Rating: 
Summary: Decent into, but a few large flaws
Review: "However, in the mid-1980s, most computers were still running on only Intel 286, 16-bit chips." -- Chapter 1, page 3While a typo here and there occasionally make their way into books, they do tend to make us poke deeper into the book, esp. the assumptions. The 80s theme (when the events happened in the 90s) rears it ugly head quite a few times. For example, in Chapter 1, the assumption is that web services provide a web-enabled user interface. This is, of course, incorrect. Web services provide a new interface, certainly, but the UI still has to be built on top of the service. In all reality, a web service is a business tier component interface, and not UI at all. The fact that .NET provides a UI to test services does not make it a UI. While I may be a bit heavy handed on specifics, mistakes in specifics makes one wonder if the generalizations are flawed as well. Now, to the good points. If you are a VB programmer, this book will certainly get you up to speed very quickly. The book tends to lean towards using Visual Studio .NET. This is not a negative point, as the code will work both inside or outside the VS.NET IDE, but it is something that should be noted. If you work with Visual Studio .NET, you will find the screenshots to be very helpful as you progress through the chapters. There is also an ample bit of code in this book. While much of it is learning based, rather than real world applications, it is nice to have plenty of samples, none-the-less. I am particularly fond of the Eliza program, but it shows my geekness. For as thick as this book is, there is a lot missing. .NET is a very large subject, however, so it would be hard to include everything, even in a book as thick as this one. Coverage?
The OO section is a bit thin, but it does cover inheritance in forms, which I have not seen covered elsewhere. The ADO.NET section is excellent, considering the perceived audience. THe debugging section is quite nice, but I would recommend "debugging ASP.NET", if you have full understanding that ASP.NET is a technology using VB.NET, and the debugging techniques are fully applicable in all VB.NET projects. This book also has one of the best sections on the file system I have seen anywhere. In some ways, it may be a bit too heavy here, but that is not all bad. Audience?
I believe those with a background in Visual Basic will find this to be a good starting book in VB .NET. The same for those with other languages under their belt. A complete beginner to programming may also find some gems in this work, but I would not recommend it as the first book.
Rating: 
Summary: Coding Techniques For Microsoft VisualBasic.NET
Review: A work of great depth and perception. It opened up new worlds for me. The author is undoubtedly some remarkable intellect.
Rating:
Summary: One book shows how .Net fits together
Review: As a consultant that uses VB and C++, I have to keep technically current. This book takes you through OO, deriving classes, new data types and tips, managing collections and arrays, covers new (for VB) structured error handling and debugging, deploying pubic and private assemblies, ADO.NET and ASP.NET and WEb Services. Each chapter builds on the next, so the reader can easily see how the pieces fit together. The fairly complete coverage of ADO.NET (3 chapters) shows how to deploy disconnected recordsets. Next, Connell moves into ASP.NET and shows how to use what was just learned in ASP - very logical progression. There is some good coverage of file management, logical and visual inheritance, and XML. In the final chapter, a desktop app (Sticky Yellow Note) is built using OO, static procedures, context menues, filestreams, and XML. Then the app is deployed - you can give this to people that don't have the .NEt framework installed yet. All in all, a very conprehensive and readable book. I found this useful. I think if you are already proficient in VB or C++ you will really enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: too bad it's out of print
Review: As a VB programmer who has struggled in the past with OOP, this book was written for me. It's one of the most readable technical books I've had, and explains the OOP approach without talking down to you or using contrived examples. Now I'm really fired up about switching to .NET!
This book is an overview, not a reference, but the way it is written allows you to really think through how programs should be written in .NET
Rating:
Summary: too bad it's out of print
Review: As a VB programmer who has struggled in the past with OOP, this book was written for me. It's one of the most readable technical books I've had, and explains the OOP approach without talking down to you or using contrived examples. Now I'm really fired up about switching to .NET!
This book is an overview, not a reference, but the way it is written allows you to really think through how programs should be written in .NET
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: Bought the book based on recommendations here at Amazon. Back cover says "Whether you're a beginner ... this is the Visual Basic book for you." Sounds like a good book. High ratings, back cover says it's good for beginners. Get the book and read in the second paragraph of the introduction, "This book was written FOR Visual Basic programmers BY a Visual Basic programmer." This book is NOT for beginners. If you do not have an understanding of classic VB, this book will fly way over your head. That said, the information on OOP was good and did help me to understand that very important concept. However, after reading the book, I still don't know a lot of the basics. IBeware - the book makes the assumption you're an experienced VB programmer.
Rating: 
Summary: Obfuscation of even the most trivial slices of code
Review: Bought the book over a month ago and totally disagree with a lot of the reviews online; book is almost totally unreadable as it takes even the most simple pieces of code and over complicates them to the point where you just end up closing the cover and say what a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre intro
Review: Connell's work here does an okay job at introducing VB.Net to developers. One problem I had is that it is unclear who the intended audience is. In some parts the explanations he gives are very basic and helpful with a significant of "hand-holding", in other ares they are cryptic. Additionally, the chapter on ASP.NET and Web Services was far too brief relative to their usefulness - hence I only give it 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Connell is a great teacher/communicator
Review: Don't let other low ratings scare you. This is a good book that is easy to read. It will get you up to speed on VB.Net quickly and painlessly. I cut and pasted the examples off the CD and they all worked for me. Also, the whole book is on CD...I wish more books came like that. It is not an advanced level book. Now I'm looking for an advanced ASP.Net book. I wish Connell would write one.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: Good introductory book for VB.NET. After reading this book read Francesco Balena's Programming Visual Basic.NET. This will give you a good starting point to VB.NET with small and clear examples..
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