Customer Reviews

ArcGIS Developer's Guide for Visual Basic Applications (VBA)

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Only one word I can think of to describe this latest offering from Razavi and OnWord Press: DISAPPOINTING.
I pre-ordered this book months ago because this topic is not covered by any other current books and Razavi's tome on ArcView programming is well written and informative. Unfortunately, he did not rise to the occasion in this instance. I received this book on a Monday and by Wednesday I was done reading it and ready to sell it off. First, the book is NOT 256 pages as the Amazon description says it is. At a scant 188 pages this ... "book" reads more like a pamphlet with a cursory introduction to the basics of programming that barely caters to ArcGIS specifically. When the book finally starts to get up and running with some useful coding examples (at page 80!), Bam!, it ends appruptly with no closing section, no advice for further research, no additional help tips. It almost seems as though the thing had to get off Razavi's desk to make it to the publisher so he just spit out the index and sent it off.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. If you are just starting at programming the intro sections are far to shallow and brief to be any help. If you are working at a more advanced level and would like to cater your programming to ArcGIS you had better keep your dough and wait it out.
Unless half of my book got lost in the mail, this one is useless to those of us starving for a volume to fill the hole in programming this new software. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}

I too was disappointed with this book. There's not much substance here, especially if you already know a bit of VB/VBA programming. Half of the book reviews basic VB/COM concepts, syntax and programming practices. I bought this book because I already know VB and I am starting an ArcGIS programming project. I learned more looking at the ESRI provided samples and poking around their excellent support forum and sample code web site... Just by tinkering around with ArcGIS in the time it took for the book to arrive, I built sample applications that are way beyond those presented in Razavi's book.
The book doesn't really give you enough information to begin to grasp the ArcObjects data model. If you're going to do any serious ArcObjects programming, you'll need the ESRI reference book "Exploring ArcObjects" ... which is also included in electronic format on the ESRI CD's, but it's so big that the paper version is easier to use. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}

In the introduction of this book it states that "you do not have to be a seasoned programmer to understand this book". Not true. Razavi's treatment of the subject is superficial, and does not cover the fundamental bases well enough to give beginning programmers what they need. If you do not know how to program in VBA before you read this book chances are you won't know how to after reading it. {This refers to the 1st (2002) edition.}

Other reviewers have done a good job of stating the flaws in this book. I'll also throw my vote in to say that this book is awful, hoping that people read these reviews when deciding whether to purchase the book. My opinion was so negative of this book, that I returned it for refund. The book is full of too many typos, incomplete code samples that won't run, and incomplete logic that it is essentially more confusing than helpful, in my opinion. Definitely not recommended.

If you want to learn to program ArcGIS, look for Robert Burke's book instead. It is a real winner.