Visual Basic Books

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing Web Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#® .NET, Second Edition (Pro-Certification)

Jeff Webb, Microsoft Corporation

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

A decent book if you FULLY utilize and understand it 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I just passed the exam with a pretty nice score 1.5 hours ago, and relied solely on this book for preparing for the exam for 10 days. I have solid background in Web development and use of C#. That said, here is my very personal comment:

- The quality of this book is beyond my doubt. The book might have two errors that I think I saw when I read it the 2nd time, though I wasn't 100% sure. Other than that, I didn't find any errors/typos/mistakes in it. Many subtle issues are explained in the book in a way very easy to understand.

- looking back, I believe that if one wants to pass the exam with ease by using this book, one'd be much better off by doing and studying all the questions that come with the CD. I'm a bit regretful that I didn't finish up most of the electronic practice questions.

- I don't know any other book on the same subject. But looking back, I feel the book (including all the materials included with it) was perfect to help me pass the exam. I have no doubt that without the help of this book (or similar), I wouldn't have been able to pass the exam.


Overall: the paper book alone may or may not be enough for anyone to rely on for passing the cert exam, but if you have taken advantage of all the materials that come with the book and if you have *FULLY* understood what is covered in the book, you'll be almost quaranteed to pass the exam on your very first try. I may be wrong on this because different people have different backgrounds, but that's what I believe while looking back.

Editorial Review:

Build real-world programming skills - and prepare for MCP Exams 70-305 and 70-315 - with this official Microsoft study guide. Work at your own pace through the lessons and hands-on exercises to learn how to build Web applications using Visual Basic .NET a

MCAD Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual Basic(R) .NET and the .NET Framework Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 70-310) (Exam Cram 2)

Kirk Hausman, Ed Tittel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This certification exam measures your ability to develop and implement middle-tier components, server components, and XML Web services by using Visual Studio .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework. This exam counts as a core credit toward the new MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer) certification as well as a core credit toward the new MCSD .NET track. This book is not intended to teach new material. Instead it assumes that you have a solid foundation of knowledge but can use a refresher on important concepts as well as a guide to exam topics and objectives. This book focuses exactly on what you need to pass the exam - it features test-taking strategies, time-saving study tips, and a special Cram Sheet that includes tips, acronyms, and memory joggers not available anywhere else. The series is supported online at several Web sites: examcram.com, informit.com, and cramsession.com.

The accompanying CD features PrepLogic™ Practice Tests, Preview Edition. This product includes one complete PrepLogic Practice Test with approximately the same number of questions found on the actual vendor exam. Each question contains full, detailed explanations of the correct and incorrect answers. The engine offers two study modes, Practice Test and Flash Review, full exam customization, and a detailed score report.

Network programming in .NET: C# & Visual Basic .NET

Fiach Reid

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The purpose of this book is to provide tools to design and implement network-orientated applications in .NET. It is also a guide for software designers to choose the best and most efficient way to implement mission critical solutions. The book addresses real-world issues facing professional developers, such as using third-party components as opposed in-house development. It differentiates itself from existing .NET publications because it is aimed at experienced professionals and concentrates on practical, ready-to-use information. The book is written in two languages C# and VB.NET, and covers never-before published information on Telephony in .NET and packet-level networking.

This is the second book in the Digital Press Software Development Series.

· Coverage of lower level protocols allows implementation of performance-centric applications
· Demonstrates the feasibility of developing telephony solutions in-house rather than outsourcing
· Written in VB.NET and C# to assist readers working in either language
· Coverage of Email, FTP and the WWW allows implementation of applications in all three areas

MCAD/MCSD Training Guide (70-305): Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Visual Basic.NET and Visual Studio.NET (Training Guide)

Mike Gunderloy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A valuable book with shortcomings 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a valuable book, it explained topics which were missing in some other books. In the other hand, the previous reviews did not mention some shortcomings in this book. The OOP part of this book is not good. The language in many parts of this book is ambiguous, it lures people to read these parts again and again, but after that the meaning is still not clear, while this repeated reading of such a big book wastes time. The sample code in this book is not available for download, although they are in the CD, but the CD is made in a mean way that the "copy" function is disabled, so this book is not good for busy people.

