Rating: 
Summary: Something that you should know!
Review: All the code in this book is VB.Net. I don't know why I assumed that it would be C#. It definately would have been nice to see the words "Visual Basic Only" or something to that effect on the cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative as well as suprisingly useful for 70-310
Review: Having recently passed 70-310, I found this book to be exceedingly helpful in cementing certain .NET distributed concepts for the exam-- meanwhile, related MCAD/MCSD study guides like those from Sybex and Microsoft (?!) came up short...
Chapters 1-9 of this book provided clear explanations and working examples for 70% of the content I encountered on my recent exam, while topics covered equally well in Chapters 11-15 accounted for the remaining 30%. Even Windows Services can be found about mid-way through Chapter 7.
If you are keen on moving into distributed .NET programming and/or preparing for 70-310 (like me), I would highly recommend this book. I would not have earned my MCAD credential without it...
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, everything you want to know about distr. apps.
Review: I bought this book both to help me study for a certification exam and to broaden my understanding of distributed app dev. Like many, I am very experienced with non-distributed Web and Windows apps using VB.NET and am not as strong in many of the subjects covered in this book. Through the half of the book I have read so far, the author introduces and explains new, complex topics at a quick but understandable pace and with solid code examples. Many technical books tend to be written disjointedly with lots of grammetical mistakes, like they were hurried to print too soon. This is well-written. And it covers almost every topic that I need to understand for architecting real distributed applications.
Rating:
Summary: THE Book on Architecture with .NET
Review: I'm only halfway through this one, and I decided I just HAD to write a review. In a world that has 200-page books written by five authors (see my IIS6 Handbook review), a comprehensive 700 page book that speaks with a single voice is a rare find. I've found a few other good single-author books (like Balena's book on VB), but this is far and away the best book for learning enterprise architecture, best design practices & patterns, and advanced techniques like multithreading.Here's just one example: I've lost track of how many times I've read about how to use COM+ services in .NET without an explanation of why I should (or shouldn't)!! This book not only explains brilliantly how to use COM+, it explains when you should and shouldn't use it, and the limitations you'll encounter. We also get similar treatment of threading issues (for 2 whole chapters), caching/optimization, security (in only one chapter, but it's a solid overview). There's also a chapter just on design that talks in practical terms about facades, factories and other patterns. I've read some of this stuff in other books, but all I got was theory and contrived examples. In this book I see how to apply these patterns in the real world. That alone would have won me over. Basically, this book is FULL of great material for anyone who knows the code but want to move up. It also includes three full case studies, which I haven't seen anywhere else. I'm not a big fan of case studies, but these do show the author's multi-layered approach in detail. Overall, great!
Rating:
Summary: Great VB.NET Book
Review: Matthew MacDonald shows clearly how to write enterprise class applications with VB.NET. Happy to read a lot about threading, COM+ explanations, messaging, remoting and other advanced concepts along with good case studies, in VB.NET. The book is real strong in both concepts and code.
Rating:
Summary: Good Microsoft N-tier Architecture Text
Review: Solid information for those interested in building N-tier architectures in a Microsoft world. Great stuff on how to build business objects -- I haven't found much on Microsoft object caching except in this book. Sadly, MS hasn't gone as deep as JBoss, BroadVision or similar products but this book helps fill the gap.
Rating:
Summary: Great survey of distributed apps
Review: The author has a real gift for explaining the details of the diverse technologies ms offers for creating distributed apps. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Great survey of distributed apps
Review: The author has a real gift for explaining the details of the diverse technologies ms offers for creating distributed apps. An excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs to be explicit about "Visual Basic.NET" only.
Review: The front & back cover didn't mention that the book's examples are all in Visual Basic.Net. It would have been nice to know that, since I bought the book expecting C#. I wouldn't recommend the book unless the reader is fluent in Visual Basic.NET... or unless the author posts C# versions of the example code on the book's companion website.
Rating:
Summary: Needs to be explicit about "Visual Basic.NET" only.
Review: The front & back cover didn't mention that the book's examples are all in Visual Basic.Net. It would have been nice to know that, since I bought the book expecting C#. I wouldn't recommend the book unless the reader is fluent in Visual Basic.NET... or unless the author posts C# versions of the example code on the book's companion website.
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