Rating: 
Summary: FELT CHEATED, but a good book
Review: This is a GREAT book to learn VB, and it does go into some depth (but not too much). Again, I FELT CHEATED because the whole book comes with VB in help files.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: This is a great book, but I am afraid it will be bashed upon by people buying it and expecting to learn how to program just by reading it. This book is not a learning guide, it is a reference. And a good one too! Everything you ever wanted to know about VB programming is covered. It's only (and in my opinion minor) ceveat is the lack of material on COM/ActiveX programming. This is just a minor ceveat, as COM is a huge topic, which can fill three like-sized books (this book is 950 pages). All in all, a handy reference for every-day programming.
Rating: 
Summary: Portable and Handy, More Copyediting Needed!
Review: This is a handy printed version of the MSDN online help, but still full of errors. It is nice to be able to carry around for tutorial reading. The main complain about the printed version is the lack of the copyedit process. It's just a strainght port of the online manual without error corrections. Even the first application sample in the book contains the exact same errors of the online help. This's very unfortunate considering that the Microsoft Press had the opportunity to correct those errors easily.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: This poor book always is getting slammed by someone somewhere. Why, I don't know. It is not the greatest book in the world on Visual Basic programming nor does it try to be. It is a reference work for the user of the language. In some cases it does a wonderful job of teaching the basics of VB programming. I don't think it would be my first choice as a beginning book if you have never programmed in any language before; however, if you have been programming with other languages this is a great intro to VB. There are times when it starts to get a bit dry and sometimes it does leave one going "and the point is?", but in general I find this to be a well designed and well spoken text on the language. One can find it bundled with VB and "VB Step by Step" from Microsoft and after reading both books goodness knows how many times, I think the Programmer's Guide in many ways is superior to "Step by Step". A must read for anyone who considers themselves a VB programmer, this is not the best intro for a novice, but is a great primer for an experienced programmer or one who has some experience with Visual Basic and is ready to go beyond the basics laid out in an intro book.
Rating:
Summary: This is the original owner's manual for VB
Review: This poor book always is getting slammed by someone somewhere. Why, I don't know. It is not the greatest book in the world on Visual Basic programming nor does it try to be. It is a reference work for the user of the language. In some cases it does a wonderful job of teaching the basics of VB programming. I don't think it would be my first choice as a beginning book if you have never programmed in any language before; however, if you have been programming with other languages this is a great intro to VB. There are times when it starts to get a bit dry and sometimes it does leave one going "and the point is?", but in general I find this to be a well designed and well spoken text on the language. One can find it bundled with VB and "VB Step by Step" from Microsoft and after reading both books goodness knows how many times, I think the Programmer's Guide in many ways is superior to "Step by Step". A must read for anyone who considers themselves a VB programmer, this is not the best intro for a novice, but is a great primer for an experienced programmer or one who has some experience with Visual Basic and is ready to go beyond the basics laid out in an intro book.
Rating:
Summary: A great addition to my library
Review: This was an very good book. I thought it had a lot of good information. that the other books I have do not. I used it to study for the Desktop Exam and passed. This is also a great refernce as well as a learning tool.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, it's a Programmer's Guide, not a novel.
Review: Yes, it is the online help files in print form. Yes, it DOES have an index. Yes, it has some errors. And yes, coupled with the Reference Library, it's the most useful set of books a VB programmer can own. I've been developing with VB for a year and a half, and I still come back to the Programmer's Guide, because it never hurts to review the fundamentals. Plus, if you think it's only for beginners, try explaining how to implement polymorphism through multiple ActiveX interfaces in a class module. The Programmer's Guide does. Last, but not least, it's a book. Some people just like having a book, rather than reading the computer all the time.
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