Rating: 
Summary: Great Ideas, not so great depth
Review: The thing I love the most about this book, is the thing I hate the most. Karl introduces great, hands-on programming examples like programming a picture viewer, and a text editor. Once you get the hang of them, you can edit the task at hand with other variables, and really expand the program to fit your needs. For example, I turned the picture viewer, into a CAD drawing viewer.THE PROBLEM: Karl makes suggestions regarding other things you can do, to make the program more useful, without telling you how to do it. For instance, after explaining how to create the basic text editor, he suggests adding a SaveFileDialog control, to allow the user to specify the file name and location, like a "real" program. Unfortunately, he doesn't discuss HOW to do this, so you are at the mercy of Microsoft's help and web searches. In some cases, this has been a bonus. By the time I figure out how to make the improvement, I practically have the code memorized. HOWEVER, if I can't figure out how to make it work, and it requires completely overhauling the code with things that aren't covered in the book, then I'm left out in the cold. I can't learn something, if I don't know what question to ask. I tried emailing the author, but he never returned my email. I recommend buying this book if you are a beginner. The jokes will be sophmoric and sometimes annoying, the unsupported "extra suggestions" will sometimes help, sometimes distract. At the end of the day, you will learn how to do some basic programming which will definately add to your foundation of knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: Great Ideas, not so great depth
Review: The thing I love the most about this book, is the thing I hate the most. Karl introduces great, hands-on programming examples like programming a picture viewer, and a text editor. Once you get the hang of them, you can edit the task at hand with other variables, and really expand the program to fit your needs. For example, I turned the picture viewer, into a CAD drawing viewer. THE PROBLEM: Karl makes suggestions regarding other things you can do, to make the program more useful, without telling you how to do it. For instance, after explaining how to create the basic text editor, he suggests adding a SaveFileDialog control, to allow the user to specify the file name and location, like a "real" program. Unfortunately, he doesn't discuss HOW to do this, so you are at the mercy of Microsoft's help and web searches. In some cases, this has been a bonus. By the time I figure out how to make the improvement, I practically have the code memorized. HOWEVER, if I can't figure out how to make it work, and it requires completely overhauling the code with things that aren't covered in the book, then I'm left out in the cold. I can't learn something, if I don't know what question to ask. I tried emailing the author, but he never returned my email. I recommend buying this book if you are a beginner. The jokes will be sophmoric and sometimes annoying, the unsupported "extra suggestions" will sometimes help, sometimes distract. At the end of the day, you will learn how to do some basic programming which will definately add to your foundation of knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: VB.NET As Jay Leno Would Present It
Review: This is book is not for professional programmers or serious students. Beginners may get value from it if they can put up with the author's silliness, which goes on and on. The author's style reminds me of the early "For Dummies" books. I was surprised that Apress, normally a good source for computer professionals, published this book. If you believe that watching Jay Leno is the way to stay informed about key issues, then this may be for you.
Rating: 
Summary: the reason behind the reviews...
Review: This was one of the first VB .NET books I bought. I thought i would come online to give it a review as it was so good. i thought perhaps i would help it's sales... but there are so many already!! The only extra thing i can say is that this book rules, it's great, and it's fantastic to kick start your .net adventure. Well done!!
Rating:
Summary: Karl Moore
Review: Well Ladies and Gentlemen I have been a Karl Moore fan ever since I started VB programming. I just could not understand some of the "VB Lingo" that I was presented with in my courseware. And now .NET, how long before I understand this new technology I asked myself! And then Karl let me know that He just released a book based on VB.NET. This was the first real joy I felt ever since. NET's release as this guy is the only man that I know of who can really explain something, Very funny stuff which you can understand even within minutes!... I know that you will not be disappointed. Karl keep up the excellent work And I will buy your next .NET instalment...
Rating:
Summary: Best .NET Tutorial book on the market
Review: What a great book! There are scads of .NET books on the market, some general and conceptual, some specialized (ASP.NET, ADO.NET), but none like this. I, for one, learn a new concept or technology best by actually using it -- only then does reading the nitty gritty details make good sense to me. Reading a 3" reference type book just doesn't work when I'm learning something new -- for me, they are not a good jumping-in point (and they're too often so dry!) With this book, one can jump right into actually working with good examples that work well to explain each concept, step by step. Then, if I want to get more deeply into a specific area, he lists other resources in the "Where to Go From Here" section; and those more detailed readings will make more sense since now I have some familiarity with it, I have actually tried it out first. I also like the idea of being able to work through these without the necessity of uploading files from a CD. I've tried other tutorial-style "teach yourself" books, but too often, they are either not well organized, or the explanations of what is going on don't make sense. I find myself doing an exercise, but I don't understand the point of it is supposed to be -- and sometimes the examples just plain don't work because something has been left out! With Karl Moore's book, his tutorials are well thought out, each one has a purpose to it, and that purpose is clearly defined. And through it all, he conveys a sense of fun and enthusiasm and excitement over the subject matter. How refreshing!!! I highly recommend this book, especially for those of us with a "learn-by-doing" learning style; you won't be disappointed.
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