Customer Reviews

Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not easily convinced when it comes to technical books, but this is real cream of the crop. I only bought one copy for a new team member in the beginning, but have since ordered eleven - one for each of our NY-based dev team.

The author has this amazing ability to describe some really complicated concepts in way that just anyone can understand. And it's isn't all beginner "learn to show a message box" stuff - I've been using VB for years yet by the end of the first tutorial, I'd already learned lots. It don't matter who you are, you can pick it up with this book.

Karl writes in a way that is intrinsically interesting. For the first time, he actually made me laugh out loud at a technical book - then on the next line, poised a question that made me stop and think about programming in a completely different light. It's a truly refreshing experience and probably the only technical book I'd take to bed with me.

The style of the book is also completely unique. There are eight or so tutorials each covering an area of VB.NET/ASP.NET, split further into different parts. Each of these parts is about fifteen or so pages long and very easy to digest. There are points at which the author progressively "discovers" things with you, whether you're in front of a computer or not, which is just so refreshing. It reads as though Karl is sitting next to you and almost just "thinking out loud".

I don't know whether this technique is purposeful - but to be frank, I don't care. It works, it's a great style, and I will be buying copies of all Karl's future books.

A VB.NET career in a book? Definitely. Everything you need to know? Definitely. Mounds of hands-on info for just what you really need to know, no excess garbage. Plus, it's hillarious and thought provoking to top. Buy it.

By the way, the Amazon listing shows it as having 350 pages. That's wrong - it's actually 550.

I've tried, several times over the past ten years, to pick up a book or two and dive into programming. It always starts pretty well, the books do a fairly decent job of describing how to design the user interface. Then a few chapters later they invariably turn the writing over to someone else and it comes out looking like a dictionary. "Here's the IF-THEN-ELSE statement, an incredibly useful tool, go figure out how it works and you'll be a fine programmer."

Now, recently I decided to give it another try, don't have a clue why really, but I bought the package, installed it, found the books included with it to be utterly useless, bought the dummies book, found the first half fascinating, and then got dumped into that dark code world once again. With more determination than usual, I searched the web and ran across VBWorld.com and Karl Moore's tutorials there. Learned things about the user interface that the book hadn't even mentioned, and actually had a good time following along. Still, no help with the code though, and as I was walking through the book store one final time before saying goodbye to my latest fling with VB, I saw Karl Moore's name name on a book. Then I saw Tutorials on the same book. After what he had taught me in six simple tutorials on the web I grabbed it without even opening it first!

I couldn't be more happy, this book has me convinced now that I'm not too dense to learn this stuff, and I'm having fun following the lessons. Hopefully, if I get addicted enough to programming that I want to learn C++ or C#, I'll be able to find Karl has written a book on those as well.

I'm not new to VB programming, but like many, the transition from VB6 to .NET was not only frustrating, but also downright intimidating. This book does an excellent job of dispelling so many fears of the new platform and beautifully sets developers on the proper path.

Every other programming book I've purchased, I inevitably find myself thinking, "Dear God... this is such long reading!" Not so in this case. My only disappointment is that it comes in only one volume. I find myself repeatedly picking it up in hopes of finding one more morsel I may have missed the first time around. Karl Moore's excitement about programming is contagious, his TIPS and HOW-TO's are fantastic, and throughout it all... he proves to us that writing sophisticated applications for the web, windows, or whatever you goal, is really not rocket science after all.

Out of the many VB.NET books I've read thus far, this one is the best. I've talked with Karl many times through email even before this book came out. And he was always willing to help out with code questions and problems. Its the same with his book. Karl takes you on a wonderous journy through the world of Visual Basic .NET like no other can. With humor around every corner to keep you from geting bored to death. Overall an extensive work that covers in depth discussions and code work. A must for any VB.NET programmer.

I'm not one to write reviews, but this book is fantastic. It really is. A true experience to read!

It teaches you VB.NET programming in a way I've never been taught before. It's as though you're in a class with the author Karl Moore. He provides information, prompts you to actually -think- about what you're doing and how you could make it better, ALWAYS make you laugh at his subtle wit - plus, if he doesn't teach you everything you need to know about a particular subject, he tells you exactly what you should be learning next and how to go about doing it.

He's da man! He is da MAN!!

I e-mailed him just three days ago with a question, too, and he got back to me straight away. I was blown away. Karl Moore fans: he's also writing another book "VB.NET + ASP.NET Secrets"...

