Customer Reviews

McSd Visual Basic 6 Desktop Applications Study Guide: Exam 70-176 (MCSD Certification)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

Every book I found on this exam was replete with errors. This book is no worse. The practice exams are pathetic but the book content is good and presents material in a way that can be recalled on exam day. You will need to visit the publisher's website and write in the text corrections (forget the practice exams though, they'll still be junk). The key here is to know that other exam materials from other sources are incorrect just as often. Based on this, you will need multiple resources (books and practice exams). You can consider 'determining which resource is accurate' as good exam practice.

So STUDY this book cover to cover. Buy the Sylvan on-line practice tests (they're most accurate). Don't rush the process, take about a month. I did it this way and passed with a 914/1000.

I just passed my exam yesterday, in large part due to this book. I used it first in my studies to get a good overview of the exam subject areas. Then I used other sources (Exam Cram, New Riders) to get a deeper exposure to the material.

The sample exam questions are easier than the actual exam, so don't get too carried away with high practice scores.

If you buy it, be sure and go straight to the Syngress web site They have posted the corrections to the text. Good luck.

Don't buy it - 'nuff said. I wish I had read these reviews before purchasing this book. Since you are - Don't. Errors, incomplete, and inadequate.

This book is not bad. I used several sources to study for the exam and this had some of the best material for some of the exam objectives. Yes there are typos. The publisher could improve their QA process greatly, but this book absolutely helped me prepare for the exam and pass - but I also used the VB manuals and an exam questions book. Is this news to anyone? Everything you read says use several sources for your preparation. Anyone contemplating using this book should use the test software only as a mechanism to test minimal understanding of the exam objectives - the real test is in a DIFFERENT LEAGUE so be warned. However, if you read the book and spend some decent study time you'll find the book does a decent job.

The book is reasonably good for preparing for the exam. However, it doesn't go into enough depth in some areas such as ActiveX controls, and it contains information about SQL Server which you simply don't need to know for the exam. Definitely use the Transcender exams with this book.

The book is full of errors. I sent them an email saying that the practice tests on the CD are full of errors and they let me download an updated version of the tests. The new tests had the exact same errors. I haven't found this book usefull for anything. It honestly confused me more than anything.

This is by far one of the worst books I have ever read. There are so many errors not only in the self tests but in the chapters and on the CD that comes with the book. The practice exam questions and answers are wrong. I totally agree with Mike this book may make you do worse on the exam if you use it!

Like any exam book, this book is not going to teach you how to program VB but rather pass the exam, and that must be emphasized.

As a matter of prudence, you should also have several study guide exam books from different authors. Yes there are errors in this book and I am deeply disappointed that a publishing house would let these errors through before releasing, but I suggest anyone preparing for the exam use this book in conjunction with two others: VB6 Exam Guide, by Mezick & Hiller, McGraw Hill ; and, MCSD Exams 175-76 by Hawhee, New Riders Publishing.

Very Important: I know this requires extra work, but if you want to pass the VB Exam, you should read "How to Program ..." books first so contradictions in study guides stand out. Besides, the purpose of taking the exam is to have a great job, you will need to know how to program and these study guides don't fully help you with that.

Overall, the book is probably just worth buying in view of the fact that the book costs about half as much as sitting the exam. If the book helps you get one or two answers correct that you would have otherwise missed, than the investment would pay off.

The book fell down in three areas - inaccuracies, the HTML version and practice questions. The inaccuracies at times seemded to indicate that the author did not fully understand the subject area, and extended well beyond typos. The HTML version of the book and practice exam was very poor, with heaps of mistakes. The practice questions were not representaive of the real exam, and tended to concentrate on memory-based questions, rather than the concept-based questions used in the exam.

These problems aside, I was not that disappointed with the book, which helped me pass the exam the first time around. Just make sure your VB knowledge is fairly firm, and do not rely on the book too much. The Visual Studio online help should be used as an invaluable aid.

This book was awful! Now that you know my feeling on it, I'll tell you why. Not only was this book filled with errors (but everyone expects some errors), they were critical errors that have you memorizing the completely wrong answers. I spent a week of my vacation studying this book, day and night, till I could recite the book inside and out. I was to the point that I was scoring an 98 on there 450 question pratice exam. I took the certification test today and didnt even come close to passing. 75% of what was in the book was never even mentioned on the cert test. Again let me state that I mastered this book and it didn't even come close to helping me with the certification. Not only do I feel they should pay me back for the book but also the money spent on taking the exam.