Visual Basic Introduction Books - Page 2

Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic 2005, An (6th Edition)

David I. Schneider

Amazon Price: $92.57 List Price: $103.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 83 new & used starting at $9.00

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

The Best of the Bunch - by far! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I really must take issue with the contributor who described this book as garbage.
Having decided to learn programming on my own,I tried several "beginners" books without much success. I could complete most of the projects offered by these books which were, by and large, well intended and well-written. And yet... somehow I never really got to grips with the language. That is - until I bought David Schneider's book. Sure its old fashioned but, in my opinion, thats one of its major strengths. It lays down a solid programming foundation following a logical well-established pattern. The best way to learn programing is by doing and there is an abundance of graded exercises to complete to ensure the message really sticks.
I can't understand why Dietel'a book on this subject is so popular. Yes it's good - but not as good as this one!
.

Editorial Review:

Based on the newest version of Microsoft's VB. NET, this revision of Schneider's best-selling guide is designed for readers with no prior computer programming experience. The author uses Visual Basic .NET 2005 to explore the fundamentals of programming, building a strong foundation that will give students a sustainable understanding of programming. Offers a broad range of examples, case studies, exercises, and programming projects to give readers significant hands-on experience. Includes a new section on Graphics. Provides fully updated example text and data, including tax codes, social security forms/data, baseball statistics, and more. Contains all new, robust, interesting programming projects. Updates screenshots throughout using Windows XP. Bundles Visual Basic .NET Express automatically with each copy of the text. A useful reference for both beginning and experienced programmers who want to learn more about the latest version of Microsoft's VB. NET.

Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself)

Greg Perry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A Great Introduction to VB 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

At the University of Redlands, one of my biggest gripes was the use of ineffectual textbooks - the type that are better used as doorstops than for actual learning and/or reference. I had struggled with the idea of wasting money on books required for each class and tried something a bit different when I took Visual Basic 6. Instead of the required doorstop textbook, I purchased SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS. I was very happy with that decision!

SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS provides a good overview of Visual Basic and is definitely written for beginners. Even with this agenda, not every menu item is shown so the reader feels like an idiot. I found the answers to my questions easily and this book gave me a basic understanding of how VB works. Examples of code provided in the book teach the reader to write code rather than have him/her following along with few brain cells needed.

Towards the end of the book, space is given to "Sprucing Up Programs" and glosses over more advance techniques using VB, like ActiveX controls. In order to learn more advanced VB, a different book will be needed, as this one should be used for an overview and introduction only.

The CD that accompanies this book will give the reader practice writing code. Some of the items covered here are: Labels, buttons, text boxes, controls and properties, message boxes, output boxes, looping, dialog boxes, printing, database basics, graphic image controls, and much more.

During my Visual Basic class, my fellow students struggled using the standard text. I breezed through my assignments and tests. A few weeks into the class, one friend asked if he could look at my book. After that, copies of SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS started showing up and the standard text soon disappeared off many desks. We all agreed it was a much better choice for our needs!

SAMS' TEACH YOURSELF VISUAL BASIC 6 IN 24 HOURS is a great beginning source and will help the novice understand the basics. It is not intended as a die-hard resource book, but an introduction into this powerful programming tool.

Editorial Review:

The niche of this book is that it not only focuses on the topic at hand but it also provides a battery of tools/skills that will take the user at a higher level and help him/her realize the skills “without waiting to read another book” on some other topic they need to know if they wanted to implement it in real life. It is a self contained, stand alone book. Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours follows the step-by-step approach of the Teach Yourself series and gives the reader a quick, concise introduction to this programming language. It will explain the basics of Visual Basic through task-oriented examples and a hands on approach. Topics covered include: Basics of Visual Basic development, Understanding the concepts of properties, methods, and events, Creating and implementing ActiveX controls, Integrating data into applications, Adding and manipulating graphics, Testing and debugging applications, Printing from your applications.

Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6

John Smiley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 306 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I think it's a great book 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Let me begin by saying that I'm the author, so let's get that out of the way.

I'm posting here to point out that the book has a tremendous amount of support materials that have never been advertised. Each of my books has a support page containing a current list of errata, downloadable files (completed exercises from the book), extra links to extra materials I have written and my email address in the event you have problems. I also run a series of online classes so that if you would like to learn with me in a more structured setting, you can do that also. You can access those materials via this link

http://www.johnsmiley.com/books.htm

I should also say that this book isn't for everyone---and you can read through some of the other reviews posted here to see why and why not.

I wrote this book for beginner level programmers, and the book is written in a unique style.