Although I have only just gone through half of the book, it has gotten me away from playing Counter-Strike (which no other programming book has managed to do).
I spent a whole weekend reading and working through the exercises and am really looking forward to finishing it.
I am now much more comfortable using VB.NET than I have ever been (and trust me I have bought a few VB.NET books).
I had an issue and e-mailed the author, who promptly replied to my e-mail within 4 hours (can't even get my ISP's helpdesk to reply in that time-frame).
All in all, this is a great book and I'll definitely be buying any books that Karl writes.

What a great book! There are scads of .NET books on the market, some general and conceptual, some specialized (ASP.NET, ADO.NET), but none like this.

I, for one, learn a new concept or technology best by actually using it -- only then does reading the nitty gritty details make good sense to me. Reading a 3" reference type book just doesn't work when I'm learning something new -- for me, they are not a good jumping-in point (and they're too often so dry!) With this book, one can jump right into actually working with good examples that work well to explain each concept, step by step. Then, if I want to get more deeply into a specific area, he lists other resources in the "Where to Go From Here" section; and those more detailed readings will make more sense since now I have some familiarity with it, I have actually tried it out first. I also like the idea of being able to work through these without the necessity of uploading files from a CD.

I've tried other tutorial-style "teach yourself" books, but too often, they are either not well organized, or the explanations of what is going on don't make sense. I find myself doing an exercise, but I don't understand the point of it is supposed to be -- and sometimes the examples just plain don't work because something has been left out! With Karl Moore's book, his tutorials are well thought out, each one has a purpose to it, and that purpose is clearly defined.

And through it all, he conveys a sense of fun and enthusiasm and excitement over the subject matter. How refreshing!!!

I highly recommend this book, especially for those of us with a "learn-by-doing" learning style; you won't be disappointed.

I'm no computer programmer - yet (one of the reasons why I bought this book I guess), but I do own a computer and when I discovered that Karl Moore had written a book tutorial that I could actually hold in my hands, I became rather excited. I've used many of his online tutorials for sometime now, because I find his style of writing very easy to follow.

Being one of the first to buy this book no doubt, I've only got half way through the first tutorial, but it's such an easy read and so easy to understand I just had to start writing a review about it. None of your usual technical jargon here, but explanations and tutorials that are written in plain and clear English!

For someone starting out in programming (like me), this book has to be a must and well worth the investment (not that it will break the bank). Karl's style of writing is clear and humorous and makes the whole exercise of learning extremely fun. He almost makes a joke out of the whole thing. Within a few minutes of reading the first couple of pages of tutorial, I had a clear understanding of what this .NET framework was all about.

I'm off now to continue reading, it's quite addictive. If you ever read this review Karl, well done for writing a tutorial that my father would understand. I already feel as if I know you!

All budding programmers...go buy it, you won't be disappointed.

The thing I love the most about this book, is the thing I hate the most. Karl introduces great, hands-on programming examples like programming a picture viewer, and a text editor. Once you get the hang of them, you can edit the task at hand with other variables, and really expand the program to fit your needs. For example, I turned the picture viewer, into a CAD drawing viewer.

THE PROBLEM: Karl makes suggestions regarding other things you can do, to make the program more useful, without telling you how to do it. For instance, after explaining how to create the basic text editor, he suggests adding a SaveFileDialog control, to allow the user to specify the file name and location, like a "real" program. Unfortunately, he doesn't discuss HOW to do this, so you are at the mercy of Microsoft's help and web searches. In some cases, this has been a bonus. By the time I figure out how to make the improvement, I practically have the code memorized. HOWEVER, if I can't figure out how to make it work, and it requires completely overhauling the code with things that aren't covered in the book, then I'm left out in the cold. I can't learn something, if I don't know what question to ask. I tried emailing the author, but he never returned my email.

I recommend buying this book if you are a beginner. The jokes will be sophmoric and sometimes annoying, the unsupported "extra suggestions" will sometimes help, sometimes distract. At the end of the day, you will learn how to do some basic programming which will definately add to your foundation of knowledge.

In the past I have mainly found inappropriate books about programming languages which more or less are exciting as dictionaries are...
But this book is NOT a technical manual instructing you how to operate Visual Studio. It does not presume you are a dummy and the author is God (knowing everything and being much wiser than you).
It follows a totally different approach: You (the reader) are the audience!
You paid for it and you will get the joy and entertainment whilst learning VB. NET.

Enjoy, have fun, paint buttons, rename labels, design classes, listen to music, implement interfaces, understand concepts: simply learn VB.NET!