity, organization, and step-by-step guides as to how tasks are to be completed.The exercises at the end of the chapters fail to reinforce what was taught in the chapter; they instead add more confusion to the topics.If this book is required for your class, I strongly suggest you purchase an additional step-by-step guide to Visual Basic.

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded
This book is easy to read because it guides you step by step to develop a simple program using visual basic. It also has some exercises for you to practice after finishing a chapter. However, you need to have some basic knowledge about programming. It jumps something important about the use of some keywords.

Review of Visual Basic Reloaded
The book is the text for a Visual Basic class I'm taking.It's okay, I guess. ... Read more

Product Description
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic 2008, Fourth Edition by the best-selling author, Diane Zak, is designed for a first course in programming. Using the most recent version of the software, Visual Basic 2008, this book teaches individuals how to use Visual Basic applications as they would in a real world setting. Students with no previous programming experience learn how to plan and create their own interactive windows applications. GUI design skills and Object-Oriented Programming concepts are emphasized throughout the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Cheaper but the same
College is expensive.It is nice to know there is another option.Spent 25 dollars less than what I would at the bookstore.The book was brand new and arrived with in a week -- Just in time for class.Good seller

This text makes two assumptions about you
You have no instructor.
You have never seen a computer before.
If either of these are true, you are going to enjoy this format (for the first time only)

Everyone else (everyone that has a use for programming any language) will find that the entire book is needlessly bloated and that the painstakingly boring tutorial method is a chore.Concepts and information that do not take more than 5 minutes to implement will be covered over 30+ pages.The totalitarian instructions leave you waiting awhile for the next concept to be taught, so you will be skimming...a lot.To the credit of course technology, they format these books (I have two of them) so that you can skim to the bold instructions without reading every single mind numbing paragraph. Unfortunately, some topics are important enough to read, but like the boy that cried wolf, you'll be apathetic towards the book's attempt at warning you. There are so many screenshots of what is going on, you could go through this book without ever sitting in front of a computer with Visual Studio.The whole thing is better suited as a video or power point tutorial, so that means you'll be rubbernecking between each step for hours.
Yes, hours.
If you do read everything, you will spend hours creating a program that adds two numbers.This example takes minutes to create, and minutes to learn with text books in different formats.

If this method were effective at teaching the programing of Visual Basic, I would praise the level of detail.But it does not teach you programming at all.It teaches you how to use a Microsoft program, much the same way as a tutorial book on Word.It is an instruction manual, not a textbook.You will not retain knowledge of programing VB.You put no stake into the learning process, your hand is held and you are spoon fed a load of needless crap mixed in with a few important details.Also, the text will serve as a god awful reference because of the format.God help anyone that must suffer this book for a class.If your professor requires you to do the tutorial projects, you are going to hate your class, I guarantee that.

Stay away from this book if you have even a very minimal understanding of programing languages or have a minimal level of comfort using Microsoft applications.If you know nothing, this book will not change that too much either.

Lose! Lose!

Review - Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic 2008
I'm using this textbook for an online course I'm taking at a local community college. This is excellent for beginners either as a textbook or for someone trying to self teach the language. I am very impressed with the format, layout, intellectual level and accuracy of the lessons.

This textbook seems perfectly designed for someone with a solid understanding of high school / community college level math logic and a working knowledge of typical Microsoft Office products such as Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.

This is not a higher / highest level textbook for learning or referencing a comprehensive knowledge of the language.

To even partially benefit from the book you will need Microsoft Visual Basic available and running on a computer 75% of the time you are studying.

Excellent teaching tool
I purchased this book for a college class and was impressed by its readability (my buying it for a college class is also why it only received 4 stars instead of 5).Zak believes that it is better to learn by doing, so each chapter is set up in the following manner: Section A is typically just reading so as to first acquire an understanding of the practicality of what will be taught and overview the upcoming materials.Section B and C are a combination of tutorial and instruction.At the end of each section, there are key terms, review questions, and exercises to complete.

I like the learn-by-doing aspect of this book since it allowed me to become accustomed to using Visual Studio and Visual Basic before receiving homework assignments.One drawback of the book might be that it is not specifically set up for studying.Because the sections are so full of tutorial, it might be hard to use for a quick reference.However, each concept does have its own "header" and the key terms are in bold: a lot of material is in this book, though, not just terms. But, if you take notes while you are working through the tutorials, you should be fine.This book could also be used as an instructional method outside of the class room, so if you are looking to buy a book for your own reference/learning, this would be a great one for that!

