Customer Reviews

Coding Techniques for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I would not be surprised if this book is destined to become 'The book' to learn Visual Basic.Net. I completely agree with the other reviewers. John Connell leads the reader through .Net in such a clear and enjoyable way that you don't realize just how much you learned. After finishing a chapter, I close the book and reflect on all the ground that has been covered. The book logically leads the reader through assemblies, interned strings, structured error handling (i.e., try, catch, finally), classes, how to understand and quickly use the massive framework, OOP techniques, Web Services, Windows Services, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, XML, disconnected datasets, and much more. For me, these were pretty much completely new concepts - yet this book makes them crystal clear. I wish more books could be writting with this style of clearity and razer sharp examples. If you are trying to learn VB.Net, in my humble opinion you just can't go wrong with this book.

As a consultant that uses VB and C++, I have to keep technically current. This book takes you through OO, deriving classes, new data types and tips, managing collections and arrays, covers new (for VB) structured error handling and debugging, deploying pubic and private assemblies, ADO.NET and ASP.NET and WEb Services. Each chapter builds on the next, so the reader can easily see how the pieces fit together. The fairly complete coverage of ADO.NET (3 chapters) shows how to deploy disconnected recordsets. Next, Connell moves into ASP.NET and shows how to use what was just learned in ASP - very logical progression. There is some good coverage of file management, logical and visual inheritance, and XML. In the final chapter, a desktop app (Sticky Yellow Note) is built using OO, static procedures, context menues, filestreams, and XML. Then the app is deployed - you can give this to people that don't have the .NEt framework installed yet. All in all, a very conprehensive and readable book. I found this useful. I think if you are already proficient in VB or C++ you will really enjoy this.

I'm a pretty decent VB programmer, and have been reading various articles about VB.Net. Most were a bit cryptic and expected that the reader was already familiar with .Net. So when I picked up VB.Net Coding Techniques I was very pleasantly surprised. Mr. Connell eases the reader into OO VB.Net using real programs.

The book provides all sorts of tips on what Vb.Net programmers will find the most challenging - finding the right object in the amazingly expansive .Net Framework. Connell's guidance and tips makes it almost trivial now. The book provides seasoned guidance on how namespaces are layed out. Best of all, how to use various tools and more to immediately find, instantiate, and use the correct framework class. Not only is there crystal clear coverage of XML, Web Services, assemblies, inheritance, ASP.NET and more, but it ties these together seamlessly. Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. If you need to learn VB.Net right now - you can't go wrong with Coding Techniques.

As Mr. Connell points out, VB.Net is front loaded with what might be new concepts to some of us not steeped in classical computer science training - such as Object Orientation, structured error handling, and so forth. He **very clearly** describes what are totally new concepts such as assemblies. I like the approach of learning the language by example - Mr. Connell's approach is crystal clear. While VB.Net is very differnt that Classical VB, I quickly learned - **and understood** how to use the huge framework, inherit objects and put them to use, build my own objects, use error handling, and use all the changes in strings and arrays, etc. The main point I want to emphasize is that VB.Net is not something to be scared of - but to master. The writing and teaching style is good and he really hit his audience with me. Since my company is not paying for me to learn .Net, I need to keep my skills up. For me, this was an excellent investment.

I also was wondering about XML and web services, as well as what's new in ASP.NET. Connell covers all of these, while at the same time adding humor and examples that make sense. In fact, in my mind the tour de force is an example at the end where you build an electronic yellow sticky note program. This example uses the new framework File.IO capabilities, XML, static methods, classes, inheritance, character arrays, various graphical concepts, a pop up context menu from the task bar, and all sorts of other concepts that are elegantly put together in a single .Net program. This cool example ties together much of what was learned in previous chapters. He even shows how to build and distribute the app to your friends - even if they dont ahve the Common Language Runtime on their computer. When you finish this book - you will have a firm grasp of .Net. Yes, I know I need to learn more - but this book got me .Net jump started.

This is not a book for a novice programmer. It is geared towards the meeting the needs of professional system programmers. You won't find anything here on MDI, GDI+ or a host of other VB features. For example, the steps behind attaching buttons to code could have been illustrated much more explicitly. So if you are still coming to terms with the core of VB, this book could produce a rather serious challenge. Consequently, the text is not a substitute for other broader overviews of VB.Net.

That being said, one of the exceptional strengths of the book is its efficient working through of the tool side of VB - which is huge. Whether you want to create a form, a class, a module, an ASP project, the author has the way picked out pretty cleanly. The CLR and Assembly sections are very written and really worth the effort. The section of ADO.NET is good, but tends to rehash a lot of Microsoft technical information. Inevitable probably. The ELIZA program design gives a good insight into using collections efficiently. However, files and streams are treated too abruptly for my liking.

