Rating: 
Summary: Best inrtoductory book I have read
Review: I have read several introductory books on VB6 and this one is by far the best. Yes there is much conversation dialog between Professor Smiley and the students but I think that is what makes this book so effective. Computer programming is a very difficult and advanced subject to learn even attending a class so learning from scratch with just a book is quite an undertaking. A lot of reviews criticized this book for being to easy and not covering advanced topics. What is the very first thing written on the cover of the book "For absolute beginners". You cannot expect nor would you want a beginning book to cover advanced topics. That is the problem with many of the other so called beginning VB books. They assume you are familiar with programming and thats why you don't really learn anything. As I said I read a couple of beginning VB books before this one and the more I read the more confused I became. After I finished this book I really had a good understanding of VB and was ready to move on to the more advanced books. This book does exactly what is says it will and I think what Professor Smiley intended to accomplish. Also the software that comes with this book the Visual Basic working edition is worth the price of the book alone.
Rating:
Summary: The most in-depth Visual Basic book there is for beginners
Review: This book reads like a novel. It is really just an interesting story as you go along. You are a student in a class that is making a real life program for a fine china shop. Although the book doesn't really even START coding until Chapter 4 or 5, the first 4 chapters are for ultimate beginners. It even explains what an OS is, what software/hardware does, and parts of a normal Windows program you see. When you start programming it really points out what everything is and people like you ask questions about the code, and you learn even more.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for new programmers, not enough variety
Review: In this book, Smiley has a nearly perfect introduction to programming and Visual Basic. He covers the basics (software development life cycle, variables, arrays, decision logic, elementary interface design, file i/o, and error handling) clearly and fairly completely.The drawn-out, conversational tone is actually very helpful once you get used to it. (I actually started the book and put it down for a few months because I didn't care for the writing style; once I came back to it, it wasn't all that bad.) The classroom-transcript format is verbose, but it lets each concept sink in before moving along, which is very helpful in the long run. If you do the exercises dilligently and follow the commentary closely, you *will* learn to create rudimentary Visual Basic programs. One of the books greatest strengths is that it walks you through an entire project -- a cost-quoting program for a china shop -- from beginning to end. This provides an overarching theme that holds the book together and helps keep you moving forward. Unfortunately, this strength is also the book's greatest weakness. Smiley pretty much teaches you to write a cost-quoting program for a china shop. People with little or no experience in programming might not be able to go beyond this project easily; it takes some practice to convert real-world requirements into VB code that'll do the job. (To be fair, that's the point of the requirements statement that Smiley insists -- correctly -- is so important.) Overall, except for the caveat I just mentioned, I consider this a very good book for people new to programming. It covers general programming concepts well, and provides a gentle introduction to Visual Basic. People with even minimal programming experience will be better served by a different book that's a bit less basic.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book to start on VB6
Review: This is an excellent book on visual basic. It guides you step by step, and gives plenty of examples. Is easy to follow and you don't have to have prior knowledge on VB.
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: I'd like to join to great population of John Smiley's readers. I bought first book with a little hesitation, but shortly it proved a right choice. Soon, I have become admirer of John Smiley's way to teaching programming, and bought all books. If you are not strictly computer science person, and would like to talk about programming the way you would talk about everyday life, and understand it, then John Smiley's books are your only alternative. I am a civil engineer (geotechnical) and I bought a dozen of programming books forcing myself to learn how to program. I would be hardly making any progress... until I bought my first John Smiley book. Six months later my first application has been published at official geotechnical software developer's website as a case study...I've mad a great advancement in very short time. The best of all, John Smiley is your friend. That is, you need help on how to do something in VB (or other programming language)just send him an email and the answer is on its way.
Rating:
Summary: On a scale of 1 to 10, this book is a 12
Review: John Smiley has successfully bridged the huge gap between programmer and educator. If you are an "Absolute Beginner" as I was, this book will serve to keep your blood pressure in line while providing you with a solid basis for continued studies. After attempting to plow through two other "Beginning" texts on Visual Basic I found myself thoroughly confused. This book rescued me. I particularly appreciated the quizes following each chapter. If, like me, you are someone who is always anxious to charge into the next topic, avoid the temptation. These quizes (With answers supplied) are a real help in insuring that you have a thorough understanding of the topic(s) covered. The investment you make in this book will be returned many times, especially if you are in the position of attempting to learn Visual Basic with little or no counsel or assistance.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Teaching Book
Review: This book makes learning VB exciting. U feel apart of the classroom, anxious and ready to move to the next step.
Its a wonderful way to write a book.
Anybody wanting to learn VB this is the book for u.
I love the idea that we are taken through the SDLC, that helped me to deal with an interview question.
Thanks Mr.Smiley for writing a GREAT book.
Rating:
Summary: Programming Made Easy
Review: I bought this book not too long ago and let it sit for quite some time, thinking I wasn't ready to take on vb yet. Probably one of my biggest mistakes! Prof. Smiley makes learning Visual Basic seem second nature. This was the first book of this nature that I actually enjoyed! You feel like you are right with the rest of the class, and we even created our very own project by books end. John Smiley, you get Kudos! Can't wait to read VB database!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: If you are new to programming or to Visual Basic then simply buy this book
Don't waste your time and money on anything else. Just in short this book is
For peoples those don't know any thing about Visual Basic, Guarantee in one
Week you will be able to do your own programmes.
Good Luck
And Good Work John
Rating:
Summary: Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6
Review: I thoroughly endorse this book and Professor Smiley's approach. He does not try to cover the world and leave you dizzy in the process. Professor Smiley employs a systematic approach to learning, building one concept upon another. He leaves you with real skills in the end. He combines theory and real world application that makes it all come alive. I also appreciate that the Professor has taken this same winning approach to his other books on VB, enabling the reader to take it to the next level.
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