Not enough info...
Ordered book for class, professor told us book should come with CD? Bought this book brand new. No CD inside. How you supposed to take a class with no software? Very dissatified!!! :( Book doesn't say it comes with a CD or not? Posting should of had more information and if it was new should come with the CD.


AMBURLINGAME ... 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

Beginning Visual Basic 6 Database Programming introduces you to databases and takes you all the way through to the latest ADO technologies in Visual Basic 6. Step by step, this book will help you to build working database components and applications in Visual Basic. Whether you want to work with databases on your desktop, get access to legacy data, or program database access across the Internet, this is the book that will get you started.

This book provides you with all the practical knowledge and skills you need to build a solid foundation in Microsoft Access and Visual Basic database programming. This comprehensive reference offers thorough coverage of object-oriented programming, including how to create data handling classes and ActiveX controls for code reusability; how to effectively use DAO, ADO, ASP, and SQL; and how to take data mining to the next level.

Once you have the preliminary education underyour belt, the author presents Microsoft's Universal Data Access (UDA)architecture. He shows how to create your own data-bound ActiveXcontrols and use Active Server Pages (ASPs) to fetch and returndatabase records via a Web browser. Connell finishes off this lengthyeducation with a brief foray into data mining and a discussion of howto export data to other applications. --Stephen Plain ... Read more

Customer Reviews (210)

I soon made $5,500.00 with this book
Prior to picking up John's book I had some familiarity with 'desktop' databases like Lotus Approach and MS Access, and had a beginner's understanding of the Basic Language, but felt to intimidated to actually code my own database from scratch in a major programming language.

After studying John's material and hand coding the examples (no copy and paste), I gained the confidence necessary to bid on a Database contract in the manufacturing sector. I won the contract. The database has been in production for over 4 years now.

The client recently asked me to upgrade it. This IS IMPORTANT, because John's emphasis on good database design, code optimization, and component reuse HELPED me to write code that I can easily return to and understand later when it's time for maintenance or upgrades.

And yes, there were two examples in his code that were broken, but they were minor mistakes and he teaches so well that I was able to fix it myself and make the examples work.

P.S. In the recommended titles below:
The first - is actually a great VB/MS HTML helpreference.
The second - is by Dan Appleman. Dan's books are a MUST HAVE for serious VB developers.

Other Recommended Titles:
Microsoft Access 97 Developer's Handbook - MS Press
Developing COM/ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 6 - SAMS
Professional Active Server Pages 2.0 - Wrox
Java 2 Primer Plus - SAMS

Best of the Litter!VB and Database development with ADO
I strongly recommend purchasing a copy of Beginning VB6 Database.

WHY?
Top quality code that works!
Great working examples!
Gets you into the "preverbal" guts of VB Database programming.

Want to learn how ADO works? You will find in Johns book.

John's book has taken me well beyond the "basics" of VB database programming, with...

First rate screen shots of the applications development and the real world examples he presents as you move along from one chapter to the next.

And yes all with excellent easy to follow explanations and code.

Solid examples of good Class development. Well document/written/
Useful API code and more importantly it works!

And guess what John explains why!!!

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Soooooooooo....
If you what get a grip on ADO, I can't think of a better place to start then with...
Beginning VB6 Database!!!

THANK YOU JOHN!!

Good Starting Book For New Programmers
I purchased this book with the intention of getting a better idea of what I need to do to get a grasp on writing database driven applications.

This book is wonderful for those who have some VB experience and want to continue learning the more in-depth portions of Visual Basic.

I have also used this book in conjunction with my school as a reference guide for my database programming class.

OK but not super perfect
Did not like the part that the book covers for the most part DATA controls for MS-Access programming. Not benefecial if your are gonna be using referencial code based coding reference source.

Hurray for John Connell
Hurray for John Connell he speaks to us beginners on our level. It was also very encouraging when he mentioned that he did not get it the first time, he had a light bulb moment. I have never heard a guru admit that before they usually give the impression that it came very easy for them.

The exercises seemed to encompass a lot of VB functions, uses, and neat tricks. The explanations are complete, well thought out, and unambiguous. With little or no exposure to VB any programmer should be able to follow along.

