Customer Reviews

The Definitive DataWindow: Your Key to PowerBuilder Success

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are a PowerBuilder programmer, then the recent book entitled "The Definitive Datawindow" is certainly a must for you. Datawindow is considered the heart of PowerBuilder and this books explores it in a very minute detail. I have been programming in PowerBuilder for last 4 years and after reading this book, I realize how rudimentary my approach was. I wish I could have this book earlier. A significant portion of the book is covered with the introduction to RDBMS and SQL, so even the non PowerBuilder programmer can find this book useful. The author's style is simple and straight forward. The best thing about this book is that the author has made a great effort in putting all datawindow related material in a coherent way. I consider this book a jewel in datawindow techology. Lucky and wise are those who start their Powerbuilder journey with this book.

... this is a very good book, for beginners like me. It's nor a manual neither a reference. It contains a lot of examples and overall ideas to deal with and think about. There are solutions applied to real problems. That's why I like it: a practical manual with theory inside you learn with no effort. And it's written in english; no slang, technical word where necessary only. It's important for people speaking non english languages. Thanks Rick.

Too much text and too many pictures, not much information that you would not find in most PB books. Part tutorial, part reference, and part practical guide, but nothing special as a whole.

If you use PB, you need this book. You just don't know it yet. This book lays a world of simpler, much more effective, much more productive PB programming at your feet. It will pay for itself the first day you have it. You will stop beating your poor programmer brains out against datawindows, and turn them into your best tool for PB productivity.

Brooks has produced a world class reference. You can tell from reading it that the author and editing team have crafted an enduring desktop reference. I expect this book to be updated and republished for years.

You just cannot say enough about this work. It will save IT PB shops years of development time. It benefits the whole industry.

I have to thank those that wrote an honest review of the material covered in this book and must agree that many of these reviews were written by folks close to the author. After reading the mixed reviews I elected not to invest in this title and instead to borrow a copy from a fellow programer while on a contract. Though I did find a few things in the material I did not know, the vast majority of this book is basic information that anyone who has spent any time programming in PowerBuilder would already know. Since the author did have such a web presence (I am not surprised to see he has all but disappeared) and reputation I really had expected more and would have been very disgruntled had I spent money on this product. Instead spend your money on PowerBuilder Unleashed by Simon Henry and if you really can't stand to use the online documentation that shows all of the information contained in this book and want some bathroom reading material, pick up a used copy of this. At least then when you pick out the bits and pieces you might actually use you can sell it used yourself and will not feel cheated.

I agree with Mr. Boyes. Having borrowed a copy of this book, I count myself fortunate I didn't pay for it. It is a basic tutorial for novices, without a clue on "where do we go from here?". The technical information appears to be a regurgitation of machanics availble from many other sources. Nothing new here...a basic anthology of known methods. I seriously wonder how many of these reviews were written by the author himself?

It's not unusual that the guru of datawindows would write a book strictly on datawindows. The "Definitive Datawindows" book is a must have for any serious powerbuilder programmer. It covers basic information on datawindows and then Richard provides some extra tips to aid in extending the functionality of datawindows. I would recommend this book for powerbuilder programmers of any level. Hurry with your next book Richard, we're waiting!

The Definitive DataWindow by Richard Brooks has been very helpful to me. Recently I have been assigned to learn the application and without the opportunity to take classes I found it very challenging. Rik's book has been incredibly helpful to me. It gave me basic concepts and it provided me with detailed instructions on how to execute each command. Not only that, but Rik answers my questions online! He and his book have been very helpful and I look forward to an advaced book.

The Definitive Datawindow is everything you ever wanted to know about Datawindows and more. It caters to both novices and to people like me who have worked with PB for the last 6 years. I have read some of the author's columns in various PB publications, and the book follows the same explanatory style of writing with tons of code and SQL. A must have for every serious PB developer or atleast as a reference for the team.

This book has saved me hours of programming several times during my datawindow development and exposed some little known tips/tricks/techniques. Also, it is a good source to revise our skills.

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PowerObject!
[Shekar C. Reddy]
Owner/Moderator
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