Customer Reviews

REALbasic for Dummies (with CD-ROM)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

After more than twenty years programming computers, I decided to learn REALbasic, as I wanted more control over the presentation of my FileMaker databases. I bought REALbasic, the "Standard" version (mistake #1 - it isn't full-featured). Then I bought Newburg's book (mistake #2 - too difficult to start with). Then I upgraded REALbasic to "Professional" (good move), and bought Tejkowski's "REALbasic for Dummies" (at last I could understand!) Don't do as I did. If you REALLY want to learn REALbasic, get the "Professional" version, and BOTH Tejkowski's and Newburg's books. Start with TejKowski; it reads easily; do the examples. When you're through, use Newburg's book to give you the philisophical understanding, and as a reference. The manuals that come with REALbasic are well done, but still - start with "REALbasic for Dummies".

I work in the economic research and finance industry, and while I have some experience with Excel VBA, I am by no means a programmer. I was thus already more or less familiar with object-oriented programming (OOP) and the overall syntax of the Basic language. I had started programming with REALbasic for only a few weeks, and I had purchased both the Dummies and O'Reilly's book. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Dummies: If you already understand OOP and how to write commands in Basic, then you won't need to read half of book. However, Tejkowski takes the reader gently through different topics in REALbasic and actually shows the reader--step by step--on how to do this and that.

O'Reilly's: Much more theoretical and advanced. It actually has less to do with showing the reader how to do something step by step than discussing good programming techniques. Expect to invest the time and patience in reading and understanding it.

The Dummies book is a good start for anyone completely new to REALbasic. I found half the book not useful for my purposes, but it's still a good reference when you want to do certain things, say set up a database. The O'Reilly's book is also a must to understand *why* you need to do certain things in REALbasic. The manuals included with REALbasic are good, and the step-by-step tutorial is excellent, but the O'Reilly book fills in the theoretical underpinnings.

I would recommend both books to anyone who's serious about programming with REALbasic. Assess your programming skills and background honestly to determine which book you should start with.

Unlike some other reviewers, I did not find this book to be the "worst programming book ever". Rather, it was concise and practical. If it wasn't a "dummies" book, I might be upset. The author covers the basics in a clear fashion and provides easy-to-understand examples.

Sure, the book has a few errors, but what books don't? The 1st edition of Neuburg's "Definitive Guide" had a pile of errors that dwarfed the list of errors in this book. After I read this book, I could at least put together some simple applications. In contrast, after wandering through Neuburg's tome, I was left scratching my head. What the heck was that guy talking about?

Dummies books have never been about super detailed, in depth coverage of topics. Rather, they get you going in short order. REALbasic for Dummies delivers. If you're a "pro", maybe this book isn't for you. If you're a newcomer, I'd say "dive in!".

I finally received my copy of RealBasic for Dummies and it's great. This is the book for anyone interested in Mac programming. The examples are clear and easy to understand. For those with no RealBasic experience this is a wonderful starting point, and those who already use RB should still get a lot out of it.

I own the O'Reily's RB book, also, and find it helpful at times; but I find RB for Dummies much easier to understand and follow and think most RB users will agree.

REALbasic is your typical Mac application. Powerful and yet incredibly easy to use. I don't pretend to be a
serious programmer - yet !! :-) But with REALbasic, I'm sure I could be if I worked at it. Unfortunately I don't think that
this book is the one to take me all the way. Don't get me wrong. This book was the first I've read on the subject and
I don't think I could have asked for a finer introduction. I'm very very glad that I purchased and read this book. This book provides an excellent foundation from which to move onto other books that might perhaps provide a more in depth coverage of the actual language itself. Experiment with this book.....if you like what you see and want to develop your skills......read others.

Informative, but needed more in depth coding examples. After reading the book cover to cover twice, I still felt unprepared to do anything more than an extremely basic (no pun intended) application. I would have like to have seen a little more programming examples of the concepts presented. I definately would recommend this book over the tutorial from Real software. It is worth the money, but dont expect to be an application wizard after reading it.

I did not like the book. However I still give it three stars, it is exactly what it was reported to be. I had programmed in BASIC many years earlier, so I found the book to be very much below the level I was looking for. If you are an experianced C/C++ programmer with a little knowlege of BASIC, then I would recommend "REALBasic: the difinitive guide" (O'Reilly). However, if REALBasic is your first programming experiance, then this may be the book for you.

When the code for the first project in the book has typos, you wonder about the rest of the code samples and the book's overall editing. I can imagine many newbies -- the book's intended audience -- being unnecessarily confused and aggravated when their first project fails to work. One hopes a new edition comes out with cleaner copy.

This book covers REALbasic 3. Forget about learning anything about REALbasic 2006 from this book. You will not find any mention of REALbasic for Windows or Linux either. The CD-ROM a throw away as well. The sample applications are of limited value and the REALbasic trial software is ancient.

This is a great introductory book to designing and writing your first RB projects. I liked the author's step-by-step approach and the structured approach he followed. I recommend this one for anyone who's just bought RB!