My next goal is VB.Net I hope Mr. Connell will write/has written a book that addresses it. Wrox should adopt his style for all of their text books. ... Read more

Product Description

Beginning Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic .NET 2.0 is a comprehensive resource of correct coding procedures. Author Dan Clark takes you through all the stages of a programming project, including analysis, modeling, and development, all using object-oriented programming techniques and VB .NET.

Customer Reviews (6)

Highly Recommend this vb.net oop book
If you are not real OOP developer, you have to read this book.
The author explains many oop knowledge clearly and easily to understand.
This is the only book that really combine oop theory and ve.net. The important thing is you can understand it and you can do it.
I try to contact the aurhor to know the next step book what I need to read.

A gem!
I thought the first 4 chapters were boring, but in fact the idea was to build your skill before you code the application! This book was written in a way that readers should already be familiar with OOP terminologies because it does not go into detailed explanation like those for dummies books do.Instead, it shows you how to analyze a problem, draw the diagrams and design the application! This is so far the best book i've read about object-oriented programming using VB, toppling Deb Kurata's or Alistaire Mcmonnies' books on my list. This book will teach you how to do UML/USE CASE so you can design a robust application. This is not a beginner's book on object oriented VB. I've had some knowledge in Java object programming and I know a little of object programming, but reading this book the first time has confused me as the author seemed to have tried to squeeze the discussions in short chapters and programming codes are not explained well, delving right into OOP design and techniques. As the author mentioned in the book, he doesn't know the skill level of a 'beginner', so he added some short intro to programming at the back of the book (Appendix A), so I believe the audience of this book are those 'beginners' to OOP but not to programming. I applaud Dan Clark for the way he laid out the teaching concept of this book, and how I wish he would follow this up with an advanced book with lots of case studies and applications starting from analysis to coding again. Highly recommended!

Book in very good condition
This book is in very good condition.Shipping very fast.Overall I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

I thought I got the shaft, but then discovered the gold.
I performed some programming in Visual Basic 6 a few years ago and then my job was changed so that I was maintaining a Unix program for a few years, which entailed putting fires out each day and very little programming of any type.A few months ago I was fortunate enough to get transferred to a great job programming web sites and some Windows applications. I've been able to write some fairly complex programs, but I knew I was missing some large piece of the puzzle. I'm really a novice programmer.I wasn't creating classes and I wasn't doing a lot of things that were efficient.If my programs needed to do more or scale, they were very difficult to adjust.During these months I've purchased a lot of books, and they had good stuff in them, but I still wasn't able to put things together.I would see things like "WithEvents" and ask what was that for.I had to do some threading and succeeded, but only by trial and error and I didn't understand the "why" of why it worked. For that matter, there was a lot that I didn't understand the "why" about.

I then thought that, even though I was using objects, that I didn't really understand object-orientated programming enough.I looked on some User Group sites and saw this book listed as a good one.

I held high hopes for this book. It's my first book from Apress.I started reading the first 4 chapters, which were on how to design and plan an OOP program.I'm convinced his information is important but ugh!It was horribly boring!I was mostly through the 2nd chapter when I thought I'd committ suicide .I had to quit reading chapters 2-4 and tell myself I'll get back to that later.Yes, it's that boring.It's worse than hearing your girlfriend talk for hours about makeup and dresses!So I skipped to Chapter 5 which gave basic instructions on using Visual Studio.I thought, "Why put this beginner's crap in this book".If you need to know the basics of VS, then get a beginner's book on VS. It shouldn't have been here.
By this time I'm thinking I bought a book of garbage.But I went on to Chapter 6, and I'm glad I did.It finally got to the point and started talking about OOP and classes, constructors, overloading - and I was getting some of the elusive "why" explained!Chapter 7 got into inheritance, derived classes, overriding and overloading, etc with more of the "why".Chapter 8 got into the stuff like "WithEvents" and delegates, and how delegates work with threading.You will need to use threading and you will see "why".In geekspeak, threading is cool!Chapter 9 shows how to work with Collections (arrays, dictionaries, etc).This chapter didn't explain much "why" but when I need Collections there is enough to be able to implement them. Chapter 10 starts explaining some "why" regarding databases, such as connected versus disconnected data access.The examples use SQL Server.Chapter 11 looks at forms in a different light from other books, looking at them as objects instead of just sticking controls on them, and works with using databases more.

Now I feel better about going back to the first 4 boring chapters as I will now have something to build with.

To a complete beginner, I would say to first get a basic VB.NET beginner's book and get familair with VB and Visual Studio. If this is your very first book you will be very lost.The book is made for a novice.

