Customer Reviews

The Ultimate IBM VisualAge for Java Tutorial CD

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

 

 

I didn't realilze when I bought this that it was CD ONLY; there is no book! I was expecting a book with CD. While a little disappointed at first, (I like the convenience of a book to study anywhere, anytime), I would purchase again.

This is the first CD ROM tutorial that I've ever used. I find that it is very easy to use, and that this method of tutoring works very well. The CD consists of a Lotus Screen Cam, which shows you the complete screen motion as the author speaks his tutorial. If you prefer, there is a PDF file with all of his text - you could print all of this out if you so desired - I didn't find that I needed that, nor the PDF files themselves.

The CD includes Acrobat reader 4.05, and the Lotus Screen Cam. It also includes VAJ 3.0; I had already purchased 3.02, so didn't install this.

I'm very impressed with the tutorial. If you are new to VAJ, it will give you a very strong introduction. I like to Pause the Lotus Player, while building the tutorial within my VAJ, so that I can stay in synch. With all of the screen motions being captured and displayed for you, along with the author's voice details, I am very pleased with the product.

I think that this course would only be useful to you if you already have some knowledge of Java, as otherwise the concepts of 'why' the author is doing things will be lost to you.

If you are knowledgable in Java, and are looking for an in-depth presentation of VisualAge for Java, then I would recommend this CD-ROM tutorial.

I really wish I could be more enthusiastic about this product - after all I have enjoyed most other books I have that have been published by IBM. However, I have to say that this tutorial barely scratches what one can do with VisualAge for Java. The author basically goes thru two simple applications. The first application shows how to display a duck in a pond, and the second one shows how to create a really simple spreadsheet. For 69 bucks, how about including serialization, jdbc, servlets, RMI? How about showing the real novice how to use the scrapbook? Go to IBM's website and download the tutorials - I bet you'll learn more.

I don't want to sound like a party pooper, because most reviews were on the positive side, however...I found the problem with this tutorial is that it's too hands-on, plunges right into the nitty-gritty of VisualAge, which is a very complex and exhaustive. No general outline or overview of what VisualAge is, no logical breakdown of its components and how they interact. You try to follow the narrator, flipping between the tutorial and VisualAge, but if you do something a bit wrong, you're gone, because you have no understanding whatsoever of the product itself. And once you're stuck, you can't go on, because the continuation of the tutorial is enhancing what you've already done, the next example builds on the previous one. I found myself re-installing twice and starting all over again just to get the duck applet working. So I would take it with a grain of salt, and would say you've got a 50% chance of getting something out of this tutorial. Was it worth it ? For me, not really. Could it be for you ? Perhaps, but don't get your hopes too high.

This CD provided me with a lot of the information I needed in a no-nonsense manner. I was able to grasp the tips I needed to develop an application program in the VIsual Age IDE after using the CDROM only twice. I think it's one of the best information sources on the topic.

I found this tutorial CD just what I needed to visually develop an interface with 'swing' objects. Being frustrated after working through lots of Java programming material, fortunate circumstances directed me to Bill O'Farrell and this 'ultimate' tutorial.

The Ultimate IBM VisualAge for Java Tutorial provided a progressive guide to understanding how to visually develop and test software interfaces written in Java. By following along and actually building the three programs that culminated in an example using a 'jtable', I was able to learn many useful functions and actions. Sometimes the explanations for the actions were terse or went by so quickly that I didn't notice them. I found myself going back over the video clips or even using the well labeled list to jump to a forgotten but crucial action. This shortcoming may be understandable given the hands-on nature of this tutorial and the range of the material covered. As a testament to the value of Bill's tutorial, I managed to create from scratch the final example (almost identically) days later and, more importantly, apply these skills to building my own 'jtree' interface.

Bill O'Farrell's pleasant, clear voice and well-paced actions on the video clips made his tutorial easy to follow. The text and key static images were easily accessible when I found myself referring to the CD to find needed action sequences for my own interface development. Bill and his 'just-in-time' tutorial were the right stuff at the right time.

This CD is not worth your money. It is basically a bunch of Lotus ScreenCam files strung together by a batch file. The batch file on my CD wasn't even written correctly, one of the files was out of order. If you by chance unfortunately decide to purchase this CD, copy the contents on your hard drive, it will run much smoother.

The lesson content is basically just a quick step-by-step of building a program in Visual Age. It is not for beginner Java programmers. Your money is best spent elsewhere.

gee... screencam dumps ... needed to rewrite the batch file to get it to run.

I was hoping to get a lot more from this tutorial than what I got. It's too short and addresses only the AWT and Swing components vis-a-vis VA for Java. I would recommend this book for someone who is a real novice.