Customer Reviews

Learn to Program with Visual Basic.NET

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am a professional VB developer using VB6. Having read others of Mr Smiley's books, and as I am interested in the new VB.NET framework, I decided to go ahead and pick up Mr. Smiley's Learn to Program VB.Net. I knew it was a basic beginner book from the start (what else would you expect from a book titled "Learn To Program"?!) but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book.

If you're already an intermediate/advanced VB programmer looking for upgrades to the new .NET framework, this is not necessarily the book for you. It doesn't really pretend to be. This is, however, a fantastic book teaching the basics of programming. Even an experienced programmer could benefit from the methodical teaching given in this book. A lot of us in the VB world entered the programming scene in a sink-or-swim scenario - with no idea where to start programming, but with a deadline for something that needed completion and a sinking feeling that we were in over our head. I wish back then I had access to Mr. Smiley's texts - they teach good programming habits, and demystify programming in a way that isn't nearly as soporific as many other manuals you could find.

I highly reccomend his books for the beginner. I even reccommend them for the experienced user who was thrown into programming willy-nilly in the same manner I was. Mr. Smiley does an excellent job of "filling in the gaps."

But please, take the book for what it is - an introduction to programming in the given language.

(Sorry for the spelling mistakes, English is not my native language)

This book is perfect for the public it was intended for: BEGINNERS. For those who complain about this book not talking about any advanced (or Intermediate) topic or new feature in VB.Net, they should remember that the name of the book started as "Learn to program...".

It is not like by reading this book you are ready to take a examination for an MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) degree, nor will you be able to work on very elaborated programing projects. But you will be able to understand many of the basics of programing, and you will know how to code or read simple (but yet useful) programs. But most important of all, this book will power you with the basic knowledge to start your learning and development as a programer (a knowledge many books seem to expect you to born whit).

By reading this book you will learn in a very understandable way (an also quite complete for a beginers book):

Some things that can be useful to understand programing:
- Software Developing Live Cycle
- A very brief explanation on how a computer works (which would cause any Assembler programer to laugh histericaly, but that can be realy helpfull for beginers.

All what you might learn at a beginners class
- Variables
- Functions, methods, properties, procedures and events
- Aritmetic and boolean operations
- String handling
- Selection structures
- Placing objects and menues
- Using Arrays (one dimension and multidimensional)
- Creating customized procedures and methods

Some things that due to the rush could not be taught properly in those classes:
- Disck file operations
- Error handling
- Debugging
- Writing to the windows registry
- Procedure referencing

However, if your knowledge goes beyond the 50% of this, maybe you should consider chousing another beginners (yet faster) book.

About the classroom format: I personaly liked it. Shure sometimes it sounds as he was underestimating you, and like 60% of the questions might seem too obvious. But it pays in being quite a lot more pleasant to read (as it is your first programing book), and the 40% left of the questions can be really usefull, some few times you would just say: "Hey, I was about to ask that"

Advice?

1.- You are new to all programing forms = buy it, buy it and buy it!!!!!

2.- You are new to windows (and object oriented / object based) programing = strongly consider buying it (you might need to skip 1 or 2 chapters, but you will enjoy the other 13)

3.- You are new to Visual Basic .Net but you come from C++, C# .Net, Java, etc... = You could buy it and you might still learn something from it, but there are better choices in this cases.

4.- You already know to program in VB.Net and you are loking for information about ADO.Net, OOP, ActiveX, ASP.Net, XML = THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU!!!!!


Anyway, if you decide to buy it, you should consider buying another book (Intermediate level maybe, or a faster beginner's one) soon, this is only the first step into mastering VB.Net programing.

I just finished this great book as part of Professor Smiley's online VB.Net study group, and was compelled to write a review--particularly when I saw that the previous reviewer gave it one star.

I'm not sure what book that person was reading when he said the book doesn't cover .Net--this book taught me how to write a VB.Net Windows program, and I thought it covered the subject well. Granted, there's more to VB.Net than developing Windows programs---but I don't think you'll find a book anywhere that covers all of VB.Net, and if you do, it's bound to be pretty superficial.

The book is written for people who want to learn how to program, in the form of a simulated classroom---and that's stated pretty clearly on the front and back cover jackets of the book. The book covers the fundamentals of programming--Programming Logic, If statements, Case Statements, Loops, Error Handling, Menus--in a way that few authors can.

Personally, I like the classsroom format--lots of screenshots, lots of questions, and most importantly, lots of answers. It's well organized, taking you from knowing nothing to being able to write your own VB.Net program.

