Learning Visual Basic.NET Through Applications (Programming Series) [Paperback]

Clayton E Crooks (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1584502428 | ISBN-13: 978-1584502425 | Publication Date: September 26, 2002 | Edition: 1st

This book/CD-ROM package explores a different approach to learning Visual Basic.net thanmost programming books on the market. Instead of reading chapter after chapter on a single topic, Learning Visual Basic.net through Applications focuses on having the reader complete a project in each chapter. The reader learns to create practical applications that he can actually use, such as an image browser, an email checker, an MP3 player, games, and much more. Each chapter is self-contained, allowing the reader to "skip" to the project of specific interest. Learning Visual Basic.net through Applications is simply the easiest way for programmers to learn Visual Basic.net.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clayton E. Crooks II (Knoxville, TN) is a partner in Advanced Information Systems, a consulting company specializing in custom hardware and software solutions for education, small business, and government entities. His articles have appeared in Dr. Dobbs, and he is the author of Awesome Game Creation 2/E.

Product Details

• Paperback: 439 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1st edition (September 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584502428
• ISBN-13: 978-1584502425
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,994,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Needs proofreading badly, November 29, 2002

By 

Kevin Schumacher "technogeek" (Medina, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Visual Basic.NET Through Applications (Programming Series) (Paperback)

This book could have been so much better. The premise is very promising - build real world applications while learning VB.NET at the same time. The execution, however, falls flat.

There are several problems with this book. First, as in any technical book, there are errors, both typographical and omissions. One chapter deals with accessing system information and printing it to a window. It leaves out the key detail of adding a reference to the system library needed to accomplish this task. In the same chapter there are several typographical errors, some within the code. No one is perfect, and these things happen. However, overall, the book has more typos than I have ever seen in any other computer book. The publisher's website has no way, other than a generic info@ email, to notify them of typos or code errors. There are no errata listings on the site or any way to submit them, as with WROX or O'Reilly.

The actual content of the book isn't bad, and the code works (for the most part); however there a much larger focus on just providing code than actually explaining step by step what you are doing. The provided CD contains all the code in the book; beyond the first chapters that deal with the basics of programming both in general and also specifically in VB.NET, the CD essentially contains the contents of the book. While those first few chapters are generally well-written, the explanations are not very deep and drop off sharply once you reach the application-building chapters.

Overall, I would rate it 2 stars. A second edition, one that has been proofread, would knock it up to 4.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best tutorials, June 27, 2003

By 

Anthony Scarpelli (Portland, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Visual Basic.NET Through Applications (Programming Series) (Paperback)

I've bought about 20 books on Visual Studio .NET, and many of them are on Visual Basic. This is one of the best tutorials I've come across. Since I was familiar with a lot of the true beginner's stuff I skipped over most everything at the beginning and went immediately to chapter 13.

The chapters are short, the code is minimal, but you get applications that are really useful and you get to build those projects that always stump you, like how to I get to print something, or how do I program an OpenDialog box to display files? (Many of the current Help examples in Visual Studio 2003 don't work and are useless.)

There is also fun stuff: The chapters on Agents are worth the price of the book alone. This opened a whole new world to me and my 16 year old son.

The book is already in need of an update since I am now using VS2003, and a couple of the chapters don't quite work with the old code, and there are a number of IDE differences as well. But most all of the applications work and you can get to modify them to suit your own applications.

I would suggest an updated book with all the first 12 chapters removed, and with examples for Mobile devices added. Hint, hint, Mr. Crooks.

If you are a novice VB .NET programmer, this is one of the first books you should get. The other first books you should get have been rated in these reviews. Just find one with high marks and that explains how to use the IDE, and how to display "Hello, world".

Unfortunately, there are hardly any books on the new Visual Studio 2003, so you'll have slim pickings for those or just stuggle with the old books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book & great examples, May 17, 2003

By 

Lynn Thomas (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Visual Basic.NET Through Applications (Programming Series) (Paperback)

While there are a few small errors, this is a great book. I bought this book, and liked it so much that I decided to buy the authors REALbasic book. It was great as well. Keep up the good work.