Rating: 
Summary: I found this book extremely helpful
Review: Despite what the other reviewers think, i found this book to be extremely focused and valuable. If you are beginner/intermediate VB programmer wanting to learn how to build database applications, this is a great place to start. Provided you want to use ADO (the current technology) and either SQL Server or Access. I learnt a lot, and completed an application i was struggling with confidently and quickly after reading this. Its very practical and very focused. I enjoyed it. It was not difficult to read and I think its a great introduction if you want to actually build an application. I felt like writing to the author to say thanks, but the email bounced!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't judge the book by it's cover!!
Review: Don't expect you'll become the master of VB6 database programming by buying this book!!
Rating:
Summary: If you're serious, ignore this book
Review: I am an experienced programmer, and needed a book to enable me to understand ADO database programming in VB. I bought this book, and have regretted it. The examples are incomplete and miss important stages out. Its approach is confused and confusing. Having now done what I set out to do in VB/ADO, I can honestly say that very little of the contents of this book can be applied without extensive tinkering.Oh, and by the way, the examples on the CD are fiddly to get running as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed emotions
Review: I am using this book as the selected text for a second course in Visual Basic. I am about half way through the text. The main objections I have to the book are that the author jumps around between SQL server and Access, often without telling you which one ( or even which of several example databases) he is using. As a result, the code often does not work with the DB you are using. Also, most often,the author only gives code for Access or SQL server, not both, so you spend A LOT of time trying to convert code to get things to work. Lots of times, the author leaves code lines out expecting you to have learned it earlier. If you don't have SQL server, you are going to have a hard time with this book (eval copy is supplied on CD but I couldn't get it to install on win 2000 pro - fortunately I have SQL 7 on another NT 4 machine). Despite these complaints, I am learning a fair amount by persevering and the book does cover quite a bit of material...you just have to spend a lot of time figuring out what he is really doing. Finally, you have to plan to use the complete code supplied on the CD to decipher the text. The text leaves out things that only become clear by extensive examination (and, many times, modification) of the code on the CD. In conclusion, I am finding the book useful and I am learning how to use ADO (author skips DAO etc. as being outdated) but it is more painful than I would like.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed emotions
Review: I am using this book as the selected text for a second course in Visual Basic. I am about half way through the text. The main objections I have to the book are that the author jumps around between SQL server and Access, often without telling you which one ( or even which of several example databases) he is using. As a result, the code often does not work with the DB you are using. Also, most often,the author only gives code for Access or SQL server, not both, so you spend A LOT of time trying to convert code to get things to work. Lots of times, the author leaves code lines out expecting you to have learned it earlier. If you don't have SQL server, you are going to have a hard time with this book (eval copy is supplied on CD but I couldn't get it to install on win 2000 pro - fortunately I have SQL 7 on another NT 4 machine). Despite these complaints, I am learning a fair amount by persevering and the book does cover quite a bit of material...you just have to spend a lot of time figuring out what he is really doing. Finally, you have to plan to use the complete code supplied on the CD to decipher the text. The text leaves out things that only become clear by extensive examination (and, many times, modification) of the code on the CD. In conclusion, I am finding the book useful and I am learning how to use ADO (author skips DAO etc. as being outdated) but it is more painful than I would like.
Rating:
Summary: Useful overview of db development
Review: I would recommend this book to those who want to understand the db development environment without being bogged down in too much detail.
However, once you need to get to lower level work for real development this book cannot substitute for more specialised volumes. Overall recommended. dan
Rating:
Summary: This is a must have!
Review: If you are a VB programmer or a web developer, you have to buy this book. this book goes into great details on the stuff we want to learn. it does leave out stuff we almost never use... but it goes to the point. it has sample applications (including a web application) and the CD is extremely helpful. I've bought 3 other books like this from wrox and sams, and this book excels those. buy this today, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: The book that covers little of everything
Review: This book starts with visual tools of VB 6, teaches SQL, somewhat ADO, T-SQL, ASP, and introduction of the wizards supplied by VB. In short it is not a book to master database programming with VB but if you want an overview of how VB 6, SQL Server 7 and ASP are used togther to develop an online database application this book might help. It also provides few complete examples that covers all of this topics.
Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfied
Review: This book was not written with teaching in mind. It is a great reference book but if you are not familiar with coding in VB then you definitely need to buy another book! This book gives you great reference to what objects do but doesn't clarify at all on how to do them. It will tell you what you need to do to update a database's records but not how to code them. I've seen better books written for teaching. THis is not a teaching book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty hard reading
Review: This is a pretty hard book to read, although it explains things in great details at the start, it soon becomes a "use this for this" book, it gives you an evaluation copy of SQL Server 7, but it takes SO long to install, let alone uninstall...mind the program is powerful, but it might prove far too unwiedly for people who've only ever used MS Access 97/2000. It explains quite a lot, but later on it hardly explains anything - I'm often asking "why are we doing this again?" I often found it hard to do the coding or the instructions, mainly because he doesn't use bullet points - the book is obviousily aimed at people who have mastered ADO, VB, etc. I would not recommend this book to read for ASP/ADO, its better you stick with other books, this won't help you out in VB programming either.
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