Customer Reviews

Hands On SQL Server 7 with VB6

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

 

 

This is basically a good book and worth having, but there are numerous typos and outright errors which mar the presentation, e.g. confusion between "Delete" and "Drop". The examples are pragmatic and useful, but DON'T try to learn SQL Server 7 from this book--you won't.

My first experience with the PRIMA TECH Hands On series of books. The author progressively takes you through setting up and developing several SQL databases including installation and maintenance. From there you go on to develop the VB6 interfaces and eventually a fairly complex Web application. Not your usual quick start book that leaves you wanting when it comes to practical details. The book starts out fairly detailed and thorough, but in the later stages several steps and details are assumed even though the material was not covered earlier. At this point you must refer back to the provided samples to figure out what the author did. Another PLUS the book comes with a trial version of SQL server 7 for Server OR Win95/98 workstation! Overall a must have for anyone who needs to get up to speed on these products.

Hands on is the best way to learn, and the project this book steps you through is quite useful. However, the book is littered with errors and mistakes. Screenshots are mislabeled and there are differences between the code samples given in the book and those provided on the CD. Very frustrating. Didn't they bother to edit this book before they published it?

The title of the books is about SQL Server 7.0 and vb 6.0. And for the first 8 or 9 chapters that is the case. But then the Author as of about chapter 11, goes off on a tangent about IIS and ASP web based applications. After chapter 11 the code examples start getting really complicated and hard to follow. He also has a tendency to jump around a lot and throws a lot of really complicated ASP/IIS vb code at you really fast. I think it would have been a much better book and easier to follow had he held the reader's hand a bit more and had taken you step by step through the sample application he developed. In the begginning he did that to some extent but towards the end he really went bonkers. If he had put the sample application in a format like 1.first do this 2. then follow this instruction 3. And finally do this and you are now through and then explained everything as he went along in very indepth detail this book would have been worth it's weight in gold or platinum.

Like the previous reader, it is very frustrating trying to pick up new techniques when you first have to clean up the authors mistakes in code first. Also the author and publisher say to email them if any problems, well I have tried twice and they haven't responded yet!

I thought it was just me, but after wasting three weeks of yelling and screaming I was pleased to see the reviews of this book on Amazon! This book will guide you nicely and then kicks you terribly. I need to learn code not correct it.

This book is great for someone new to the client/server world. Yes there are a few typos but at least this book was written for a beginner to understand and not written to impress his peers as most computer books tend to do.

This book is a good starting point to learning the interaction between VB6 and SQL Server. I found it did not go far enough into real life ADO issues and solutions. I have worked a great deal in MS Access and VB before SQL Server. I was looking for a book to bridge the gap between VB and SQL server that would cover some of the data access and manipulation techniques that I use in MS Access. It falls short on going into complex data extraction and bounces between client/server and web page presentations.

The author has the right idea about how to teach a concept by building an example and using the tools and telling you how to use them. The problem is the foundation is built on swamp land and ridiculous errors. You only get so far and then give up cause you have to fix all the 'mistakes'

Not worth the time..

Half way through the book I just gave up and was left feeling frustrated and angry for spending money on this book. Besides the many errors in the book, the author doesn't take the reader through the projects on a step by step basis. Yes, when I spend money on a computer book I like to be held by the hand and guided through the material in a logical, complete and unambiguous way. This book starts out that way, but very soon the author becomes lazy and just begins showing code snippets from the projects and stops guiding the reader through the steps required to build it. As a result, many steps are omitted and the reader really has to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to do next. Yes, if you are willing to spend the time debugging the authors code and figuring out how to put the project together, you probably can get the project to work. The point is, all that burden shouldn't be placed on the reader. After all, the author is getting paid to teach the reader, not make the reader struggle through this technology on their own.