Customer Reviews

MCSD in a Nutshell: The Visual Basic Exams (VBS Exams 70-175 and 70-176)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have looked at several of the MCSD books available and most tend to spend too much time on things every VB programmer should know before even *considering* certification. You will not find how to fill a listbox in this book. Or how to create a control array.

Another thing about most of the MCSD books that bothers me, is that most of them cut and paste their tutorial sample code from Microsoft... no origninality and little real-world issues.

This author covers real world issues that are truly important when designing a VB project. His style of writing is clear and straightforward. I appreciate this.

Microsoft makes an effort to make the MCSD certification meaningful by including questions on the exams that you will only know the answer to if you have confronted the issue in your own experience or know the concepts so well, that you can think through the problem to a solution. This weeds out people who have no experience whatsoever and study a book in order to get the cert. I enjoyed the coverage of incorporating help and optimization; issues that can really make or break an application.

This book is NOT a How to Program with VB beginner book... rather a discussion of the key concepts that experienced programmers need to know to be certified.

Thank you Mr. Foxall!

I used MSPress VB 6 Study Kits as well as New Riders to prepare for my MCSD exams. I passed my 70-175 today with 914. I actually thought I was ready after reading the above mentioned books. When a friend suggested this one I thought it would not hurt to try it out. This is the best investment I have made in books. This book is not for the begginer. It is a treasure chest of practical information. It feels like I am speaking to a very experience professor whom is giving me all the tricks of the trade. This guy actually answers questions others assume you know the answer for. After certifying yourself sell off all your VB study books and just keep this on your shelf together with the MS Reference Library.

I just passed the 70-176 exam yesterday. (bear with me, I am such a happy camper right now that I felt I should share the source of my success for those who are looking for good study materials) I have to give a huge amount of credit to the O'Reilly book MCSD in a Nutshell. The book is geared for the 70-176 and 70-175 exams. What I liked is that the book started off with the assumption that you know the basics of VB and you now want to get into the more meaty topics. It is very well written and digs deeply into COM Components and ActiveX Controls. Each Chapter has a summary at the beginning that lists the topics and which of the two exams they apply to. It also has little "side bars" throught the chapters on things you should remember for the exams. The Key Facts, review questions and exercises at the end of each chapter are also very appropriate.

I had also used the MCSD Training Kit from MS. That book was not nearly enough. MCSD in a Nutshell turned out to be a much better investment. Get it. You won't be disappointed.

Great buy ! A good resource for experience VB programmers looking to get certified. It assumes you know all the basics and focuses on all relevant aspects of VB. Especially useful because programmers generally use a restricted set features but this book gives a good overall understanding of all topics.

Finally, a book that can effectively prepare me for the Visual Basic exams. This is my third book purchased to study for the Visual Basic exams. The first two books were shelved after the first couple of chapters. I have been coding Visual Basic professionally off and on since version 1.0. This book was love at first site. After reading the first chapter, I know that even if I did not proceed with the exams I was not wasting my time reading the book. The information is concise, informative and real world.

This book is a survival guide as well as a study guide. I already used the book several times to resolve programming issues and design techniques. 80% of my development time is programming around the Visual Basic quirks and unknowns. The book touches on these quirks and defines the fine line differences.

The kicker of it all, I e-mailed the author a question relating to a topic in the book. He e-mailed me back a response within an hour with different resolution options.

I just passed the VB exam 70-176 and used this book extensively. I had read several others books but were thoroughly disappointed. They covered basic topics and only skimmed the surface neglecting most of the areas that you will be tested on. MCSD in a nutshell, on the other hand, thoroughly discusses each topic. If you are intending to pass the exams, this should definitely be in your arsenal. Combine this book with the transcender exams and you should have an excellent opportunity to pass the exams.

This book is written for experienced advanced users of visual basic. It does not cover basic visual basic information such as loops, lists, combo boxes, etc. The author expects you to have learned these topics previously. It instead concentrates on the complex concepts that you will be tested on. If you are a beginner, you will need to buy other books to become familiar with the Visual Basic language.

In addition, once you have passed the exams this book will not gather dust on your shelf. It is a great reference book that you will continue to use.

I wouldn't advise anyone studying to pass Microsoft VB's 175 or 176 exams to use just one book. However, if someone needed my recommendation for only one book, Foxall's "MCSD in a Nutshell" would be it. Unlike many other MCSD books, Foxall doesn't spend any time insulting professional VB programmers with beginner VB details (which, believe it or not, is what some MCSD books do in their first chapters). On page 9, he's already describing how to display a pop-up menu during program runtime. He assumes that if you need a beginner's tutorial, you shouldn't even be thinking about these exams.

The book begins with a table dividing the skills & technologies tested on these two exams, the way every certification book should begin. Foxall's treatment of COM and ActiveX is outstanding. In fact, I learned more in the 38-page COM chapter than I did in all of Wrox's VB COM book. The chapters on "Packaging & Deployment" & "Visual SourceSafe" are also noteworthy, primarily because other books skimp on these topics while Microsoft still heavily tests on them.

A final note: people will be drawn to this book mainly for help passing the MCSD exams. Let's not downplay the usefulness of this book as an excellent Visual Basic resource for advanced VB programmers.

I actually wasted 2 weeks study time trying other study guides. Once I got to this one I knew I was on the right track. I just passed VB Distributed with a 957. The author does an excellent job of covering the right topics with the level of detail needed. I actually enjoyed reading this book! The other guides skipped important topics and rambled. This book also has very useful exercises and summaries. It has the best info on COM I've seen, and explains it clearly. Good luck finding any other guide with a good explanation of Apartment threading. It is well organized, and will have a permanent place on my desk at work for reference along with VB/VBA Nutshell. It is that good. If you study this book thoroughly, along with Transcender practice exams and flash cards you will do great. That is exactly how I did it and how I intend to study for VB Desktop. Thank you Mr. Foxall!

I read this book to get certified. It took me one week (with the Transcender test) and I got certified in both 70-175 and 70-176 with high score on both. What i liked about the book was that it skipped VB basic areas like data types and concentrated on the importent areas like COM, ADO, P&D and so on. Good Key Facts at the end of each chapter. I didn't do the excercises in the book.

This book is, by far, the best book on the 70-176. How in-depth it goes on the 70-175, I'm not sure since I haven't taken the test. However, I don't think I'm going to rely on this one for the Distributed exam. But if you're taking the Desktop exam, by all means, use this book. I wrote the exam today and scored 928/1000 (92% - 714/1000 is a passing score). The author, James Foxall, cuts through the basics with which most books bore us, and gets right to the important details. If you buy this book, make sure that you get the January 2001 reprint (the second edition). I have the original October 2000 edition, and it is riddled with errors, especially in the most important chapter: Packaging and Deploying. Some errors are not even listed on O'Reilly's errata list. Overall, however, it is an excellent resource and you will pass the exam with this book, some intelligence, and some VB experience.