Rating: 
Summary: You need this book for desktop apps!
Review: I have worked through the step-by-step book and looked at the other Microsoft Press books, but they all seem geared toward some specialty. Every single "how do I .." question I've had so far, I found answered (often with a code sample) in this book. This is the book to have if you are developing desktop applications with VB.Net. Outstanding work, lots and lots of information. Petroutsos has delivered a master(ing)piece.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many errors. You'll get lost easily.
Review: I haven't finished the whole book yet. I'm still working on it. It seems like it's got some good info, but BOY! ERRORS! It seemed like the author was on fire when he wrote the book and never had the time to review his codes. Sometimes he'll even refer to things or buttons in the IDE that's not even there. So I have to assume that he used one and only one computer for the entire writing process and never bothered to test/verify the programs on someone else's computer. I've wasted so much time! So if you want to buy the book, just read it the way you would read a story book.
Rating:
Summary: A Cool book
Review: I read and I can say: "The book is wonderful".
Translate it to portuguese! All brazilians developers are waiting for it!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginners, not for experts.
Review: I'm an intermediate programmer having worked sporadically in a variety of Object Oriented languages (Java, C++ etc.). I have to ramp up very quickly in order to do a VB.NET app, and bought this book for two reason. First: I wanted to gain a quick familiarity with the Visual Studio IDE, which I had never used before. I also needed a quick primer on the syntax and functionality of VB.NET.
On the first score--understanding the IDE--the book did a fine job of quickly getting me up and running with the basics. That was a few hours of work.
On the second score, I found this book to be alternately easy going and profoundly infuriating. Petroutsos' writing style is fluid and colloquial, essentially talking through many of the basics of the language. As a non-beginner, this served me well. I was able to read through chapters such as the overview of the VB language, quickly identifying areas which I understood from previous programming experience.
However, that easy-going writing style seems to lead to an absolutely unforgivable lack of attention to structure, rigor and detail. Despite much of the book being conceptually familiar, several areas were brand new to me. In the area concerning variable scope, Petroutsos introduces the idea of module level scope without defining a module or explaining what it is. Frustrated, I consulted the Contents and the Index but was unable to find any other place in the book where a module was discussed. Eventually, I pretty much got it through context in other chapters (and a background in OOP). I can't imagine how someone who wasn't already intimately familiar with OOP would fare trying to get through such a concept.
This book also doesn't do much hand-holding through the construction of the code samples, often leaving the reader on his/her own in assembling the code and figuring out what each line/routine does. Again, fine for an experienced programmer--not so fine for a beginner.
And this book is just rife with oversights such as these. This book is clearly targeted at relative beginners (if not absolute beginners) as it explains concepts which are familiar to all programmers (i.e. what is a variable?). And yet I can't imagine a beginner who wouldn't be very frustrated trying to figure out what the Petroutsos merely glosses over.
Finally, the editing of this book is horrible. While the prosaic style generally reads well, the author often re-states the same explanations several times within a chapter. It's clear that this is not for emphasis (since it doesn't read that way) but bad editing. A good editor will strip out such redundancy and help make a much more concise book.
Ultimately, this book served its purpose: a quick primer on a new software platform. I got what I needed out of it. However it was frustrating at times for the reasons I mentioned above. It doesn't succeed as a beginner's learning tool, nor can I imagine that it would succeed well as instructioin on advanced programming techniques.
Rating:
Summary: Unequaled!
