Rating: 
Summary: Good examples, lacks reference
Review: Instant ASP Scripts does exactly what its title suggests. It has many working example of useful web pages that are easily adapted to other uses. The one criticism would be that it lacks a reference section. You would think that an 800-page book would devote a chapter on complete definitions of what amounts to 5 objects. For instance, I can't find a complete list of server variables. Also, I'm not confident that all methods and properties are covered without a reference section.The good news is that all I needed to know so far is given in solid examples, which for the most part are more valuable than boring definitions for the RAD community. Having some experience with VBScript, I was able to get what I needed from the book quickly. Of course that is what counts. Good job!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: I bought this book because the examples seemed very practical. However, I had a lot of trouble to make the examples work, actually I haven't been able to make them work. Some of the example files (Access Databases) are missing. I am in the beginning stage of learning ASP. I thought that since the author explains almost every line of code, I would be able to learn something. I was wrong. I had to go back to Amazon.com and buy two more books so I could have a background and then I will probably come back to this book again. I am giving 3 stars because some of the examples in the book seemed to have not been tested before publishing.
Rating: 
Summary: The same techniques over and over and over
Review: The book shows you a couple of techniques. But the same techniques are applied over and over on the different scripts. Not all the techniques work. The INSERT or UPDATE SQL statements would not work if there are too many single and double quotes. For example, try using INSERT or UPDATE with text data like - Mr. O'Brien's girlfriend said, "Hi, it's me!". The quotes and single quotes would really mess up any SQL statement. Also, you have to change the connect string to use Microsoft Access, a fact not mentioned in my copy of the book / CD.
Rating: 
Summary: An Easy Way to Add ASP to Your Web Site
Review: ASP can be added without much effort using this book. Both MS Access and SQL databases are included. This is an excellent reference book as well as learning tool for all ASP enthusiasts. For those new to ASP, many examples will assist in instruction and implementation. There are several advanced applications as well. I highly recommend this book. Author Greg Buczek has also been assisting our non-profit organization with implementation of the scripts. It is not often that an author takes the time to actually help readers. He is truly an asset to asp developers.
Rating:
Summary: *** Sloppy ACCESS database***
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. It's well written and relatively easy to follow. I particularly liked the authors presentation of 'Database Server Components' end of the second chapter. HOWEVER, the ACCESS databases on the CD must have been 'slapped together' at the last minute! *Some tables are completely missing!
*Relationships haven't been mapped!
etc... In all fairness I didn't try to execute the SQL Server scripts, I had a big enough headache with ACCESS. Buyer beware....
Rating: 
Summary: Learn What ASP Is But Don't Count of Learning How to Program
Review: I recommend this book to anyone trying to figure what ASP script is all about and how to apply it to business related applications. BUT, (and this is a huge WARNING) don't think that the CODE supplied in this book is going to help you because it WON'T. I've tried half of the code, thinking I was up for moderate twinking and modification (I'm an Intermediate ASP Writer), and it turns out this code wouldn't work if Greg Buczek was standing there infront of you! ....I've found plenty of scripts from other ASP books and online sites that have worked great...
Rating:
Summary: Code buggy, Not for beginners
Review: I fought with one of the examples (ads) until I could get it to work. For production databases ADO with a DSN is not the way to go. I tried using ADO with a connection string. Some of the SQL statements fail this way (wouldn't INSERT a record because one of the fields was called "password"). Also it flat out refused to recognize some files as HREF (i.e.-ad.asp) until I renamed them. What's that all about? Is this code checked before it's put in a book? An absolute beginner might go nutty trying to get this code to work. Like the idea of this book but not it's polish. Maybe less examples, populated data, and more quality examples would be a better approach. How much does the core functionality change from application to application anyways? I'm cranky from fighting this most of the day so that's the one star reason.
Rating:
Summary: This book is great for beginners
Review: I am new to ASP and this book is great help for a beginner. It has plenty of useful codes that can be implemented into your pages. Just copy and paste and change the fields and tables to fit your needs. It was a great purchase and I would recommend it to any beginner!
Rating:
Summary: Useful
Review: The worst thing about this book is I lost my copy by loaning it out. It has a lot of useful scripts but a professional would want to improve them. It is good they are stripped down examples so you can build on them, but you would probably want to improve them for security and such. I would say you could find code useful for many projects. Just take a look at the contents and see if it meets your needs.
Rating:
Summary: Very practical content!
Review: I really like the content of this book. I'm new to ASP and this book has very applicable examples of all the functionalities I would ever want to put in a website. Examples include member login, queries, securing your database, setting up an online campus, submitting requisitions, online ordering, etc. It even has fun features such as creating and sending an e-vite card to someone. The book comes with a CD that has all the example code. And every significant bit of script is explained in detail in this book. If you've ever wondered how to script something but didn't have the patience to wade through textbooks presented in dull theory format, then look no further. This book covers the basics of ASP in the first two chapters. The rest of the thick book is organized by task--what you want to make your website do. I highly recommend this book.
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