Customer Reviews

Building N-Tier Applications with COM and Visual Basic 6.0

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only reason that I gave this book a 3 stars is because of contents. It covers all the basic parts of building an n-tier application with com, such as MTS, MSMQ, and SQL Server. In terms of how well the book is written, I am giving it a 1.5 stars.

For people who are experienced in programming (not necessarily VB or COM), I suggest you read on.

The thing that I don't like about this book is that it goes on and on explaining something that could be represented by one or two sentences instead of a whole paragraph. LOTS of paragraphs can be totally omitted without lossing contents or flow.

For example, "But don't get too worked up about the term tier. Adding tiers does not necessarily mean another server is required for your application. Tiers can be logical as well as physical. Putting another tier in the loop might simply mean creating another service or series of components as part of your application. You create the tiers as necessary for your application. Besides, the term tier is fairly loose, and you can classify just about any major component as a tier."

In the above paragraph the only information that is actually useful to me is "Tiers can be logical as well as physical." In fact, if you have been programming for a few years, you don't need this peice of information because you probably know that tier can be logical or physical. Throughout the whole book I found lots of fillers like this one.

I read lots of computer books and all I want is quick information and I don't have time to go through all these unnecessary words to find them. If I want to read books with fillers, I would read a novel. So I am returning this book (sad).

I suggest another book which is far more concise and get to the point "Programming Distributed Applications with COM and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0" The only thing this book lacks is the description about interaction between SQL Server and COM. I have not finished this book yet but so far I am giving it at least a 4 star.

I think it is important to have some info about reviewer himself/herself in order to evaluate review properly. So, a few words about myself. I have been programming VB for 4 years, building distributed apps with COM/MTS for 1 year.

This book did not add much to what I already knew. It tries to cover conseptual/architectural issues as well as "real-life" programming issues. But there is a clear gap between the level at which these are covered. The language and style of conseptual coverage is quite dence and complex and probably assumes some experience in architecture/design areas, whereas the language and examples of programming coverage is over-simplistic, as if meant for people that are new to VB (not just to MTS). That is why I said that auhtors probably did not have their target audience clearly defined.

I think this book is more useful for managers that want to stay current with overall design trends and terminology than for practical programmers.

Authors often refer to their book as a "wihrlwind tour" on developing distributed apps. And that's really what this book is.

I found the chapters that cover architectural issues most usefull. The rest of information was probably intended for people with less experience in COM/MTS programming.

If you want a more thorough overview of COM/MTS (within the boundaries of VB) with more accent on programming side, I would recommend Ted Pattison's "Programming Distributed Applications with COM and Visual Basic 6".

P.S. Unfortunately this book was not free from some errors. For instance, on page 129 authors ask you to open some sample project and immediately proceed to Properties and set Binary Compatibility, WITHOUT saying that you should compile DLL first and specify this DLL file as a reference point. Not a big deal, but the error message VB provides is not the most descriptive one and for someone with lack of experience this can be quite a nuissance.

If you consider hiring someone to explain to you what COM, MTS, N-tier app or something alike, consider buying this book first. It does not only dedicate the first few chapters to show the big picture, the theory of n-tier development and components, it also provides good examples (w/ important tips and clear explanations) to complete your knowledge with experience/practice.

The only drawback I've seen so far is that the author missed highlighting the important code section like: GetObjectContext() in the every first example of how to create the first MTS component. Well, the good thing is that you won't want to miss any parts of this book and like to read every written line anyway. If you have intention to learn MTS, this book is definitely the start, and it won't let you down.

There are many other MTS books out there too, but I think without this one, others are either too advanced or do not cover the foundation good enough. Start with this first!

Good luck.

I have a few VB COM and DCOM books. This one stands out for its clear explanation and meaningful illustration with sample applications.

I also like the organization of the materials and the cool, guiding voice of the author(s). You get the feeling that he knows his stuff really well and is not out to dazzle you but to teach you.

You don't get lost easily. You just want to read on and find out more.

It is worth your time and money so go get it!

If you are new to all the new technologies out there from Microsoft. This is the best book to explain it all. I do agree with the previous reviewer, this is not an advanced book and I would recommend Ted's book if you are advanced or have mastered the basics. IF you have not mastered the basic then you will be lost in Ted's book. So, in my opinion this book is the best on the market for entry to intermediate level developers starting with COM.

This book provides good background information on COM, DCOM and ADO, but there is little that can't be found elsewhere. Too much time is spent on covering ADO. The examples are too simplistic to be useful. This book is a good place to start, but it doesn't take you very far.

I've been programming in VB for 4 years and wanted to learn COM. This book helped me understand COM and what it's all about. What I liked most about this book is its coverage of all the Microsoft buzzwords that are sometimes hard to get examples for. The author writes regularly for VBPJ and I like his articles, so I bought this book on that faith. I would strongly recommend it if you are new or semi new to VB like myself. I also bought the book that the previous reviewer recommends, except that it was too deep and detailed for me, maybe after I am comfortable with COM it will all make sense.

If you are a VB programmer but not a COM programmer I think this is an excellent book to start COM study. You can have a good knowledge of a complex technology only with the first 7 chapters.

I like the layout and content of this. I went to the latest Wrox Conference and unfortunately never met Rofail. In reviewing this book after having it a couple of months I would still buy it again

The book covers all significant aspects of Windows DNA application development including COM, MTS, MSMQ, IIS and SQL Server. I especially liked the sections on Stored Procedures and Web Clients. The book has nothing on COM+ though, its not even in the title! I would recommend this book if you are serious about developing distributed applications in VB.