One of the other attractive aspects of the book is the lack of navel gazing about types and their cousins. Types are dealt with very practically (might not satisfy everyone).

Unfortunately, the style is at times a bit too terse. For instance, I don't think this is a useful book from which to pick up OO skills. It covers class creation with a few very specific examples and then moves on. Theoretical digressions are noticeable by their absence. Again, a supplementary text will help here.

Overall, however, I am very keen on this book. I learnt a lot more from it than I expected, and it is very well written. It is certainly a very valuable reference text.

I started reading VB.Net books when they started flooding the market with beta 1 last year. Most of them are me-too and a rehash of documentation. I saw this in a well known book store, paged through it, and purchased it on line. Mr. Connell's book is different in that he leads the reader through each chapter to show how each builds on the next using crafted code. Armed with what you just learned, you move to the next area - building on the previous knowledge. For example, he starts with Object Orientation -> Data Types -> Class Framework -> Error Handling -> Assemblies -> Windows Services -> ADO -> Datasets -> ASP -> Web Services -> Virtual Inheritance, etc. I have recommended this to my friends. IMHO iff you are going to buy a VB.Net book, you absoultely can't go wrong with Techniques.

I have been promoting this book to my friends because it's the best .Net book I have found. While the other .Net books (and Ive read several for the past yr including C#) tend to repeat or say the same things in a differnet way - Connell sheds new light on .Net for the professional developer. For example, he discusses how to find things in the Framework using WinCV. Or not to use a short int (16 bit) because its actually slower because of current 32 bit CPU registers. Or how to use Option correctly. Or how to use .Net error messages to help find the data type you need. While this might not be a beginners first .Net book, clearly everyone will learn techniques and how to find your way around the framework. Oh, and it's simply the best explaination of ADO.NET and ASP.NET around. All in all, if you have to purchase one book - this is it. My copy is dog eared. There is even a cool .Net Artificial Intelligence program used to illustrate key concepts. And a Magic 8 Ball Web Service that I got up and running - and completely understand that new concept. It's not only well written and informative - but very fun to read. I hope Mr. Connell comes up with another .Net book soon.

I've been programming in VB from version 3 through 6 and really haven't done much with objects, so was a bit concerned about learning VB.Net (where everything is an object). I had difficulty with C++ in this regard. I just received Coding Techniques for VB.Net and can't put it down. While the book provides all sorts of expert techniques, it conveys the information in a clear and easy to follow manner. After two days I've already built several .Net programs and have all sorts of ideas for many more. The section on Artifical Intelligence using the .Net Eliza program is fantastic. The ADO.Net and Web Services sections are just plain fun to read. I highly recommend this Microsoft book.

This book tries to cover .Net, and does an excellent job. Some areas are covered more in depth than others, but this contains the best explaination of object oriented programming to the VB'er that I've ever seen. The expansive framework is then examined showing clearly how to find and use this powerful tool. File IO and Web Services are also very nicely covered, with a full 3 chapters on the new ADO.NET. I think what I like most is that it's clear this book was layed out in an expert fashion. Each chapt builds on the next, and before I knew it VB.Net seemed like an old friend. The writing style is crisp, and ancellary pieces of info are presented to show how each new element of .Net not only fits into the whole, but how each is used in real world examples. He provides gems such as why never to use the new short integer (16 bit) because the cpu registers are 32 bit. Most professional programmers automatically try to use the smallest data type for the job, but in this case selecting a short would actually add cycles to pad the other 16 bits. I have not seen pro tips like this anywhere else. I did read Connell's previous database book (which is dog eared on my shelf), and was also pleasantly surprised with this one. This is the first review I have ever written for any book - but felt this book stands above the other .Net books I've read so would take the time.

This is an excellent source of information written in such a clear concise way that you'll be up and running with the basic concepts in no time. The section on ADO .NET is one of the clearest I've read in the .NET books I've purchased.

I guess you could say that it doesnt go into ALL topics, or all topics very deeply. You'll need to buy a dedicated ASP.net book to get the intracacies of that particular topic under your belt...same for web services I imagine, but as a first book for someone coming from a previous version of VB you can't really fault this as an excellent book to buy and worth every penny.

One criticism I have, which extends to most books on the subject I've read, is that they don't differentiate enough between the web form controls and the win form controls..data binding and the datagirid in particualr coming to mind as an example of how things can be different.

Still,I would definately buy another John Connel book if he writes about any other VB .NET topics, his writing style is excellent.

why are you still reading this?...use that patented one click ordering and get your copy today :)