This book is one of the most important I have read.I am making progress very quickly over the last week or two, while previously I sputtered for several months.I've tried to convey how I felt, and if you feel similar, you must get this book.

Not exactly Like the title says
I have to admit, has some interesting stuff and information on how to make the theory of Classes to Programs, but I can not agree that is novice to professional, in my opinion I would say just novice.

Leaves many un-answered questions.

But can work as a reference. ... 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

An Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic 2010, Eighth Edition, — consistently praised by both students and instructors — is designed for students with no prior computer programming experience. Now updated for Visual Basic 2010, Schneider focuses on teaching problem-solving skills and sustainable programming skills. A broad range of real-world examples, section-ending exercises, case studies, and programming projects gives students more hands-on experience than any other Visual Basic book on the market.

Product Description
CLASSIC GUIDE TO CUSTOMIZING BASIC STAMP FOR HOBBYISTS AND DESIGNERS

If you want to take advantage of the popular PIC Microcontroller for your electronics projects, but are intimidated by the programming involved, your worries are over. Programming and Customizing the Basic Stamp, Second Edition gives you a comprehensive tutorial on the easy-to-use BASIC Stamp single-board computer, which runs a PIC Microcontroller, and doesn't require you to do any assembly language programming.

This new edition moves you briskly from electronic foundations through BASIC Stamp "Boot Camps" and an intelligent traffic signal simulation to build a robotic bug with whisker sensors, a time/temperature display, and adata-logging thermometer.

Written by Scott Edwards, the original author of the widely read "Stamp Applications" column for Nuts & Volts magazine, this easy-to-follow reference includes a CD that gives you all the IBM- compatible software tools necessary to begin developing Stamp applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Reccomended
Well writen, easy to follow intor to the basic stamp. I enjoyed reading this book, and would recommend it to others like myself who wanted an easy intro to the stamps.

I don't recommend it
I bought this book because it says it explains both the BS1 and BS2.Only a couple of pages at the beginning are dedicated to explain the Most Basic commands of both BS1 & 2.Almost the rest of the book are complex example programs (projects) with a LOT of commands which were not explained before.I don't recommend this book, specially if you're planning to use other than the BS1.
It would have been a much better book if the author dedicated more time explaining all the commands and what they do, instead of putting so many examples which are hard to understand without this knowledge.

this book was so bad i think i got aids from it
this is the worth book i have ever had the pleasure to put in the trash (the only place where it belongs) 3 pages showing a photo of a potentiometer and the constant nagging of buying things from to person who wrote the book (he calls himself an "AUTHOR") he should call himself a salesperson. the book is aimed at the mentally challanged, it has such a slow pace , i felt i was in a movie with slow playback, and most of the crap was not complete.Do your self a favor dont waste your money if you want a sales catalog, just call any electronics vendor and you will get one for free (including shipping)

The worst book I have ever read
The worse book I have ever read. I cannot believe how some "authors" throw anything on paper".
First the CD does not include anything really new you can download free and better stuff from Parallax or the internet.
The book starts with the first sevens chapters explaining some basic electronics that even an elementary school kid will know like how potentiometers and solder-less breadboards work also some very basic programs, after a few mistakes no major problems even though most programs are loops and LED blinkers. But after what the author call the" boot camp chapters" (2) ,the book gets really crazy right away after you finish the "boot camp", which onlyincluded some easy basic 4 to 8 lines programs it gets you to 3 pages programs on the next chapter a big leap I think ,also all the projects are practically impossible to build as you will need to spend a fortune in parts available from different vendors and from the author himself, like the $50 (2X16) serial LCD from Mr. Edwards (I got a parallel (4X20) for $10 and a serial kit for $5 from Ebay and made my own) a real headache it is harder to get the parts than to do the projects, then in some of them the author does not give you enough information like with one device (X-10) he uses from Radio Shack that connect the BS2 to a modem and then he provides a phone number for you to call to get the info.