You (and I) can thank the now defunct Wrox Publishing house for the style of the book that some people absolutely love and others (primarily hotshot programmers with lots of experience) hate. The book is written as if you are participating in an actual classroom---many people, particularly those learning on their own or in an Independent study setting find comforting.

My thanks to the many people who have written to me to tell me how much they've enjoyed my books and how they have helped them achieve their goals of learning to program.

John Smiley

Editorial Review:

Presents Visual Basic programming to those with no prior experience or knowledge of programming. Provides the background knowledge on what programming is , & guides you through the steps that professional programmers take when they're tackling a programming job from start to finish. Paper.

Learn to Program Visual Basic Databases (Learn to Program)

John Smiley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Personal service, immediate response 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I don't usually write reviews of books but this book is exceptional. I consider myself a near expert with Microsoft Office VBA but struggled with Visual Basic (the application). The unusual classroom setting of this book made me feel as if I were in the classroom with John Smiley teaching. I was finally being taught by someone who knew how to teach. In chapter 4 I finally ran into a problem I couldn't figure out. John Smiley was gracious enough to post his email address in the front of the book so, at half past midnight I sent him a note discussing my problem. I recieved a response from John at 8:30 that morning. John knew exactly what my problem was and gave me instructions on how to fix it. Once applied, my project worked perfectly. I can't express enough how much I appreciate this kind of customer service. Thanks, John.

Editorial Review:

In "Learn to Program Visual Basic Databases," John Smiley provides a solid foundation for the beginning or intermediate user interested in working with database theory and uses this knowledge to create a fully database-enabled Visual Basic application. Smiley's simple, conversational style is entertaining even when he is explaining the most difficult programming principles. The book is classroom-based, and his question and answer format often addresses commonly-asked student queries. Smiley also provides step-by-step instructions for each exercise and handy online references for more information.

Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005: Learn Visual Basic 2005 as You Design and Develop a Complete Application (Addison-Wesley Microsoft Technology Series)

Tim Patrick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“I have never reviewed a book I enjoyed as much as this one. Excellent coverage, perfect for the intended audience. Concise, clear, accurate descriptions. This is a winner.”

       –Ken Getz, MCW Technologies, LLC

 

Master Visual Basic 2005 by Building a Complete, Production-Quality Application from Start-to-Finish!

 

This book is the fastest, best way for experienced programmers to truly master real-world Visual Basic 2005 development. You won’t just learn syntax and features: you’ll build a complete, robust, data-driven application. You’ll put Visual Basic 2005 to work in solving real business problems, overcoming the practical challenges of building production systems, and you will learn to see Visual Basic 2005 projects as they were intended–as complete, cohesive solutions. Patrick’s engaging style and crystal-clear explanations will help you stay focused, learn fast, and apply what you’ve learned.

 

•    Master every stage of the application lifecycle and every step in the development process

•    Walk through all facets of database design and ADO.NET data access

•    Create advanced Windows applications with Windows Forms and Web applications with ASP.NET 2.0

•    Make the most of classes, inheritance, and other object-oriented Visual Basic 2005 features

•    Effectively utilize data types, generics, error processing, XML, GDI+, and many other language and platform features

•    Learn how to personalize and restrict your application’s features based on user preferences

•    Determine the best way to license, localize, document, deploy, and support your application

 

Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005 is the perfect tutorial for existing Visual Basic programmers moving to Visual Basic 2005, programmers moving from other traditional procedural languages, and experienced Visual Basic .NET/2005 programmers who want to deepen their skills in developing entire projects.

 

Tim Patrick is a software architect and developer with nearly 25 years of experience in designing and building custom software solutions. As a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, he spends his days writing Visual Basic 2005 applications. Tim is the author of The Visual Basic Style Guide and The Visual Basic .NET Style Guide, and co-author of Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell and Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook.

 

The companion website (www.awprofessional.com/titles/0321398009) contains the complete software application and source code for the book, plus chapter-specific versions showing each step of the sample project’s construction.  The code was written to work with every edition of Visual Studio 2005, Visual Basic 2005, and SQL Server 2005, including Microsoft’s free Express editions.

 

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner)

Jonathan S. Harbour

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Seen Worse, Found Better 3 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book based mainly on the reviews written here at Amazon.com. While I would not say I am dissapointed, I do think this book (and every other "beginners" book I have read) could be alot better.

This book starts off well enough giving pretty detailed information on what is going on and why, however, as soon as you think you are beginning to get a grasp on the material, the author seems to forget that you are a "beginner." About half way through the book, you begin to feel as though you are simply writing the code that is presented and not actually learning what is going on.

If you are more of a visual learner, as I am, I would suggest a membership to LearnVisualStudio.Net instead of purchasing any more books. (No, I am not affiliated with them) After only two days of watching videos from that site, I have learned more than I did reading the entire Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Programming for the Absolute Beginner book.

