Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful introduction
Review: This is a great introduction for programming the BeOS. It's a great introduction for those who have never programed before, and it's a great transition book for those who have worked with other APIs and want to learn Be's API. True, the book is simplistic and it doesn't go into any great detail of the API classes, but thats what the Be Book is for. I give this book 5 stars for more than adequately doing what it was written to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm... tad weak
Review: This is a very basic book indeed. If you are interested in how hard it would be to port the gui of an app from another OS to Be, this may help. But don't expect help on developing for Be much beyond an overview of the basic UI components. Heck, this doesn't even cover how to create your own components...just use the pre-defined ones. It's also a very short book, so it doesn't make for much of a reference.My vote is for you to use the BeBook online and grab what info you can from the mailing lists, chatrooms, and newsletters.
Rating:
Summary: The long awaited book!
Review: This is definitely the book to have if you want to start programming on the BeOS. The first chapter alone helped clear notions in the Be API that I didn't quite grasp. There is talk about the fact that the book was supposed to come with a CD. But the way I understand it, the author only refers the reader to sample source code that's provided on the BeOS CDROM or on the Internet.
Rating: 
Summary: Get started writing programs for the BeOS
Review: To write a computer program you need to know the details of thefunctions that make up the application programming interface (API) forthe operating system the program is to run on. A thorough API reference supplies that information. For some accomplished programmers, an API reference is enough (programmers interested in such books for the BeOS should consider two other O'Reilly & Associates books: "The Be Developer's Guide" and "Be Advanced Topics"). For most programmers, though, a tutorial-style programming book is the best starting point. "Programming the Be Operating System" introduces the programmer to the basics of writing a program for the BeOS. Here you'll learn about BeOS programming fundamentals and the BeOS programming environment. You'll get an overview of the BeOS API, and then see how to put the classes of the API to use in programs that display movable, resizable, scrollable windows that each hold a menu bar, controls (such as buttons and checkboxes), text, and graphics. The book also introduces you to messages, threads, and files. "Programming the Be Operating System" includes descriptions of dozens of short, concise example programs, each demonstrating one or two Be programming concepts. If you want to view, compile, and run the examples you'll want to save yourself some typing by downloading all of the example source code. The source code files for all of the book's examples are available in a single .zip file at O'Reilly & Associates web site. If you know some C++ you're ready to program the BeOS!
Rating:
Summary: Not to shabby, but I'd take the online BeBook over it...
Review: When I heard that this book was coming out, I couldn't wait to get it (in fact I pre-ordered it from Amazon). I have to admit that its a bit of a disappointment now that I've gotten through a good portion of the book.
While what it does cover is explained fairly well, the book is quite weak in many areas. While it gives a fairly good introduction into programming for Be, it doesn't go into detail where it really matters. The book lacks depth when introducing the reader to the ways of the Be API. No attempt is made at explaing how to create custom controls, not to mention that the book doesn't even cover all the controls made available in the Be API. While it does offer a fairly decent explaination of some of the Interface Kit, I'd say shy away from this one and spend your money on the other BeBooks by O'Reilly.
Here's to some better beginner's documentation!
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