If you're trying to get up to speed quickly with VB.Net, I can't recommend a better book.

I've never written in a review for a book here before. After reading this book I felt compelled to do just that. I've read more books than I can recall about learning programs. From Access to Photoshop and all things in between. While I learn a lot from these books without fail I hit areas that are just glossed over and I'm left thinking "Okay, but what about ____?"

This book answered every question that came up. I swear it was like John Smiley was reading my mind. Now make no mistake, it is a beginner's book for sure and I did know a fair bit of the material beforehand but all the topics were covered in such detail that without fail I came away with a deeper understanding of things I thought I already knew.

This book wuld be my first recommendation to anyone learning VB.NET. It will give you a solid foundation to build on as you progress into programming.

Let me begin by saying that I'm the author, so let's get that out of the way.

I'm posting here to point out that the book has a tremendous amount of support materials that have never been advertised. Each of my books has a support page containing a current list of errata, downloadable files (completed exercises from the book), extra links to extra materials I have written and my email address in the event you have problems. I also run a series of online classes so that if you would like to learn with me in a more structured setting, you can do that also. You can access those materials via this link

http://www.johnsmiley.com/books.htm

I should also say that this book isn't for everyone---and you can read through some of the other reviews posted here to see why and why not.

I wrote this book for beginner level programmers, and the book is written in a unique style.

You (and I) can thank the now defunct Wrox Publishing house for the style of the book that some people absolutely love and others (primarily hotshot programmers with lots of experience) hate. The book is written as if you are participating in an actual classroom---many people, particularly those learning on their own or in an Independent study setting find comforting.

My thanks to the many people who have written to me to tell me how much they've enjoyed my books and how they have helped them achieve their goals of learning to program.

John Smiley

If you are new to programming, this is good place to start. Mr. Smiley has quite a knack of being able to explain complex concepts in a way that regular people can grasp. Through the book, you get to "sit in" on a computer class and program a kiosk-style price display project ("The China Project"). While the class motif does have disadvantages (most notably extra text and a reduction in the book's value as a reference work), it does offer compelling advantages in a introductory level book:

1. There is a plot to keep one interested as one goes through the book

2. The class motif provides a unifying theme and style to the text as a whole.

3. Most importantly, the classroom setting allows Smiley to bring up possible errors that one might make along the way (e.g., typos) in a very natural and friendly way. The classroom setting also allows for Q&A (kind of like a FAQ for each topic).

The full title of this book is "Learn to Program Using VB.NET", with the "Learn to Program" portion of the title is in smaller print in the upper-right corner, while the VB.NET is in large print in the center. This is rather unfortunate because it miscommunicates the purpose of the book. The book is very much for beginners; it is not for those who want to learn the intricacies of the .NET framework. It would have been much better if the "Learn to Program" were in larger print while the "VB.NET" wasn't quite so prominent. That, it itself, may very well be the source of many misunderstandings regarding this book.

That, be as it may, the book's strengths, as I see them, are:

1. It is one of the very few books that I have seen that keeps alive the original spirit of Visual Basic as a programming language for hobbyists (as opposed to the "VB is a powerful language that won't make C programmers bust out laughing at you" marketing that Microsoft uses for the new version).

2. Smiley emphasizes important concepts that are not specific to a specific programming language. These concepts include software lifecycle as well as how to think through how to construct algorithms (i.e., how to construct solutions for the task at hand). Also, he explains how computer programs actually work.

3. Smiley's approach to VB's debugging tools is rather novel. Instead of being merely tools to find out what went wrong with your code, the debugging tools become a microscope to your code to help it become alive and understandable.

4. An entire chapter is devoted to beginner's mistakes.

Beware, though, that if you are not at the beginner level, this book is not for you. Some of the difficulties that an experienced programmer will encounter include:

1. No mention is made of more advanced concepts, such as connecting to databases or object-based programming. They are addressed in other books in the series.

2. If you know basic programming concepts, you will find yourself wanting to get to the code.

3. Smiley teaches/emphasizes classic VB-style syntax whenever possible. While this is certainly valid, and a great way to teach the language to beginners (remember that Basic was a beginner's language while C was not), it is not so great if you want to get the most out of the new VB.

As I mentioned before, this book is a great place to start if you are new to programming. But is hardly the place to finish. Rather, use this book to get your feet wet, and then you can move on to other books to further explore all the possibilities of the VB.NET.