A good starter book
This is really good starter book. I liked the way Scottexplained the variables and other memory structure stuff. However, there are some mistakes. THis program line for Basic Stamp 2 reads: debug "Go!", cr and there is no explanation what is the purpose of cr. Another line reads: debug DEC dogAge, " dog years" and no explanation on what DEC stands for. Small things like this can be big obstacle for novice. ... Read more

Product Description
This revision of Schneider’s best-selling guide is designed for readers with no prior programming experience. It focuses on developing good problem-solving skills, building a strong foundation that will give readers a sustainable understanding of programming.  KEY TOPICS: Based on Visual Basic 2008, the book starts with a brief review of the preliminaries of Windows, and then focuses on problem-solving. A broad range of real-world examples, section-ending exercises, case studies, and programming projects gives readers significant hands-on experience.  A useful reference for both beginning programmers and those moving from another language and that want to learn more about programming with the latest version of Microsoft’s Visual Basic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Depends on the class you're taking...
I ended up getting this book on Amazon because efollet had it on backorder for weeks.

The Seller I got it from was great!

The book, eh, it depends on how your professor wants to teach the course. I'm taking a Intro to Visual Basic class - HOWEVER, the professor prefers to teach the course via using console application, not GUI like the book. So, to me, the book is "useless" when it comes to using examples in the book and modeling them to your own programs. If your professor teaches the course following GUI, then I think you'll appreciate the book because there are tons of examples and exercises to practice with.

Useful
While I don't particularly enjoy the class, this book is a very clear, step-by-step walk through of what I'm told are the main controls of Visual Basic. The examples are very clear and at times have illustrations matching exactly how they appear on the screen and the practice projects at the end of each chapter are really useful.
Overall a pretty valid purchase.

Pleased Customer
The book that I bought was the cheepest one I could find.However, quality was still very good and the condition of the book was as good if not better than what the seller had described.

Helpful for Beginners
If you are beginning your programming career, Visual Basic is an excellent start.This book is good for beginners.It is easy to read and follow.

Relatively Difficult to use
The book is written for intermediate learners in programming. I would not recommend the book for beginners. The assignments are hard to comprehend and the integration between the exercises and the samples are so extensively different.Use this book only if required. ... 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
Microsoft's Visual Basic has become the standard language of programming. In addition to teaching Visual Basic, this unique programming guide will teach readers the fundamental programming concepts they need to grasp in order to learn any computer language. This non-intimidating reference enables readers to take the skills they learn and apply them to their own situations. A truly one-of-a-kind book, this guide assumes the reader has no programming experience and offers the fun approach of game creation as a teaching tool. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fun topics, experiece needed.
Allow me to begin by stating that while I am an experienced Basic programer, I am a beginner to Visual Basic.NET. This is the background from which I write this review. My understanding of Basic programing in general gives me some advantages which someone totally NEW to programing will not share.

The trouble with many books on Visual Basic is that they focus so strongly on fundamentals that you never get to the fun stuff until very late.

For example, I bought a different book; 'Visual Basic.NET How to Program', by Deitel as my introduction to VB.NET. (Please note: If you have NO experience in Basic, the Deitel book is not for you.) The book is wonderful. It goes into great detail on the topics and is information-dense. But it is a dry read doesn't get to the FUN stuff, like timers and simple graphics until late in the book. After pouring over that book for the better part of a week, I was ready for a break. I wanted to do some FUN stuff!!

Browsing over the selection at the book store I finally settled on 'Visual Basic .NET Programming for the absolute beginner'. This book has many strong points and a few flaws. The flaws have been spelled out by other reviewers, so let me focus on some of the things I really liked.

First, if you read many VB book reviews you will see that a common complaint is that a book was written using a beta version of Basic .NET and that the examples do not work, or do not work well with the final release. This book does not seem to suffer from that flaw. That is GOOD!!

Second, the author has a great writing style which is a refreshing break from the rather dry text of my main instructional book. The author gives some excellent explanations on important core concepts, such as classes, inheritance and OOP. I found the second perspective on these topics very helpful to my understanding of them.

Third, the author does some Fun Stuff. You will learn, through the example of an arcade game how to use a timer to control events in a program. This knowledge will give you the keys for implementing your own ideas, be it writing a savings calculator which actively shows your hypothetical savings as they grow month after month and year after year, or writing your own graphing-programs which plot in real time.

The author also covers sequential and random access files, which are an important function for many programs.

My main lament is that the book does not cover page flipping, sprites, collision detection and buffered screens. For any book supposedly focusing on game programing, this is a serious lapse to my way of thinking.

Still, the author probably left those topics out because the book was supposed to be aimed at beginners, but this is no book for beginners! You are going to need some VB experience if you hope to get any real benefit from this book, so the absence of those fundamental programming topics is keenly felt.

That having been said, I am not being fair in faulting this book for failing to be what it was never intended to be so my complaint is neither relevant nor valid.

