Customer Reviews

Visual InterDev 6 Unleashed

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Considering the importance of Visual InterDev 6, and the marketability of VI6 certification, I am puzzled by the scarcity of good books on the subject. Thurrott, et al., have produced one of the better ones. It is a compendium of VI6 topics that cover all the necessary aspects of VI6 development. Rather than introducing the reader to the mechanics of the interface, the book is true to its stated assumption that readers already "have a basic understanding of the product." Perhaps the authors took this too much to heart in their chapter layout. For example, in the very beginning of the book are the topics "Creating Cross-Browser Web Applications", "Using Dynamic HTML" and "Programming the Scripting Object Model". Now, these are certainly important subjects, but if you are attempting to learn VI6 from scratch, these topics seem to come out of nowhere. If, on the other hand, you have been using VI6 for a short time, and have already read an introductory book, such as Microsoft's "Using Visual Interdev 6" or Sams' "Teach Yourself Visual Interdev 6 in 24 Hours", then Thorrott's book seems to start in just about the right place.

WEAKNESSES: First of all, I must state that when I read a developer book such as this, I use the concepts discussed in the text to create my own sample code to test those concepts. I seldom copy the text examples onto my system, and seldom test the sample code on the accompanying CD. (Most CD's that are shipped with books contain very little that might interest me. I would prefer that the publisher keep the CD, and lower the book price. Besides, placing the examples on a publisher's web site, rather than on a CD, allows them to be corrected dynamically.) So, I can not comment on the issue of the examples working as is. My own examples, created using the text as a guide, worked fine. So, speaking of the book alone, its greatest weakness is in chapter to chapter flow. Each chapter seems to work well in covering its designated topic. I did not find this to be a significant distraction. Another area of weakness was in the amorphous arena of browser support for specific features. While I realize that this is a moving target, simply stating that Netscape and IE interpret stylesheets differently is inadequate.

STRENGTHS: I loved the simple example of creating a VB component for Web data access, then running it within Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Since all component discussion emphasized the importance of custom marshalling of parameters, rather than utilizing class properties in DCOM, the component examples were already suitable for MTS, which prefers stateless objects. VB old-timers, who are accustomed to programming object classes will appreciate this.

A great strength in the text is the frequent clarification of particular techniques that work and those that don't -- based entirely on the experience of the authors. And there are wise and bold assertions of which technologies to avoid. I was particularly pleased with the inclusion, in the appendixes (I guess they're not 'appendices' any more.) of over 300 pages of quick references (7 in all) covering HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, Active Server Objects, ActiveX Data Objects, T-SQL, and the Scripting Object Model. Although none is in great depth, they usually provide all the necessary info to jog the memory of someone who is already familiar with their subjects.

For experienced VB developers, this book provides the essential guidance needed for breaking old habits when making the transition to web application development. And since many intro books on Active Server Pages (ASP) tend to encourage the intermingling of VBScript and HTML, Thurrott, et al., provide the antidote, and the reasons why. There is a lot of wisdom here.

CONCLUSION: While this is not a particularly good choice for a complete beginner at VI6, it is an excellent book for an experienced VB developer who needs to sort out the plethora of options and approaches available in VI6, or for the novice who has already made it through one of the beginner books and needs to move on. For the most advanced VI6 gurus... you're in virgin territory.

This book is a gold mine for anyone trying to use Visual InterDev. It covers all of the related technologies that most other books simply ignore. There are quality examples about DHTML, CSS, debugging, security, data access, JavaScript, VBScript, MTS, Index Server. There are chapters dedicated to building real life web sites with catalogs and e-commerce being the focus. It also contains a complete reference section for HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, ASP, T-SQL and the Scripting Object Model. This book is an InterDev Bible!

Read chapter 10 to 18 rather than from beginning, Then, this book is in very good flow - Even for beginner. If you do not have a SQL server to run the sample code, just create an Access DSN instead of.

I had high expectations for this book since it had a 5 star rating from the previous 7 readers which is why I ordered it. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. Although the book does touch on many important topics, it is very disjointed and there is no kind of flow for the content. The explanations for the source code consist of "Paste in this code and everything will work fine" which is a far cry from explaining what is happening in the code block. You can tell that this book is the combined result of many different authors with no major flow between the chapters. I bought the book hoping for an in-depth review of Visual InterDev and what I got was a superficial review some of the features. I am sorely disappointed.

If you're looking for a good intro to VI6, then this is it. The first 10 chapters are about nothing but getting used to the interface, and what various parts of the interface do. It even goes into a stint on ADO2.

The last few chapters are good, and it has an excellent appendix section (but with no detail).

I am disappointed...I expected more depth and detail out of a "UNLEASHED..." book. I give it 4 stars because it is an excellent beginners book...I don't give it 5 because it lacks depth / detail.

This was a good book as an introduction to developing ASP with VI. I had come from a "code everything by hand" approach and VI unleashed has given me a great introduction to the visual developement capabilities of InterDev 6. However, the major drawbacks are Chapter 23 and 24. I learn best by doing and while the steps in creating the example online catalog helped me to learn how to use DTCs, etc in the end the examples did not work. Examples that don't work are very frustrating. I want to see the program I did in the examples work, not chase down bugs. Also adding to my frustration is that there are no online resources where fixes and updates to the text exist. All in all though, the book presented the material well and helped me get a good grasp of VI6.

Errors and errors and more errors.

There are two things guaranteed if you buy a Sams or Que book. The examples will not work. The authors just type them in, willy-nilly, the publishers take the examples on faith.

They cut and paste a proforma Thank You to all the 'hard working' folks who worked on the book.

You go out, buy the book, start reading, type in one example, BAAM ! BOOM ! Crash, and another crash.

I took the book back to the chain store where I bought and told the buyer to it pull it off the shelf.

To my surprise, knowing how little book stores care, all the Sams books dealing with VI were pulled off the shelf.

I learned more from this $40 book than I did from a $2,500 InterDev class! Great coverage of BOTH Javascript and VBScript. As well as Dynamite sections on DHTML, MTS, ASP Objects, security, Transact SQL, and lots more.

Author gives crisp, easy to understand explanations that don't Drone on and on, and Real-world examples that you can actually implement on your own projects right away! Plus the E-Commerce section was Exactly what I needed.

This book blew me away! I can't wait to redo my sites with InterDev!

I restrained myself from buying other books on Visual InterDev 6 and I am glad I did so. This book focuses on the more practical uses of VI6, but doesn't leave out the more obscure topics. It explains a task at the hands on level, but also takes the time to explain the theory, and help you to decide the best way to do something. On a side note, the database chapters focus on SQL Server 7, with Oracle and Access mentioned very briefly. This formula met my needs perfectly, and I recommend the book to anyone who wants to get something specific done quickly, but get a general working knowledge of the product at the same time.

Nothing earth shattering to say in this review. VID Unleashed is the best book I have read on VID6--hands down. Competent chapters on the scripting object model, the VID data environment, and the database and query designers. Several hundred pages of good reference material on the SOM, HTML, DHTML, ADO, etc. Good stuff.

My only complaint is that there is an obvious switch from one writer to another between chapters.