Customer Reviews

Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0 Developer's Workshop (Microsoft Programming Series)

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

 

 

Java SDK purist, stay away from this book. Also if you don't know Java or C++ syntax, stay away This book isn't for the beginner J++ developer. The points in this workshop touch on J++ NOT Java. This book will focus on the WFC,ODBC db, and COM. All MS staples. Don't expect to get anything pertaining to Java SDK in this. I found the examples helpful, especially the COM example. The simpliest implementation I've ever seen.

If you are looking for a book on J++ 6.0, this book is hard to beat. It covers all the bread-and-butter topics that are required in order to write fully functional applications that are typically used in corporations.

Of course, it is very Microsoft-centric, but then so is J++.

On the downside, it did not cover a topic that I had hoped it would. I saw no information concerning writing custom controls (complete with custom property editors, events, etc) that are then added to the toolbox for use as standard controls in my other WFC applications.

Previously I rated this book as a 4 instead of a 5 due to what I incorrectly perceived as a lack of coverage of database programming techniques. Upon re-reading Chapter 10, which contains an in-depth ado example, I now believe that this book deserves a rating of 5. In other words, this book contains many useful examples, including non-databound-control database programming examples.

This book contains some very useful examples, and will help you get a basic windows application put together in a very short amount of time. I am a non-gui C++ COM programmer with only a little bit of Java experience and by using this book, I was able to produce a useful COM testing tool within a weekend. If you have gui programming experience then you will probably be able to do better. I rated this book 4 instead of 5 because the book contains very little coverage of database programming techniques. Instead, most of the book's database discussion focuses on the use of data-bound controls. I enjoyed reading this book and believe that it was a worthwhile purchase.

I have been a developer in VB for years and have decided to transition to VJ6 to get around many of VB's limitations and problems. This book provided me a great way to learn all the features of WFC and VJ6 and transition with relative ease! Unlike many of the other reviewers, I did not expect this book to teach them how to program in Java or to be all inclusive. No book is. What this book did provide me with was a set of examples to work with that taught me the major aspects of programming in WFC and VJ6 and it did it in a straightforward and non-preaching fashion. I felt that I was being stepped through the learning not thrusted with long diatribes about features. The author did not spend a ton of time selling me on VJ6 or Java but instead spent the time demonstrating its potential for my application needs.

The examples are good especially the last chapter's which seemed to "bottle up" the book's prior examples. If you are looking for a book to teach you the Java language this is not the one. BUT, if you are looking for a quick method for transitioning your experience in a previous language (even purist Java) to VJ6, WFC, and Win32 application development, this is the book to you.

This book attempts to fit programmers in the same literary mold as end users of applications. Very poorly written, it seems to be aimed at simply showing off the Visual J++/WFC API, without giving readers a sense of the basic steps associated with the subjects it covers. Code examples are extremely confusing, because they don't follow Java coding conventions, and they don't contain the function or class wrappers. This leads the reader to wonder whether or not to include the code automatically generated by the Visual J++ environment.

I use Visual J++ 6.0 at work every day. It's a great tool (even though it DOES bastardize the Java platform), and this book is simply a marketing tool designed to trumpet the product's features without giving much in the way of information. It's funny: Microsoft used to include this type of propaganda with its products. Now we have to pay for it!

This book contains absolutely zero information beyond what is included in the on line help and product documentation. As Java matures as a language, you would think the books would as well. This one didn't. It is as basic as it could be, not containing any information which a programmer couldn't learn in using the software for a few hours. Look for other VJ++ 6.0 books.

As a beginning Java user(I have used VB a little in the past), I found this book to be very usefull. It covers most of the visual controls in a satisfactory manner. The only letdown was its poor(almost non-existant) explanation of how to use any database other than Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server, but I guess this is to be expected in a book published by Microsoft.

I had banged my head against my computer for 3 days. I was trying to create what should be a simple application in VJ++6 and was constantly running into little problems. I had several Java books - none helped. Then I found this book, whew! This book is the perfect companion to VJ++6 if you are transitioning from VB or if you just want to create a working WFC application right away. Shannon tells how to do all of the things you need for a working [database] application. He has very meaty chapters on important topics like creating controls, MDI and database access. He also clearly explains how to use interform communication. The examples, all practical application components, account for most of the book. My favorite way to learn is reading source and you get plenty here. In the end he provides a large project example with good information on how to plan development in Visual J++. If you are a Java head looking for highly technical information you may not want this book, but if you are like me and just want to start creating useful programs using WFC and J++6 right away - this is the VJ6 book to buy. It plugs the information hole in the VJ++6 Programmer's Guide and much more.

As a developer in Visual Basic I found this book an ideal way to bridge to Visual J++. The topics were intermediate but easy enough to work through. After completing it I got a solid understanding of many areas of developing for Windows using WFC and Visual J++. Part of the ease for me in bridging to VJ from VB was that the author explained all of the code that he presented in clear terms. This is refreshing! The book's code also uses 100% of WFC in its examples and they ALL work. This is something that I found not the case in other books on VJ 6. The only area that is lacking in the book is a chapter on DHTML. Currently the book states that it is geared towards intermediate readers geared towards people developing for Windows. After completing the book and its many examples, I felt the author met this goal. I look forward to future editions of this book with even more advanced material!