Rating: 
Summary: The best book about VB
Review: Even though this book is out of print, I would like to review it. Better late than sorry. This is the best book about VB I have ever read, and a tremendously inspiring book about programming. Even though VB is not my preferred programing language, this book really gave me a kick and I started to appreciate VB in a way that I had never done before.Bruce McKinney does not only reveal all those sneaky details about VB that you whish you had known long before, but also teaches you a lot of useful stuff about the windows API, type libraries and COM. It is not a book for beginners, but should be read as soon as possible after passing the beginners level. Read it carefully from cover to cover, because it will reveal important details about windows and programming that you don't find in other books about advanced VB. Unfortunately, this book is about VB 5.0, which means that it has lost its relevance in the ever changing world of Microsoft Visual Basic. It's a shame that Bruce McKinney did not write a programming book about a more stable programming language. With his knowledge, passion and inspiring writing style I'm sure it would have been a classic book about programming.
Rating:
Summary: Get it any way you can
Review: Hardcore Visual Basic is a fantastic title - one that any experienced VB developer should have at least read (if not OWN). Now that it is out of print (and MS has taken it off the MSDN CDs), locating a copy will be harder than ever but keep your eyes open. McKinney has a great writing style and pulls no punches. Not all of it is immensely practical, but if you want to deepen your understanding of VB and really sink your teeth into some technical detail (which VB so often hides from you) this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Hardcore VB useful when developing niche app front-ends
Review: I have been using VB off and on for 5+ years to develop very application-specific front-ends for embedded systems. These front-ends have typically been developed for a small group of users, under severe time constraints. I've found VB to be an efficient tool for this kind of development, and I've found this book to be one of the most useful for figuring out how to do things with VB that are unusual or unexpected. Several other programmers I work with, using VB to build non-business, "unorthodox" front-ends have had the same experience. The book is not a substitute for a comprehensive VB reference, nor was it intended to be, as far as I can tell. The author has been criticized for complaining too much about what he perceives as deficiencies in VB. In my opinion, this is one of the things that makes the book valuable. All tools have limits -- it's nice to have a sense of what they are, before one embarks on a coding project, let alone making time estimates for a manager. Software development is about the tradeoff between development time and application specificity. VB is a something of a general-purpose tool and it's good to be warned about the things that are hard to do with it.
Rating:
Summary: Complete
Review: I think that this book is the most complete reference that you can find. Learn everything, with good humor.
Rating:
Summary: A shame it is out of print...
Review: I've been a VB programmer ever since VB 1.0 and a C/C++ programmer before that. With all of the "Teach Yourself xxx in 7 Days" books for beginners and the regurgitated help files with 80% of a 1000 page book taken up with code samples, Hardcore Visual Basic is hands down the best book ever written about programming with Visual Basic. Yes, it doesn't cover specific targets in depth (e.g., database programming, Internet programming, etc.), but it gives you the tools and the knowledge to really utilize the language and environment to its full potential. I haven't released a commercial or internal product without the VbCore.DLL and the Win.TLB support since I bought the book. If you don't have this book yet, be sure and get it while copies are still available. It is a true shame that it is going out of print...
Rating:
Summary: A shame it is out of print...
Review: I've been a VB programmer ever since VB 1.0 and a C/C++ programmer before that. With all of the "Teach Yourself xxx in 7 Days" books for beginners and the regurgitated help files with 80% of a 1000 page book taken up with code samples, Hardcore Visual Basic is hands down the best book ever written about programming with Visual Basic. Yes, it doesn't cover specific targets in depth (e.g., database programming, Internet programming, etc.), but it gives you the tools and the knowledge to really utilize the language and environment to its full potential. I haven't released a commercial or internal product without the VbCore.DLL and the Win.TLB support since I bought the book. If you don't have this book yet, be sure and get it while copies are still available. It is a true shame that it is going out of print...
Rating:
Summary: A shame it is out of print...
Review: I've been a VB programmer ever since VB 1.0 and a C/C++ programmer before that. With all of the "Teach Yourself xxx in 7 Days" books for beginners and the regurgitated help files with 80% of a 1000 page book taken up with code samples, Hardcore Visual Basic is hands down the best book ever written about programming with Visual Basic. Yes, it doesn't cover specific targets in depth (e.g., database programming, Internet programming, etc.), but it gives you the tools and the knowledge to really utilize the language and environment to its full potential. I haven't released a commercial or internal product without the VbCore.DLL and the Win.TLB support since I bought the book. If you don't have this book yet, be sure and get it while copies are still available. It is a true shame that it is going out of print...
Rating:
Summary: Get Hardcore with Visual Basic
Review: Personally, I had grown very tired with wishy-washy programming books that teach you nothing new and put you to sleep while you're reading them. McKinney has not only written a book that will take you places you never thought you could go with VB 5.0, but has also made it readable! You'll find in-depth technical information on VB 5.0 and the Win32 API, combined with a definitely irreverent attitude toward the creators of VB 5.0 and the programming world in general. Thanks for the great book, Bruce.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: The best VB book I've read in a long time. Taking API and class interface to new levels, McKinney displays a high-performance, easy to understand way of using advanced API's, and using simpler ones in better ways.
Rating:
Summary: The third time I read it I will perhaps get 30% of it!
Review: The first time I read HCVB it was a complete revelation! WHAT! You mean I can do that? At one point I found Bruce's webpage and somehow linked to the MVP site... From there it was a screaming climb ;-) Last year I took HCVB with me on vacation to Guatamala and read it a second time (Bruce's style is humorous as hell and he doesn't take any prisoners. The first time I read it I was Huhhh what the hell is a type library? The second time I probably got about 20% of it. One of these days I need to read thru it again. It's a great reference along with Appleman and Balena as far as VB. If I were to go to a desert Island I would bring HCVB, Appleman's API book Balena's book, and Code Complete by Steve McConnell. Neila
| 
