Rating: 
Summary: Too basic for Programmers
Review: If you are already a programmer, this book felt like it was too basic. It is well written and good for those who don't have any programming experience.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best VB BEGINNER book
Review: If you are new to programming, this book is great. I recommend that you buy a version of VB and work the examples that Halvorson carefully walks you through. If you are doing DB related programming, make sure you have the professional version, it has more DB and DHTML extentions. When you are finished with this book, you should be confident to take more steps, though you cannot expect to be a competent programmer - this book is a good springboard to more complex books on VB. The book does exactly what it claims: introduce you to VB, and have fun doing it.
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Summary: Exposes you to the breadth of VB
Review: I was a programmer when the VT100 terminal and the command line were king and queen. I could write some mean Pascal or FORTRAN. I cut my teeth on BASIC, and taught myself a little C. But then I turned away from programming, and in the ensuing decade, the programming world changed. I bought this book to catch up with the changes. Boy, have things changed -- for example, VB lets you display database records by painting a few controls and typing one line of code. And they call this programming?Halvorson's book guides you through the standard-bearer of programming's current state. Halvorson concisely explains concepts, then walks you through examples that mostly follow this pattern: Create the interface, type in the following code, and run it. To learn from this book, you must pay special attention to the code Halvorson gives you. Read each line and consider the role it plays. If you omit this analysis, you will learn and retain little. When you finish this book, you will have been exposed to the breadth of Visual Basic and will know what kinds of things are available to you. But I have a sneaking suspicion that when you start building your own VB applications, you'll be back at Amazon.com buying a solid VB reference.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for beginners
Review: I used this book as my primary teaching reference for a High School Visual Basic Class. This book is well written and provides excellent resources (something most Visual Basic Books don't).
Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: I read a few VB books, but this one really didnt go into much detail. I ordered 'Beginning VB6 Database programming' and it went though much more in a way I could understand. If I had to choose one for a beginner, it would be the database book. For sheer understanding - it tops the others Ive read.
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Summary: This is the cream of the crop
Review: Let me state that I have been through many, many books on how to learn Visual Basic 6.0. I've done the Dummies Book, the Sams 21 Day and 24 hour route, and the John Smiley 'By examples' book, and lastly the Peter Norton VB book. I've spent some serious money on books and Im still a rookie programmer (ok, so Im modest...). Since I started with the Dummies book, it gave me the basics of how and why VB works. But, what I found it lacking was any real examples to play with. The Sams books were redundant of the dummies guides. And the Peter Norton book was just pathetic. It would bore a Vulcan to sleep. I can't tell you how many times I caught myself reading the same paragraph over and over to try to capture the meaning. The book by John Smiley was fantastic, but his follow up one, the "By Examples", had a Talk Show tone that left me confused. The book just had too much going on asides VB...and after a chapter or two, I just couldnt take it any longer (the book is now a lovely speaker holder). Enough on those. To you that have tried a book or two and are thirsty for a book that will bring you across the finish line, this is it. No, this is not an ideal first book for the newbie. But, if you understand a wee bit about VB, this book will pick you up and carry you though. The examples (and there are lots) are the heart of each lesson. Most books are very wordy and defining the process, then an example. Not this one. This guy must have pilot blood in him. You get a heads up of what you are going to do, make an example and try it out, then after you've "landed", the author discusses with you what you just did, the dynamics, and how to go a step beyond. Ok, this is getting really wordy, so let me wrap up here....Im not a good reader...I get distracted too easy. I found myself able to get absorbed into this book and LEARN. Its concise and to the point. So, to those of you that didnt like the book, well...perhaps you like those War & peace sized ones...or like books that read like Latin 101 and put anyone that dares read over your shoulder to sleep. <g> Good book, good examples...I tended to stay away from the Microsoft Press books since they were much more expensive then the other entry-level guides. Not any more...looking forwad to his next book on the next version of VB Thanks for allowing me to comment
Rating: 
Summary: Step by Step VB Book
Review: This is a good VB book for a new user. The first 10 chapter is good for anyone who knows nothing about VB. However, when you read the book after the Chapter 10, you have to buy another VB book. The overall is very good VB book for beginner.
Rating: 
Summary: It is just not enough...
Review: This book can give you a good overview of Visual Basic, but it is not going too deep into details. Also, it did not give tasks that I could do on my own. I was only retyping the code and reading an explanation for it, which is not enough for a beginning programmer...
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Summary: VB Step by Step doesnt teach good practices
Review: I have had some VB experience and wanted to see how the MS Press books stacked up to the other available texts. I was really disappointed. It is simply a case of trying to tackle too many concepts at one time. For the beginner I would strongly suggest going elsewhere to learn programming fundamentals. I was especially shocked to see how much the use of Variants was encouraged. The book gave only the most basic information on variable types and then never used them. If you are even thinking of moving on to another programming language after learning VB, avoid this book like the plague!
Rating:
Summary: Very Very Good Book For Beginners ~~ A++++
Review: This is a very good book for beginner of Visual Basic 6! It take you from ground up...and it is really STEP BY STEP. Easy to understand~~ Great book
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