Customer Reviews

Alison Balter's Mastering Access 2002 Desktop Development

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I figured out the basic structure of Access (basic Tables, Queries, Forms, Macros) from the online Help files (not including the VBA and ActiveX and linking to outside data sources and stuff). Then I went to Amazon and looked for another text and bought Getz, Litwin and Gilbert. When I first got it, I didn't understand it. So I went to a local store and browsed through the books on the shelf and decided on this one. It seemed to be at about my level -- 1/3 to 1/2 of it I already knew. And having now worked with it for a few weeks, I find it to be quite good. Two other people in the office started by borrowing my Getz, and then borrowed Balter instead for the same reason. Things are pretty easy to look up in it if you're not the type to read these things cover to cover. She covers everything clearly once (not 47 times), and you can find where that place is. She doesn't assume you know what ActiveX and ADO vs. DAO are. And there are a fair number of solutions to common needs which don't have obvious solutions...

I recommend it.

BTW, for you others who are new to VBA through Access, one things she doesn't say loud and clear is to avoid Access specific stuff where possible, and revert to good ole SQL. Go to the underlying table and do an update query with DoCmd.RunSQL query_name.

While the Getz books may be for advanced developers, Alison's books are by far the best for beginning to intermediate developers. I found her explanations and sample code to be much more appropriate for me as an intermediate developer.

If you consider yourself an advanced VBA developer then maybe some of this material is too basic. BUT if you're not, you owe it to yourself to look at Alison's books. They're great! This book is actually fun to read and it has served as an excellent reference for the Access applications that I continue to create. If you use SQL Server, you also look at her Enterprise book, the companion to this one.

Don't change your style, Alison!

I look forward to your future works!

I am a programming consultant in the Dallas area and have programmed in MS Access since 1995 when it was a Windows 3.1 product at version 2.0. I have purchased 3 MS Access books since that time and all claimed that they were for the beginner all the way up to the advanced in skill level. The first two were helpful if you were brand new to Access, but sometimes you want to accomplish certain tasks for which there is no wizard. Looking on MSDN is, at times, a shot in the dark. I found Alison's book - "Mastering Access 2002 Desktop Development" to be a perfect training guide for all and an excellent reference manual as well. I sometimes carry it to a client's office instead of my MSDN CDs. If you want to learn how to make your Access DB more professional-looking, then you should get your hands on this book.

I want to thank Alison Balter for publishing the book Mastering Access 2002 Desktop Development. As a network manager/teacher, I am using concepts that I glean from this book to help instruct students and other teachers to become more knowledgeable and proficient in good database design. Mastering Access 2002 Desktop Development is a substantial book (over 1300 pages). Yet readers who want to understand WHY something should be done in Access will appreciate the numerous explanations contained within its pages. This book does a great job of covering the fundamentals of Access, as well as provide ample explanations and examples dealing with advanced topics, such as ADO, VBA, and database security. As a "network person," I especially like the chapters on "Developing Multiuser and Enterprise Applications." This is a superior book for those who truly plan to develop quality applications using Access 2002.

This book provides an extremely good overview of Access development - it will be particularly useful to people who are new to Access or programming in general. It is well written, and provides a lot of examples showing the use of code - making it much easier to grasp the concepts.

You should be aware, however, that this book alone will NOT make you a master developer (no single book can). It requires hours and hours and hours of hands-on experience to acquire all the understanding necessary to be a master developer. The book also does not go into sufficient detail in VBA, but rather provides a (very good) introduction.

The book deserves 5 stars because it provides such a good framework from which to further your learning.

I've followed Allison's books on Microsoft Access ever since Version 1.0. Alison, Getz, and Dobson are in my opinion, the 3 top Microsoft Access authors. No one else comes close. I particularly like her excellent VBA presentation / review. Allison reviews Visual Basic by coding specific examples for every concept. As the student steps through code, they really learn to understand what is going on. The clarity of her writing inspires the self-learning to feel they can go on and get it!

A great teacher!

I'll be using her book for the summer class I'm teaching at U C Irvine Extension - Access - II.

And if I get a chance to write a level III class, I'd use her Enterprise book.

This book is as good as it gets. I had the same book on Access 2000, and loved it. This one is very similar, but covers the new stuff in 2002. I did not read this straight through, but picked out the things I needed for the project I was working on. It was great! Went right into advanced form techniques, and found the section about handling not in list. It was just what I needed. When I couldn't find a piece of info, I emailed Alison directly, and got the response in 2 days! And it answered all my questions! Just a great reference source!

I have read Alison Balter's Access 1997/2000 and have recommended them to many developers. It has been very interesting reading about the new Access 2002 features. The book is written like a friend is describing the concepts to you. The book begins with Access basics and then continues with well thought out chapters with topics of increasing complexity. My coworkers and I have used Alison Balter's previous development books as reference material. In particular we use the "Optimizing Your Application' chapter as a check off list for performance concepts.

I'm not a computer professional, but fairly competent if given good directions. I knew the basics of database design, but this book has helped me drastically improve. It outlines the very basics of database theory, basic design, and basic fundamentals in Access. When you're done with that, it leads you into the real power - transactions, security, multi-user configuration, powerful user interfaces, and VBA. It is now my single-most used desktop reference.

A great compilation of technical information and suggestions for development on Access 2002. Unlike most references, this one follows in sequence, and most importantly covers the topic in depth without assuming some key point. I look forward to the Enterprise development book.