Customer Reviews

Essential ADO.NET

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

 

 

After reading the reviews of this book I purchased it and was disappointed. While Bob Beauchemin certainly seems to know quite a bit about databases and ADO.Net I found that his writing style made it hard for me to learn as much as I had hoped I would. He tends to just state facts (useful as they may be) without giving proper context. He never seems to explain why something is the way it is. Similarly, while each example covers the intended functionality, they are only rarely explained.

Having finished reading the book I feel an army draftee who is taught how to shoot and march and then dropped into a war zone without a clue as to actually survive.

This book is most suited for an experienced database developer who wants to learn ADO.NET. It distinguishes nicely between connected and disconnected access. Later chapters provide specialized material for users of other database libraries who are converting to ADO.NET. Most code is fragmentary but some complete programs are available online. The code could be more clearly identified with the corresponding text sections.

Although this book starts with an introductory chapter with a brief introduction to SQL and the relational model, most chapters dive into discussions that might drown novices unless more tutorial background was included. However those with some database experience would find a useful detailed introduction to ADO.NET.

The book is easy to read. Each chapter has many code fragments, and perhaps a few complete programs. All those I tried compiled without error. The examples in Chapter 2, ADO.NET Basics, assume SQL Server is the database. While it would be easy to convert the examples to another provider, the data would not be available and users of other databases cannot execute these examples. The downloaded code contains some Palm database files, but without any explanation of what to do with them.

Chapter 4 has only two complete program available for download. The first is included in the book on p. 165, but Chapter 4 starts on p. 127. The second refers to a brief section at the end of the chapter which has no code. It would be much more helpful to have complete examples from earlier in the chapter.

The code fragments from Chapter 4 are available for download. It takes a while to correspond the code to the text. My sleuthing found that Figure 4.3 in the code is Listing 4.1 in the text, Figure 4.4 is Listing 4.2 and so on. The fragments compile and execute, but are not as helpful as complete programs.

The book is nicely written and has lots of information. The author is clearly experienced and knowledgable. It would be a lot easier to learn from if more complete examples were provided and clearly identified with specific sections in the text. ---Reviewed by Art G.

There is no question that Bob Beauchemin knows his stuff! Anyone who has done any database programming and wants to learn ADO.NET should read this book. Bob obviously has an incredible knowledge of database access standards and ADO.NET is no exception. I have read a number of books on ADO.NET at this point, but none of them even come close to explaining it in the clear and concise way that Bob does in this book. Having programmed with ODBC, OLE DB, and ADO, I loved the chapters that compare the common concepts and point out the ways to accomplish the same tasks that I was familiar with from the other standards.

This books leave all other ADO books far, far behind! It is clear that the author really, really knows his stuff and have a lifetime worth of data base knowledge. In addition to this he knows how to transfer this knowledge to the reader, and even the most esoteric detail becomes understandable. Thanks to this book i have already solved a couple of really "unsolvable" problems, in a project I'm working on at the moment. If you are working with ADO.NET; this book is a must.
Fred

Bob's book really explains the under the cover details of ADO.NET well. He does not bore you with pages after pages of sample code. He describes a concept, gives a brief sample, then moves on. For his first book, he did a great job. The book reads well and flows well. Lots of developers just want to know how so they can crank out code. Then, later when things do not work or scale, they wonder why. If this is you, pick up another ADO.NET book. Bob explains how and then some.

I was generally very pleased with this book. It is an excellent reference for .NET developers using any of the more advanced features of ADO.NET. Bob's chapter on XML integration with ADO.NET is particularly well done.

I expect to be using this book as a reference for years to come.

My only compliant is that the book sometimes blurs the distinctions between SQL Server and other relational databases such as Oracle and DB2 UDB. Features that are only relevant to SQL Server are sometimes lumped together with more general database connectivity issues. It would have been clearer to have separate chapters for using ADO.NET with databases other than Microsoft SQL Server.

It's not bad, you can use it.
If you like VERY BIG FONTS AND MARGINS you can even enjoy it. Especially if you are kind of person who like style of Ken Henderson's "The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML". This one is also guru-made.
But if you need less water and more value for your money - get yourself "Microsoft ADO.NET (Core Reference)" by David Sceppa.

This book really explains the workings of ADO.NET in clear English. I suspect that the author must have spent many hours tracing the SQL traffic between PC and Database server.

Writing a database intensive application from scratch requires a lot of careful planning. After a few reads from this book, one can design an efficient data layer and deal with nasty problems such as concurrency, provider details and overall performance.

Outstanding book - I can't wait for an update when .NET 1.1 arrives.

This book covers those things about ADO.NET you cannot seem to find anywhere else - web, books, etc. Examples in the book provide straight-to-the-point information and details.

Personally, I feel this a must have book for your .NET collection!

Every time I can't find something I refer to this book it didn't disappoint me yet.