Customer Reviews

Visual Studio.Net All in One Desk Reference for Dummies

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

 

 

Well, I already have a number of .NET language books, I did not need any more. I enjoy the for dummies books because they start at the low level and work upwards from there. What I was looking for was a book that would tell me how to use Visual Studio.NET to it's maximum potential. Instead, I got 7 mini-books on how to program in each of the languages that Visual Studio offers. The title should be Programming in .NET for Dummies rather than using VS.NET in the title. I can write in any of those languages by using notepad, so this is a very misleading title.
However, I will not give this book an awful rating since it seems to be good at what it does say. Just be careful that you don't buy this thinking you're going to get a good reference on how to use Visual Studio - because this ain't it.

I've been a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer / Trainer for several years. I've taught many courses on virtually every Microsoft technology including Back Office, Access, Visual Basic, SQL Server, etc. Presently, I'm a Senior Programmer Analyst with the world's largest publisher of fitness books (writing my first ASP.NET application).

I recently picked up this Dummies book based on the fact that it covers all of the major components included with the new Microsoft product, Visual Studio .NET. The "7 Books in 1" phrase on the book's cover definitely caught my attention.

I'm happy to say that I'm pleased with my purchase. Although this book does contain some typos, they do not take away from the content. This book is well formatted and flows nicely. It provides a lot of "hands-on" exercises to help you become more familiar with the power of Visual Studio .NET. This book will not make you a master. However, it will provide you with an excellent starting point with this new product. I highly recommend it for those of you who need an in-depth overview of the entire Visual Studio package and who learn better from hands-on experience versus reading dry, boring text.

Tons of errors, some don't even pass the simple syntax test.

Example:
Page 708 -
str = "Update Employees set Department = "@DPT, & _
& "Description = @DSG where EmployeeID = @ID"

Notice the use of & _ & at the end of the first and start of the second lines. This is wrong but not terminal. The real problem is that you will get a syntax error after Department = "@

These lines should probably read:
str = "Update Employees set Department = @DPT, " & _
"Description = @DSG where EmployeeID = @ID"

Now this is not just one isolated problem, there are many many more and when I emailed them for some help I did not get a response.

This book will not just waste your money, it will waste an even more precious resourse -- Your time.

...

The title of this tome is very misleading. I was expecting to find a guide to ease me slowly into the nomenclature and conventions of this very powerful software suite, but what I found was an advanced tip guide for intermediate users already familiar with version 6.0. Being a dummy myself in this field, I was very disappointed with my somewhat large investment in this guide. Also, it is not written in the plain, folksy manner that defines the best of this series. There's $35 I'll never get back. Definitely not for beginners!

Although usually I'm a big fan of the Dummies books, I was really disappointed by this one.

First of all it is not as "hands-on" as other Dummies books. For absolute beginners there is too much general theory (the kind of "I will explain something you don't know by something else that you don't know either"). On the other hand there is very little explanation on what exactly happens in the examples. Experienced programmers however will find this book not going deep enough. I guess the authors tried to satisfy all and ended up satisfying none.

Second point is that there are plenty of errors in the book...That's pretty frustrating if you want to get a program running, because you never know if it's YOU who made a mistake or if there is just another error in the book. I regret that I wasted so much time on this book, just to find again and again that there was an error in it.

Last point, which is crucial if you want to work with Visual Studio .NET on your own computer, and need to install everything on your own: there is little help on how to get the prerequisite software installed and running, like e.g. IIS (Internet Information Services) and Front Page Server Extensions. You will need them to work with Visual Studio .NET, and installation can be very tricky (actually I know of noone who got them running right away). So if the book doesn't cover these topics, it would at least have been helpful to add some resources where you can find help...

The best part about this book is that it has all the necessary information to get you started on any and every language in VS .NET. For me, this book is a handy tool to learn .Net. Having done some programming in Visual Basic 6 and also ASP 3, I was eager to learn Visual Studio .NET. I started off with the VB and ASP section of the book. These sections provide a fairly advanced coverage of whatever I need to know to create my applications. And I am already on my way creating my own ASP.NET - VB application!

Another section on .NET Framework provides a good introduction on .NET.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get quickly started with one or more technologies associated with VS.NET.

The best part about this book is that it has all the necessary information to get you started on any and every language in VS .NET. For me, this book is a handy tool to learn .Net. Having done some programming in Visual Basic 6 and also ASP 3, I was eager to learn Visual Studio .NET. I started off with the VB and ASP section of the book. These sections provide a fairly advanced coverage of whatever I need to know to create my applications. And I am already on my way creating my own ASP.NET - VB application!

Another section on .NET Framework provides a good introduction on .NET.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get quickly started with one or more technologies associated with VS.NET

Very good, has lot's of practicle examples. A must have