Customer Reviews

Access 2002 Desktop Developer's Handbook

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It should be known that this book is not for new Access users. However, it can make a beginner into a professional developer.

If you are at the point where you would like to start manipulating the controls without using Access' built-in functions and wizards, this book will serve you well.

Prior to using this book, I have only had a little experience with VB/VBA. After having used this book for a couple of months, I have gone from being fully dependant on Access' built-in queries/controls. Now, I do almost everything in the code-window. My code is no longer "spaghetti".

I like this book because it is not organized like an encyclopedia where the controls are given an over-simplified explaination in alphebetical order, nothing is left out- it's not a beginner's manual; however, little time is spent reviewing the basics. It is clearly written, everything is well spelled out for any learning ability. This is way better than all of the "Complete" editions.

You might consider yourself an advanced user until you see this book. It is humbling, you will realize how much more there is to learn. When you have read it over, you will be surprised how powerful of a tool Access can be.

Of all of the systems and programming books that I have in my office on two full sized bookcases, the best of the best continues to be this series of books. I came to Access with version 2.0 and had the good luck to select the Access 2 Developer's Handbook. It was then, and it is now the best information to be had for this product and it sits beside the other books of this series. The writing style is concise and lucid in the way that only true masters of a subject are capable of. As further credit, all of the books remain relevant regardless of the Access version running on the computer. For me, a release of Access isn't official until Paul and Ken put a book on the shelves.

Don't let the "2002" in the title mislead you. This book is a valuable reference for Access 2003. If you are serious about the VBA programming, especially in Microsoft's Access, this book is essential. I have worked with the authors' and Access 97 and their Access 2000 versions and would have gone to their Access 2003 to version if it had been published. I agree with the publisher's choice to stick with the 2002 version because of the relative few changes to Access. Just last week, I referred to the textbook to see how to identify a control on a subform.

A second book I would recommend for VBA programmers is "Excel 2003: Power Programming with VBA" by John Walkenbach. Although this book focuses on VBA with Excel, the models and the presentation help develop a much richer understanding of VBA.

It is hard to describe the elation you feel as you read through this book. It is not just the content, the style and delivery are such that it cuts clutter and clarifies a number of concepts that would otherwise be very difficult to grasp.

My copy is 6 months old and already so dogeared I will need to replace it this year for fear of losing pages.

Excellent work. Highly recommended.

Without a doubt, THE best book on Microsoft Access you will find. Most Access Developers will have several books on the shelf next to their desk gathering dust while they search through Google to resolve their latest dilema. Although I'm a Googler as well, my copy of ADH is frayed and worn...but never dusty. The authors write confidently and authoritatively, yet it seems that they take precautions to avoid intimidating the novice. I've seen reviewers referring to this book as "not for beginners." I was at the beginner-intermediate level when I first thumbed through it at a bookstore. I thought the pricetag was a little too high, but after about ten minutes I had to own it. Since then, it's brought me a long way. Whatever your level, if you really want to learn this stuff you will find great value here.

I think this book is really great. I have been looking for something like that for a long time. I am one of those users who are tired of using Wizards, and feel like writing their own code, and I know there is so much possible, this book is my true helper! Now only one problem is left, lack of time.

Thanks,
nile

I'm comfortable with Access but when it comes to VBA I'm a newbie. This book doesn't only tell you what to do, but explains the why behind it. I have a database that I've put double digit hours (10+) into one problem. I got the book read up on combo boxes, the problem area, and in 30 minutes debugged my code to make them do what they were suppose to do. If I get nothing else out of this book it was worth it for that one issue, but upon further reading I'm learning the why's of Access. The code is still a little foreign but now I'm much more comfortable working in VBA. They use Reddicks naming convention which is different to me, but that's easy to look past. A great book!! Thanks Sybex!

As the word 'Developer' should imply, this book is not for MS Access beginners, but once you qualify yourself as 'intermediate' or better, you will feel right at home. Very little of this book is devoted to boring you with rehashes of stuff in the help file (as most other books seem to do). There is a great deal of depth and insight into areas that apply to everyday usage, complex projects, and solutions to many problems MS tends to ignore version after version.

The writing is excellent and they have a web site devoted to updates, errata and such which is very helpful. Chapters 10, 14 and 15 have had an extremely positive impact on the quality and usability of my projects in MS Access as well as VBA and Visual Basic. Many of the code samples are outstanding and written so that you can just drop them in to your projects with no modifications. Many of them are done so well they seem like natural extensions to MS Access (stuff MS 'should' have included in the 1st place).

Complaints? None. Well, okay, I do have 1 minor complaint. They devoted almost 30 pages to The Office Assistant. IMHO these pages and the Office Assistant itself are a complete waste.

This book and its previous versions are the best money I have ever spent. They continue to save me hundreds of hours while adding reliability and capability to all my projects. Highly recommended!

Not only is this series the absolute best when it comes to MS Access, it is the best technical documentation I've had the pleasure to use since the early days of Vax/VMS. A perfect blend of explanation, examples, syntax, and guidance. A level of art to which all others should aspire (and regrettably too many do not).

This book is absolutely not a book for beginners, but a great desk reference. A must have for any serious Access developer.