I have read through Professer Smiley's LTP Visual Basic series,
participated in some of his on-line study groups, and now find myself in the midst of .NET. I began by wondering what the value was in all the time and energy I put into studying VB 6 if the very foundation was changing. Would there be any point in continuing to study VB6 with the emergence of the .Net platform? The answer is of course yes! I haven't read all of John's books yet, nor participated in all the on-line groups he offers. VB6 Will be around for a while-I intend on learning it fully!

With that said; I became aware of John's book which enters the Vb.Net environment as simply and elegantly as his prior work. Impressed as I am with his previous books, I realy wanted to see what his treatment of the absolute beginner level of .Net would be like. My first try at .Net was a bit intimidating, and I would need precise and consistent instruction from the start.

Professer Smiley brings the virtual classroom right back to VB.Net with out skipping a beat!
From the moment I opened Learn to Program with Visual Basic.Net
I felt as if I had stepped into the classroom, sat down at the desk, and launched into a new beginning toward my programming goals.
Load up the development environment and start coding (chapter 4).
But first, as a beginning programmer you will need to know some fundemental ideas about computers, programs and how they relate to each other, the user, and you the programmer. You will need to understand the Vb.Net integrated development environment(not quite the same as Vb6!)and how to manuver through it. All disussed in the first three chapters, and referred to during the course of the book.
John opens chapter four with 'programming is easy'. And so it is from that point forward. With the system development life cycle under your belt, developing your programming skills is easy! From properties, methods and events, to controls, arrays and string manipulation; data structures and variables; you'll find yourself fully immersed in this relaxed, un-pressured learning environment. You will find comprehensive discussions regarding the harder to understand material, along with demonstrations to bring home the theory and practical sides of what is being presented.
In the end you will have constructed a project which has use, and will continue to be an educational tool when Professer Smiley comes out with his next entry to the LTP series. ( I hope it's soon!)
The only thing left to say is: by this book and learn to program!

The author is an experienced VB author (3 prior books on VB6) and a college level professor in computer science. His book is eminently readable using a classroom metaphor. He includes dialog with typical student questions and exercises sprinkled throughout the book. His approach is quite unique as far as typical computer training books go, much better than the Dummies, Idiot's, TY24hrs, and similar genre. He includes a classroom project (p12) with dialog with a Client (p5), a real project (p35), interactions of VB with the hardware (p71), OS (p76), as well as VB itself.

The book has 15 equally weighty chapters, with first 4 chapters on project definition and classroom dialog, 2 chapters on the VB GUI, OOP programming covering 6 chapters, an error handling chapter, and the last chapter on the Win Registry. There is an 8-page index. There is no CD that contains the project code by chapter or a listing of the completed project, however his website johnsmiley dot com has the downloadable code and pics in the freestuff area.

Using the "there is no such thing as a dumb question" metaphor, his mythical students ask the most innocent, yet meaningful questions at appropriate times. This can reinforce the learning process. He also explains concepts using real life processes too, such as VB events (p152). This becomes real important when introducing OOP concepts and contrasts it with procedural programming used with older Basics. He also adds sage advice such as "Ten-Step Guide to Successful Interface Development" (p 158-9). He also doesn't forget the ColorDialog and Timer control (p178-9) and explains his "Hungarian notation" for a naming objects convention (p146).

Variables are introduced in the middle of the book in Chapter 7. The VB variable properties are further explained in Chap 8 and the project's VB prototype code is finished herein. The author also has surprise visits from the Client show up to the classroom, typical of a real-world client. The last programming construct explained is Arrays and a simple 3-dimensional array is added to the project code.

In his next-to-last chapter 14, error handling is covered with a list of 11 common beginner errors. Then he shows how to construct free form and structured error dialog boxes. Then he applies these concepts to the project. Last but not least, he shows how to incorporate into the project by saving preferences into the Registry and program optimization by creating functions and Call procedures.

Throughout his book, Smiley includes the client, project, and classroom metaphor. He gives the students and client a personality and presents intrigue with surprises, disappointments, frustrations, rumors, joy and successes. Similar to what happens on real projects. I read this book at a local library and highly recommend it for the beginning VB.net programmer.

This is an extremely well written introduction to VB.Net, simulating a classroom setting. It starts off gently
for novices and builds momentum in a comprehensible way.
The author is a Microsoft-certified expert but is also
a teacher by profession with years of teaching experience.
I also recommend the author's web-based course on VB.Net,
one of the best Internet training bargains around
(available at JohnSmiley com).

John Smiley is a good teacher of computer programming. If you are completely new to prgramming and would like to learn VB.Net then this is the book for you. Smiley's style of class room teaching sometimes becomes a bit tedious yet it is a good method. Though slow, it works. Don't hesitate go and buy it NOW!