The intent of the book was a good one; to be a fun introduction to Basic .Net for the absolute beginner. But the authors good intentions may have been sunk by an aggressive editor and/or other publishing constraints (price or page count). That is too bad. This could have been a 5 star beginners book (or a 10 star gamers book!)

Conclusion: Here is a good complimentary book to your main VB.NET studies, but definitely not a stand alone text. If you are on a budget and totally new to Visual Basic. NET, this is not the book for you. If you have some Visual Basic experience and are looking for some fun and another perspective on key topics, you could do worse than to buy `Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Programming for the absolute beginner'.

Visual Basic...but not for the Absolute Beginner
...I liked its approach of using games and "fun" lessons for teaching Visual Basic.I've already completed SAMS "Teach Yourself Visual Basic in 24 Hours" so I'm not the "Absolute Beginner" that is the target audience of this book.With that in mind:

1) This book is NOT for the absolute beginner.There is little if any discussion on how to use Visual Basic/Studio at all.No handholding at all.Often, items are mentioned only in passing (like how to do comments in your code) with little explanation.It seems an effort was made to make the book less intimidating by keeping it under 350 pages.The net result is a book with far too little explanation and information.

2) Throughout the book, when it comes time to add controls to your programs, you're simply given a chart listing all the controls and *some* of the properties you have to set.So what's the problem?The chart doesn't list any of the size or placement properties for the control!So you constantly have to flip back to the screenshot of the program - usually several pages earlier - to give yourself some idea where the item is supposed to go and how big it's supposed to be.In another example, in the animation program from chapter 3, you're supposed to assign a picture to 9 image controls.Problem?You're never told the NAMES of the picture files to assign!The author simply says that the images can be found on the CD with the book.Only they're not there!They're included as one large bitmap file on the CD which won't work for the program being worked on!

3) Code errors - in chapter 3, the author twice makes mention of using a particular Boolean variable in his program, making sure to allocate it by using "Dim".The problem?It's never used!All he does is allocate it, it never gets put to use!

4) Also in chapter 3, the author mentions the "Keydown event, which you've already seen earlier".I couldn't remember seeing it earlier, so I looked in the index.Turns out that "Keydown" is discussed only once in the book - IN THE SENTENCE THAT SAYS IT WAS DISCUSSED EARLIER.

That said, there are some good things to be gained from this book, as the author uses some events and controls that other beginning books don't touch as relate to games, so that's good.But if you're a true beginner, forget it.

This book is mis-named
I do not think this book is for the "absolute beginner".It has been frustrating trying to build the programs in the book, because, even in the first chapter, the author does not explain how to do things, he just says "do it".I am sorry I bought the book.I am now using "Visual Basic 6 Complete", which I find much better for a beginner like myself.

Thumbs Up From Mrs. Programmer
I've had the book for a couple of months, but I've only recently been able to wrestle it away from my 15-year old son. This is a great way to learn Visual Basic. Finally, a teaching tool that takes advantage of how fun programming really can be. I can't wait to check out other books in the series. They're already on my kid's Christmas list. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good for a complete novice!
As a complete novice to .NET programming, I found this book to be very good.While it doesn't go into depth into anything, it does provide enough information and experience with features of VB 2010 to make writing simple programs possible.More importantly, it provides the foundation needed to learn from a higher level book on VB 2010 (I used Beginning VB 2010 by Wrox and highly recommend it).The book comes with it's own CD, where datasets and code are provided.Some people will probably not find this book to be as useful as it could be because it doesn't provide the user with enough exercises.It also doesn't provide the reader exposure to a great variety of specific language features.Nevertheless, it is a very useful book for programming novices - just be prepared to purchase a more advanced book on VB 2010 or to learn more some other way.

FYI - Just to give a word of advice (from my own experience) - if you want to learn to program, start at the beginning.I've found that buying a higher level book that covers more 'interesting' topics is tempting, but if you don't have the basics, you're either wasting your money completely or it will take you even longer to learn the language because you have to struggle through the basics to figure out the basics of the more advanced topics.Take your time and do the work.It will pay off. ... Read more

Product Description
Want to learn to program in Windows but don?t know where to start? Look no further! This book is designed to teach you how to develop Windows applications using Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express. To help make learning fun and interesting, you will learn how to program through the development of computer games, and you will develop a new game that reinforces a newly learned concept in each chapter. It?s the easiest way to learn! By the time you have finished the book, not only will you have access to a collection of working sample scripts, you also will have laid a foundation upon which you can begin to tackle real-world challenges and new languages. Whether you are an experienced programmer looking for a jumpstart on learning Visual Basic 2008 Express, or a first-timer looking for a friendly programming language and a book that will help you to begin your programming career, you will be happy with what this book has in store for you! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Programming made easy
This book makes it easy to learn Visual Basic while using games as a learning tool.