Editorial Review:

This certification exam measures the ability to develop and implement Web-based applications with Web forms, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework. This exam counts as a core credit toward the new MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer) certification as well as a core credit toward the existing MCSD certification. Readers preparing for this exam find our Training Guide series to be the most successful self-study tool in the market. This book is their one-stop shop because of its teaching methodology, the accompanying ExamGear testing software, and superior Web site support at www.quepublishing.com/certification. The CD features the ExamGear product (test simulation with more than 150 practice questions) and an electronic copy of the book.

Microsoft Visual Basic 6: Introductory Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman Series)

Gary B. Shelly, Thomas J. Cashman, Michael Mick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

This has been my VB bible for the last 4 years 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I cant tell you how happy I am of owning this book.

I bought it for a class I took at San Josel, CA 4 years ago and up to today it is my number 1 reference for VB programming. I has a complete set of projects scalating from simple to more complex. As you follow each chapter/excercise your VB knowledge becomes more and more solid.

It is also a great reference book (but only if you have been through al the excercises) since it is full of code and tables with imprtant data and concepts. The book is formatted as a cookbook. A step by step tutorial takes you through the chapters while learning in a painless and fun way.

Editorial Review:

Part of the highly successful Shelly Cashman Series, this text offers a clear screen-by-screen, step-by-step approach to learning basic Visual Basic 6 skills.

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#(TM) .N (MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit)

Microsoft Corporation

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

If you find this book useful, don't take the exam yet. 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

It is at a very basic level. It can be useful for starting in XML webservices, but not enough for the exam.
Some information is outdated.
It has errors. So does the practice test.
Doesn't cover at least one topic which is in the practice test.
The practice test doesn't tell you what is considered the correct answer.
If you find this book useful, you're not yet prepared for the exam.

Very Poorly Written 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Judging by the positive reviews, this book must have some merit but it is certainly not in the quality of its writing or its accuracy. Perhaps the editor was reassigned to Longhorn duties. Here are some examples of what you can expect in the first two chapters:

"A COM+ component exists in three states: exists and activated, exists and not activated, and nonexistent."

"The pool objects are not destroyed even after their release from the client application. COM+ retains the destroyed object in the pool for recycling..."

" If the value of the CanStop property is set to False, the SCM does not pass the Stop command to the service application."

It's main value to me is as a syllabus. You can use it to direct your search for better explanations on MSDN and, of course, everyone should have Troelsen's "C# and the .NET Platform" which is the best textbook I have read. Ever.

Editorial Review:

MCAD MCSD SP TRNG KIT DEV XML WEB W VB V C#1 NET

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing Windows®-Based Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft Visual C#® .NET, Second Ed (Pro-Certification)

Matthew A. Stoecker, Microsoft Corporation

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Should be enough for passing the exam 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I'd just like to say something. I finished reading this book from the very beginning a week ago to the very end this morning, and passed the exam with a score of 940 this afternoon. I don't know any other exam prep book for the same exam.

- Admittedly, the book is pretty shallow: it even teaches you what class/construstor/destructor/inheritance/etc are. To an old day VB'er unfamiliar with .NET/OOP stuff, or to any .NET beginner, this might be nice. But to most, especially to those specilized in C# (very likely also in C++), or to whoever is about to take an exam towards a certified developer, this is not necessary at all. I wish the book had covered some really advanced topics and/or gone deeper on existing topics.

- As for the exam, my personal opinion is that this book should be enough, as long as you also get some hands-on experience by actually messing around with .NET desktop apps for a while. Deskop apps are not my strong area and I rarely develop apps using .NET Windows Forms. But the book helped me with all the questions on the actual exam about desktop apps so I could pass the exam with ease. Without the book I doubt I could get the passing score of 700. A similar book might also help me that much, but I only needed one and this one was what I used.

- I'm not giving the book 5-star because this is going to be a useless book once read or once you passed the exam. I'm also not giving the book 3-star or lower because this is a well-written book after all, and with some hands-on experience, you should have little trouble passing the exam if you fully understand what the book tries to tell you.

Editorial Review:

Get self-paced, from-the-source exam preparation and self-assessment for the skills measured by MCP Exams 70-306 and 70-316—core requirements for MCAD and MCSD certification. Features an enhanced testing tool, plus deeper coverage of Microsoft ADO.NET.

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Implementing Security for Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET (Pro-Certification)

Anthony Northrup

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I rate the book 5-star without the least hesitation. 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I just passed the exam 70-340, and this was the book I used in the last 2 weeks.

