<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: The ONLY book EVER on Drumbeat 2000
Review: As Macromedia have now announced how Drumbeat is going to evolve I understand the Teach Yourself book has been withdrawn. Having done the 'Getting Started' tutorial in Drumbeat and having read parts of the manual I was still unclear how the various Drumbeat concepts fit together - the contracts/activations/interactions. This book solved that quickly by walking me through sample applications, at first with the DataForm Wizard and then without. I did my first data-driven web application in a matter of hours!
Rating: 
Summary: Good for BEGINNERS in lack of other books, beats the manuals
Review: Drumbeat 2000 is a great idea, but not a very mature product at the moment. Hopefully, Macromedia's acquisition will do good things - the support is already improved.Domain knowledge of databases (Access & SQL or other ODBC-compliant), queries, etc., AND Active Server Pages (for Intermediate/Advanced Users) is required to effectively use DB2K. There are not many books/references available. This is what the Dummies book benefits from. By the very fact that it is the first and only book (as of now) on a very powerful and complex tool, it deserves to be on every DB2K users bookshelf/desktop. It beats the manuals. There are a lot of visuals which really help in navigating through DB2K's extensive set of menus and dialog boxes. Dummies books tend to oversimplify things, and this book is no different. However, The authors do try very hard to make DB as easy as possible for the newbie and cover a lot more ground than the documentation. The Dummies writing style and typography is just about tolerable, since we have nothing else to turn to. Overall, a GOOD BOOK for BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE users. Advanced users should stay away. The CD does not contain any new Contracts/Interactions. Why the 4 *? It's the first DB book. Goes further than the documentation. Awaiting more Drumbeat books - well written, in-depth, well-designed books with lots of "How-To"s and case-studies from start to finish, step-by-step, which give complete details of constructing complex real-world web sites with Drumbeat & SQL Server.
Rating:
Summary: Problems with the CD? - Maybe it will help.... I hope so.
Review: For those of you having problems with the installation of the examples in the CD: 1) Install the .edf files in the Hard Drive 2) Remove the Read-Only attribute to the file 3) You have to make a DSN. 4) Go to the query list and you have to double-click them and tell the program from where you are taking the data. That's it. Hope it help you. Really.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that great but what choice do we have?
Review: Good book to start you off on learning Drumbeat, considering this is the only book out on the market at the mo... I tried the User manual, didnt understand it! I read this book (cover-to-cover) then read the manual (E-Commerce version), made more sense. If your having probs understanding the User manual then I think this is the best way to go, that is until more books on the subject are published. Dont expect great things from the CD though
Rating:
Summary: A flawed book that is still helpful
Review: I like the dummies books -- they help you get your foot in the door quickly, usually in an afternoon. I didn't find the book as bad as many other people here have, but many of the problems mentioned here (ie., especially those with the cd) are real and significant. Before anyone buys this book, I'd strongly suggest they download the demo copy of Drumbeat if at all possible, and look at the docs that come with it. It's a big download (60MB), so that might not be possible for everyone. But the demo product comes with a quick start guide and a full manual, and both of them are very well done. I think they're much better than the Dummies book, they're official, and they're free. In any event, I've gotten more use from them than I have from this book. If you compare the value of your time to the cost of these books, you'll find that you don't need much value from a book to make it worthwhile. So my feeling is that if you want to master Drumbeat, you might as well buy this book, even if it is flawed, since it's the only one out there, and another perspective on the subject is helpful. But I don't think it's the best way to learn the product from scratch.
Rating:
Summary: Dumb Book!
Review: I thought the Manual that came with the program was more helpfull than the Dummies book, and easier to follow, which is not usually the case. Not bad to have as a backup though.
Rating:
Summary: OK for some not for others.
Review: I would recommend reading the quick start manual that comes along with the trial version of DB2K, it's decently written and provides a lot of answers, however; true beginners will find that DB2K for dummies is a God-send in the fact that it provides a lot of reference, but keep in mind the book isn't written to well. Hope this helps and good luck!
Rating:
Summary: RUN AND ENTER MACROMEDIA SITE !
Review: MACROMEDIA HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW SOFTWARE RELEASE. DRUMBEAT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. THE NEW SOFTWARE CALLED DREAMWEAVER ULTRADEV, COMBINES DREAMWEAVER AND DRUMBEAT. SO THIS BOOK CAN GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA BUT NOT ALL THE NECESSARY NOW.
Rating:
Summary: Its Ok, could definitely be better
Review: This book is not written well IMO. When they talk about technical things the explanations are somewhat technical. Whenever they do get down to earth, its just useless commentary. I much prefer the way ASP for dummies was written. Very simply, very clearly. But the book does contain some helpful info and is an okay introduction to Drumbeat. I'm really looking forward to a better book (Teach yourself Drumbeat in 21 days).
Rating:
Summary: definitely a mixed bag
Review: Those with even basic experience in web design can skip the first few chapters of the book-- however, after that the authors clearly outline how to easily create ASP pages. I would only recommend this book to a beginner. The CD is not useful-- it includes trial versions of drumbeat (would it not be a reasonable assumption that owners of this book have Drumbeat? )
<< 1 >>
| 