Excellent for beginning programmers
My teenage son is interested in programming.Using this book, he has started writing programs immediately.

Where to download from????
The cover of the book clearly indicates 'Web Downloads Available' - however, I can't find a website listed anywhere!!!Now it tells me to install Visual Basic Express - but doesn't tell me where to get it.If I'm frustrated by this incredible lack of information on page 6, I imagine I'll be returning this book tomorrow.(Is there supposed to be a CD?Because there is no CD...Another website says it comes with a CD, this website does not say that, and I bought the book at a local bookstore with no CD... so... I'm stuck.)

VeryVerypleased with product and seller
Product was received in brand new condition, like going to a book store. It was packaged well and was shipped like advertised. I was very pleased with the entire transaction and will do business with this individual again, without a doubt.

For the raw beginner
I personally did not find this book useful. It seems to cover the very very basic fundamental walk throughs and while I am a movice at visual basic, I needed better depth than this book offerred. ... Read more

Product Description
Get ready to create your first complete 2D-based role-playing game using Visual Basic 6.0. If you have experience using Visual Basic, you already have the essential skills that you need. You will learn, step by step, how to construct each part of an RPG game using DirectX components such as Direct3D. As you work your way through the book, you will write short programs that demonstrate the major topics in each chapter. Dive into the exciting world of game programming, learn how to write your own code, and take complete creative control over how your game operates. Let your imagination loose as you create amazing new adventures! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Tough book to learn from
I have tried to wade through this book twice and haven't been able to get far. The explanations are either missing or opaque. The author has you typing commands that you don't understand, then he tells you not to worry if you don't understand what you are doing. Not very helpful! There really is no reason he can't explain what some of the commands mean. In short, this book is a frustrating waste of time and one learns little about game programming. I am now looking for a replacement.

Agree with the last review
Ok, yes, 2005?VB6???Are you aware that Microsoft has discontinued selling and supporting this software??This software was first published in 1999!!!Find a book that is using a little bit more of state of the art technology. This one is a waste of time and money.

I have been looking for a book like this, a VB.Net perspective
Overall I find this book good at what it advertises to be, a tour through the process of making a DirectX game in VB that would be very interesting and appealing to a novice programmer (teen).The game is a simplified 2d rpg/adventure game, called `Celtic Crusader'.While functional, in the interest of simplicity and time by the author's own words it isn't a fully featured game, it lacks features such as character inventory or network play.

If you are looking for detailed information on DirectX, this is not the book.This book does not explain the DirectX methods used, or even display their signatures, it just tells you what the routine you are coding does as a whole, and gives you the code.

I currently work in VB.Net, but I am experienced in the last few incarnations of VB, so the conversion of the provided code examples into VB.Net is not much of a problem.I would say someone familiar with VB.Net but without experience in VB6 will not have much problem; in fact the DirectX method calls in VB.Net are more logical than in VB6.

For example
d3ddev.Present(ByVal 0, ByVal 0, 0, ByVal 0)
becomes
d3ddev.Present(Handle.zero,Handle.zero, 0, Handle.zero)

If you pay attention to the intellisense balloons then the DirectX method calls are fairly easy to figure out.

The author doesn't fully qualify all his references, so be aware and supply the appropriate qualifacation for the constants.Be sure to Imports DxVBLibA

For example
d3dpp.SwapEffect = D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD
becomes
d3dpp.SwapEffect = CONST_D3DSWAPEFFECT.D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD

The VB side of the code is the same (an If-Then is still If-Then) except that you will need to recognize form events as such by their names instead of their handles keyword.

The DirectX8 for Visual Basic type library reference is still available with DirectX9.0c in VB.Net (just look under the Com tab when adding the reference) and seems to work fine in XP (I have tried it on 3 different machines.)I have not worked through the entire book yet, but so far I have not had any problems with compatibility.

This book is thinner than the typical programming book (tome) you normally find.It leads the reader directly through the creation of this adventure game, cutting out many side details as mentioned earlier.However, I find it delivers enough to create a decent working game, and a nice resource for a programmer looking for straightforward code examples.

