Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 (Paperback)

by Evangelos Petroutsos (Author) "I'm assuming that you have installed one of the several versions of Visual Studio 2005..." (more)
Key Phrases: custom comparer, serializer object, continent node, Private Sub, End Function, Click Dim (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Here is the latest edition of the perennial VB market leader! Written by the leading VB proponent, this book offers beginning and experienced VB programmers comprehensive coverage of VB 2005. The "VB 6 to VB 2005" feature makes this resource especially useful for VB 6 programmers who want to get up to speed quickly on VB 2005's new features. With twelve new chapters, updates of all current topics, a clear tutorial style, and lots of real-world examples, you will surely learn how to use VB 2005 effectively. The CD-ROM contains all of the code examples and the large sample applications developed throughout the book.

From the Back Cover
The Definitive Word on Visual Basic 2005

The release of Visual Basic 2005 solidifies Visual Basic's first-class position in the world of object-oriented programming. Written by the author of the best-selling Mastering Visual Basic .NET, this is the authoritative resource you'll need to master the most powerful version of the Visual Basic language and the newest tools comprising Visual Studio®. Inside, you'll find in-depth explanations and practical examples addressing dozens of key techniques, along with transition tips for the VB 6 developer.

Coverage Includes

• Mastering the new Windows Forms Designer and controls
• Building dynamic forms
• Using powerful Framework classes such as Collections and Cryptography
• Persisting objects to disk files
• Handling graphics and printing elaborate reports
• Achieving robustness via structured exception handling
• Developing your own classes and extending existing ones via inheritance
• Building custom Windows controls
• Building menus and list controls with custom-drawn items
• Using ADO.NET 2.0 to build disconnected, distributed applications
• Using SQL queries and stored procedures with ADO.NET 2.0
• Facilitating database programming with the visual database tools
• Building web applications with ASP.NET 2.0 and the rich web controls
• Designing data-driven web applications
• Detailed discussion of the DataGridView and DataList web controls
• Building XML web services to use with Windows and web applications

Get up to Speed on the Major Classes of the New Version of the Framework

Build Custom Classes and Controls

Take Advantage of Enhanced Web and Database Programming Features

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1408 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782143490
• ISBN-13: 978-0782143492
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #404,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellant book on the Express version of VB 2005, November 18, 2006

By	T. L Waltz (Cumberland, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with other reviewers that this is an excellant book on the Express version of VB 2005. Since I installed the FREE Express version of VB 2005, I bought this book to help me finally transition from VB6 to VB.net. Having purchased the author's VB6 book, I found this VB 2005 Express book to be of similar quality. And I would highly recommend it to anyone using VB 2005 Express.

The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is because there are numerous errors in the book. On the Sybex website, the Errata page for this book is BLANK. I personally have submitted over a dozen errata (and I am not talking about grammatical errors, these are programmatical errors) to Sybex for this book. According the Sybex these errata submittals have been passed along to the author, but the author apparently never responded. IMHO this is simply inconsiderate. I have tried to contact the author directly to his "supposed" email address, published in the book, but again NO RESPONSE.

If I wrote a book that would be the foundation for future editions and if people, like myself, were reporting errors in my book for FREE, I would be very grateful and I would send each one of them a personal "Thank You". I hope the author is listening.

The truth is that I have probably learned a lot simply by reading this book carefully enough to uncover these errors and then taking the time to go to my PC and verify that indeed that these were errors.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Introduction to VB 2005 & .NET Framework, July 13, 2006

By	James F. Houghton (Philippines) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent introduction to Visual Basic 2005 and the .Net Framework. It covers all the important topics. The pace is just right (at least for me, an experienced VB6 programmer new to .Net). The author gives you a good foundation, without confusing you with esoterica. The code samples are well-designed, practical applications, many of which could serve as templates for on-the-job tasks. Kudos to the author for a job well done!

My only complaint, and the reason I gave the book 4 stars only, is the quantity of errors. While one expects errors in technical books, which are written under deadline pressure, this one seems to contain more than most. There are the inevitable typos, most of which are fairly obvious. There are also many coding errors. I suggest that anyone using this book recreate and run the source code listings. You will be surprised at what you encounter! Some of the code will not compile; that which will sometimes will generate output you didn't expect. I found it added to the learning experience to correct the bugs. However, I don't think the author or the publisher had this in mind.

Another vexation was the source code on the website. Most of it would not compile on my machine. The reason for this (according to the author, who was kind enough to respond to my email) is that the source code was compiled using a beta version of the software. I found that creating a new project and adding the forms from the sample solved the problem in most cases.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, bad downloaded examples, July 10, 2006

By	James ONeil (St.Petersburg, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is excellent, however, the downloaded program files used in the examples rarely work. That's what keeps me from giving this book 5 stars.