Customer Reviews

Pro .NET 2.0 Windows Forms and Custom Controls in VB 2005

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This book really hits the nail on the head. I've been struggling with custom controls for weeks searching every article on the web and all over Microsoft and MSDN. No place has demonstrated the depth of understanding anywhere near as well as Matthew MacDonald has done. Not only are there clear and to the point examples without getting bogged-down in some lengthy, arcane and mythical tasks, but the accompanying text describes the underlying 'why' that is almost more useful than the code. Every page has some exceedingly useful information. My project has been in C# but the translation from VB from the book to C# is a no-brainer (assuming you've written in both over the last few years).
I pride myself as a descriptive writer but this book is far better than I could have written myself. It is to the point and thorough. If were any better it would wake you gently in the morning and make your coffee.

This book is full of simple tidbits for binding controls to data objects and custom objects. The examples are short and easy to follow so you don't get lost in the code. Matthew does not spend a lot of time explaining background code (specifically, using ADO) because this is not the forum for those topics. What you get is 1000+ pages of explanations and examples focused on the task at hand: binding data. He does spend a few chapters introducing you to the various objects, covering many not-so-common functions. I found myself thinking "Wow!! That's cool!" several times. I highly recommend this book!!

If you really need the information to make your applications just that next step better, this is a great book. It is not a quick and easy read, but it is well worth the time that it takes to thoroughly read through it. I'm an intermediate level programmer (at best) and this book has helped take my work to the next level of professionalism.
After you've read through it, and know what it contains, the excellent index will help you easily go back and find that little tidbit of information that you need.
I will be buying his book on WPF also. Nice job Mr. MacDonald.

This book is quite possibly one of the best books writen on the subject of creating custom controls inside vb. By reading this book I have already improved my applications performance and reduced my design development time using my own custom made control. Great book all around.