VB6 is alive and well!
Don't believe those that tell you VB is dead, vb is still alive and well! Just look at Microsoft Access 2003(A database program)when you build advance coding in it you are using vb language,even in the latest Access edition, VB is still there. Just visit your local book store, you will still see VB books out there.Another proof that VB is still alive, look at many E-commerce shopping carts, many of them are build in VB, and they are functioning with great precision.
The book is intended for the teenager that wants to explore programming in a fun, and easy method, and Vb can deliver that without advance codes that will make a teenage kid left in the dark.It will give them the opportunity to learn to write simple executable codes, once they do that, then they can move on to Vb.net or C++.And with that, the author would accomplish his/her mission, and that is teaching a young mind.
Go ahead buy the book, play with the codes, and have fun!

Good Book
Just started programming and VB seems like a good place.
Johnathan rambles on a bit to much about maps but I learned alot. Rich D ... Read more

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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
Think Visual Basic is just to slow to write a decent game? Think again! Microsoft Visual Basic Game Programming with DirectX gives you all of the tricks and techniques that you need to create awesome games using Visual Basic. Offering equal parts theory and hands-on exercises, the chapters in this book begin with a discussion of completing a task using Visual Basic then move on to enhancing the code with the Windows API. When applicable, the chapters conclude by delving into the details of how DirectX fits in. The final section of the book is devoted wholly to developing a variety of complete games: role playing, strategy, scrolling arcade games, and more. Whether you are new to game programming or new to Visual Basic, this book gives you everything you need to create amazing games by combining the hidden power of Visual Basic with DirectX. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

Visual Basic Direct X
I am a programming insrructor and I new alot about the basics of Visual Basic but not much on the graphic and Direct X side of the house. This book has shown me alot of tricks and I haven't finished it yet.

Good information, however it's a little dated
This book, came out when the original xbox came out.So the information and code are a little dated.Personally, I think they need to come out with a visual basic@net version of the book.

However, I am giving this book a 3, because it has some good ideas.You'll get an idea of the things you can do.One thing I especially like is the multiplayer game in the example section.

Direct x and Direct Visual Basic
First of all I'd like to say that this book is really good because it is step by step in its foundation.It explains how to set up the programs it discusses.What I had problems with were that I understood the code from a template kind of perspective but did not understand exactly what each line of code was doing without a substantial background in Visual Basic 6.I jumped right into learning the game aspects instead of building a solid understanding of the concepts of the language of visual basic 6.Even though I was lacking certain pieces of the puzzle Mr. Harbour did a pretty decent job of explaining things even a novice like myself could grasp.I recommend this book to anyone who is interested but get the foundation in Visual Basic 6.0 first.This book is alot better than some of the books I've read before which stick code snippets throughout but have no semblance of order as to where they fit in. This is a must read!!!! It covers all aspects of creating a game and even gives multiplayer capability.All n all I give this a three thumbs up!!!

Needs to be updated to VB .Net
This book was written about the time VB .Net was coming out and the author even mentions that he considered writing some of the code in .Net.I bought the book, realizing it was dated, thinking that it would be a good learning experience to convert the examples to VB .Net.Of course, it's proving to be very frustrating.

This is a good book and well written and if you are determined to stick with VB6 and want to learn game programming.However, if you're moving on to .Net I would suggest looking for a different title.(If you find a good one let me know.)

I really wish they would publish a new edition with re-written examples.That would be ideal.

Good Reference, However...
This book is in fact a good reference, but I hit snags trying to run the sample code.I have Visual Studio .NET and I love it, and thought that this book would be a good starting point for game programming.And it was until I hit the first program "ChunkyPixels"I put the code into the VB.NET IDE and it would not compile.The examples are all writen in VB 6.0 and has no compatibility with VB.NET.So, in conclusion, if you want a good reference and do not have VB.NET, buy this book, but if you have VB.NET you are, as am I, out of luck

PSIF anyone knows of any websites that would have updated code samples, I would be happy to hear where! :) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Rosetta stone for BASIC
If you are translating from an old BASIC on one system to a different system or to a modern BASIC this book will be invaluable. Its coverage is comprehensive - both of the main families (HP and Microsoft) as well as many variant forms of BASIC can be found here. This is NOT a textbook - it is intended for an experienced programmer who needs a reference for an extinct dialect. Each command and function is listed alphabeticly with the system that used it and what it does. ... Read more