Editorial Review:

Start at square one with Visual Basic .net Programming. Visual Basic is a widely accepted programming language and is used for creating both stand-alone and Web-based applications. VB.net supports multi-threading that enables you to write applications that execute using separate threads and supports both structured and unstructured exception handling. This Absolute Beginner book is a fun approach to this difficult topic. You'll create games using VB.net as you learn the fundamentals of the language. The CD contains games and trial versions of Paint Shop Pro, Cool Edit 2000, DarkBASIC, BlitzsD, and more

Murach's Beginning Visual Basic .NET

Anne Prince

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

From Beginning to... Well, Some Tough Stuff! 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book is very well written, and the facing page style of instruction is a great method.

I found no errors; there was no evidence of "author fatigue" towards the mid-end of the book; and Ms. Prince is able to anticipate and address the logical questions that come next in the student's mind.

Beginning with the basics, this book then progresses (very logically) to more difficult concepts such as multi-dimensional arrays, structures and collections, and parsing and reading/writing data to/from files; including xml. The final six chapters deal with databases and web projects.

I highly recommend this book... but be ready to work because the chapter exercises, though sometimes difficult, really drive home the concepts.

Editorial Review:

With this book, you can learn the skills of a professional programmer in just 692 pages. Because of its self-paced approach in the first 7 chapters, you can do that whether you're new to Visual Basic.NET or you're upgranding from Visual Basic 6.

From that point on, you're ready for rapid progress as you learn how to develop sophisticated GUIs, how to use the .NET classes for a wide variety of purposes, how to work with XML, how to develop database appplications with ADO.NET, and how to develop web applications with ASP.NET.

To insure success, this book includes 18 complete business applications so you can see how the forms, controls, and code of Visual Basic applications work together. Applications like these should be a standard part of all programming books. BUT NO OTHER VB BOOK DOES THIS.

Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 (Mastering)

Evangelos Petroutsos

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

May be a good reference but don't purchase to learn VB 2 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book to learn programming in a visual environment. I have not programmed since I took some courses back in college programming on a main frame. There are many typos in this book and the code Does not work in many of sections. I am trying to learn by following along with the code in the book and get hit with many errors. When you look at the code from the web site it is completely different from what he has in the book which is taking huge amounts of time to figure out what he has done. I would not refer this book to anyone trying to learn the language.

Editorial Review:

Here is the latest edition of the perennial VB market leader! Written by the leading VB proponent, this book offers beginning and experienced VB programmers comprehensive coverage of VB 2005. The "VB 6 to VB 2005" feature makes this resource especially useful for VB 6 programmers who want to get up to speed quickly on VB 2005's new features. With twelve new chapters, updates of all current topics, a clear tutorial style, and lots of real-world examples, you will surely learn how to use VB 2005 effectively. The CD-ROM contains all of the code examples and the large sample applications developed throughout the book.

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 in 21 Days (2nd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself)

Steven Holzner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not for beginners 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I teach an introductory programming class in college and will be looking for a more introductory book. Those things that are essential to programming, a class-worth of learning, are taught in ONE DAY of the 21 days. That one day became 1 1/2 month. I also think the order of the days could be better: Simple subjects should come sooner than more complex ones.

Now for you techies here is what I am saying: Control Structures such as if/then, loops, arrays, and such are taught in one chapter. Then functions and subroutines and classes in the next. If this is your speed, go for it!

In short this is for either experienced or enthusiastic programmers. Those programmers could finish a day in one whole 8 hour day. But if you are a beginner don't start here.

Editorial Review:

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 in 21 Days provides the grand tour of the software, making Visual Basic accessible and easy-to-use. Steve Holzner, the author, helps you master the topic by seeing Visual Basic in action from the basics to deploying finished Window and Web applications with a working example for every topic in the book. From cover to cover, this book is pure Visual Basic .NET—everything you need to know about the Visual Basic language and visual tools.

Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2005 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit (Sams Teach Yourself)

James Foxall

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2005 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit provides you with 24 structured lessons with step-by-step guidance to real-world programming tasks for developing Windows applications. Each chapter includes practice exercises, tips, notes, and cautions, providing easy-to-understand advice on how to start programming quickly. Sidebars provide more advanced tips that will ease your migration from Visual Basic 6 to Visual Basic .NET, or help you as you continue to work with Visual Basic 2005 programming.

 

The accompanying CD includes Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, which will provide you with a visual integrated development environment for creating Windows applications. The Express Edition makes Windows programming with Visual Basic fun and easy-to-learn. Together with Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2005 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit, it's the perfect way for experienced Visual Basic 6.0 developers to try out new features.