If you know how to program against .NET but don't know much about .NET security, this is really an excellent textbook and/or a reference book for you. It is written by one who knows the stuff and who knows how to explain tough stuff in plain English. It can certainly get you painlessly started on .NET security right away. I dealt with .NET security in the last 2 years the very hard way. I wish I had read such a book 2 years ago. (Well, on other hand, a book is just a book. It can't substitute real-world experience. Take myself for example, my knowledge on most topics other than CAS and WSE has probably already gone well beyond what the book covers, but I still don't think I do know .NET security very well. I'm no expert on security. So don't expect it will make you a security expert if you are not one yet, though a book like this one can make your road to being a security expert shorter and less painful)

As for passing the exam, I don't know for sure if the book alone is enough. I mean, you'll need intimate knowledge about Windows and how to program .NET before you can truly digest many topics covered in the book - remoting is a good example. The book is very easy to read and understand as long as you have the stated prerequisites (unlike in many other books, the prerequisites stated in this book are very accurate). If you understand the book, you should have little trouble passing the exam - anyway, the exam is designed for anyone who is knowledgeable on .NET security to pass. The book comes with 300 mock test questions - pretty hard to me, and I feel they are much harder than the exam questions I answered moments ago. I only had time to go over about 100 such questions. If you understand the book and also do very well with those questions, passing the exam should be guaranteed!

Despite a well-written book, it has some typos. Its definition of "collusion" contradicts what I learned of the word when studying monopoly as a graduate in economics. Due to the quality of the book, however, the typos can be safely ignored.

I rate the book 5-star without the least hesitation.

Editorial Review:

EXAMS 70-330&70-340

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing Windows-Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET (MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit)

Microsoft Corporation

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Decent for preparing for 70-316 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I used this book and the exam cram book. The combination was more than adequate for passing the exam (scored 862). I didn't like having to remember to skip past the VB code (which is always listed first). The exam tops were covered well but the practice exam included with this book is ridiculously hard. The practice exams provided with the exam cram book were much more like the real test.

Do you judge a book by how many errors it contains? 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Errors galore! And no, they're not all simple grammatical mistakes. There are dozens of examples of code that if entered into .Net and run would bomb or not do what they are supposed to do (here's just one example, on page 56 the VB code lists myForm.Activate() but the C# code lists myForm.Active()).

Worse yet, I was planning to study just this one book and then take the test. But now that I've read the others' reviews I see that such would be folly: this book alone does not give enough to pass the exam.

However, let me point out that for someone who is just interested in learning how to create Windows-based applications using VB.Net or C#.Net (i.e., passing the exam is not the goal) I think the book easily provides enough to satisfy. That's why I gave it three stars despite the negative things I had to say about it: it really isn't all that bad (but it's really not all that great either).

PS: I bought the book at my local, but national, bookstore (didn't have a computer then) and paid the full [price]. Should have had a friend by it for me from here!

Editorial Review:

Key Book Benefits: - NEW--Delivers revised and expanded content for developing Windows-based applications with the .NET Framework. - NEW--Features enhanced testing tool that generates realistic practice exams with automated scoring and detailed explanations for right and wrong answers. - Thoroughly covers the objectives for two MCP Exams--70-306 and 70-316--core requirements on the MCAD/MCSD tracks - Provides side-by-side code examples and labs for both Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET - Includes 60-day evaluation version of Microsoft Visual Studio(R) .NET Professional Edition on DVD

MCAD/MCSD Training Guide (70-310): Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual Basic(R) .NET and the .NET Framework (Training Guide)

Mike Gunderloy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

tons of exercises 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book provides tons of "StepByStep" exercises to learn all about remoting,web services, etc. It's a great book for those that do not hae tons of experience in these areas. In the same token, it maybe too much coding for the experience developer who is looking to gain just the facts to pass the test. If someone is looking for that, then look at the MS Press book.

The one real complaint that I have is with the layout of the book. There is a lot of line wrapping which isn't really necessary, they could use the width of the page. But, this is the fault of the publisher, not the author.

Overall, another great book by Mike!

Editorial Review:

This certification exam measures your ability to develop and implement middle-tier components, server components, and XML Web services by using Visual Studio .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework. This exam counts as a core credit toward the new MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer) certification as well as a core credit toward the new MCSD .NET track.

The Training Guide series is the most successful self-study tool in the market. Its teaching methodology is superior. The accompanying CD features PrepLogic testing software, which includes one complete PrepLogic Practice Test with approximately the same number of questions found on the actual vendor exam. Each question contains full, detailed explanations of the correct and incorrect answers.