Review: I've been trying my hand and programming for a couple of years now, and have picked up the basics of Perl and Delphi. I was always tempted to use VB6, mostly due to the massive volume of books and other resources dedicated to it -- but I never found a newbie book that I could read all the way through. The books I tried typically covered specific concepts well (i.e., syntax, controls, events, procedures, etc.), but failed to tie everything together to show me how to build a sophisticated application. Couple that with code errors and writing that failed to "grip" me, and I was left with several half-read volumes and no real desire to use VB.With this book, and the incredible changes to VB that come with .NET, all that's changed. This book starts with an awesome overview of the IDE, including in Chapter 2 a walkthrough of two relatively simple programs that demonstrate how applications are built in VB .NET. The author walks you through the creation of a loan calculator, then a math calculator, all the while explaining the components used, how to code them, and how to run, debug, and build your project with the VS .NET tools. If that weren't enough, you learn to combine these projects in a multiple form solution in which you create a separate form that can call the forms created in the first two projects. Finally, the author shows how to create the loan calculator project as a web application. This is all pretty amazing stuff, and it's all in Chapter 2! While some concepts aren't thoroughly detailed, the author notes where you can learn more about each topic in subsequent chapters of the book. So, if the material in Chapter 2 is too difficult to grasp the first time around, jump to Chapters 3 and 4, where the VB .NET language is introduced, and then come back to Chapter 2 after you've learned more about the language and how it works. This book is a masterpiece -- it is clearly written, and all the code samples I've tried have worked. Although the text claims that some programming experience is required, I think a smart, curious reader will be able to learn how to program from this book -- the above-described Chapter 2, for example, teaches more about programming in VB than some entire books on the subject. If you're a complete newbie and the material is daunting, try one of Greg Perry's beginning programming books to get your feet wet, then come back to this to learn VB .NET. I agree with other reviewers who say that web apps get slightly short shrift -- web apps are covered, but this book is definitely geared more toward desktop apps. For me, that's no criticism, and I agree that web programming in VB .NET could be a separate volume all together. In short, this book is one of the best I've ever seen on programming in general, and I've yet to see a better volume on VB .NET, especially for beginner to intermediate programmers.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for any VB.NET Programmer
Review: No matter who you are, Visual Basic .NET is as new to you as it is to anyone else. Even those of us that have explored it since it was first released to the public for beta testing find new things in each release. This title, just like it's VB6 predecessor, is the perfect instructor to anyone wishing to learn VB.NET. The author presents the material on Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic. NET and the .NET framework efficiently and informatively, giving the user something to take with them from each and every page. Regardless of your prior experience with VB6 or VB.NET (or even programming in general), this title will give you the understanding of programming within the .NET framework and the ability to immediately create in VB.NET. The book and accompanying CD-ROM is a must-have, valuable tool for the VB.NET programmer, and one that you will hold on to as a reference long after you have finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for any VB.NET Programmer
Review: No matter who you are, Visual Basic .NET is as new to you as it is to anyone else. Even those of us that have explored it since it was first released to the public for beta testing find new things in each release. This title, just like it's VB6 predecessor, is the perfect instructor to anyone wishing to learn VB.NET. The author presents the material on Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic. NET and the .NET framework efficiently and informatively, giving the user something to take with them from each and every page. Regardless of your prior experience with VB6 or VB.NET (or even programming in general), this title will give you the understanding of programming within the .NET framework and the ability to immediately create in VB.NET. The book and accompanying CD-ROM is a must-have, valuable tool for the VB.NET programmer, and one that you will hold on to as a reference long after you have finished reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: BAD BOOK
Review: THE AUTHOR IS NOT CLEAR IN EXPLAINING HIS KNOWLEDGE, THOUGH HE MAY BE KNOWLEDGBLE, THIS BOOK NEED SOME PROGRAMMING EXP TO FOLLOW THE PACE. THERE ARE MISTAKES IN THE CODE AND SOME CANT COMPILE.
Rating:
Summary: This book does not live up it's cover.
Review: The book claims to be a VB Manual for all levels, in fact it's an ok intro for begginers, and staying clear of the more advanced and even some itermediary topics. I suggest that if you want a Begginers guide to VB.NET that you cansider this book, otherwise you will be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Simply, a great ADO.NET book
Review: The most easy-to-understand book on ADO.NET in the marketplace. While it assumes the the reader has a version of Visual Studio.NET above Professional, hence some comments do not apply directly, it is a great source of information for anyone trying to write a modern Data Driven site (and what site isn't?)
I purchased the book after spending many hours looking at the samples available here and even put in half a day looking through a "mortar and bricks" store specializing in programming. I am delighted with my purchase, and wish to thank the author for his effort.
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