Rating: 
Summary: Words cannot describe!! Great work
Review: This is an excellent book on VB exams. But you should know some VB in advance. This book concentrates on Exam objectives rather than teaching you how to code in. I took VB Desktop on May and scored 857/1000. I used this book only. Most of the questions I found on COM were described in depth in this book. So if you are planning to take VB exams, please buy this book. You won't ever feel sorry. You can also refer this book before attending interviews.
Rating:
Summary: This Book + Transender = YOU PASS
Review: A combination of this book and the Transender exams is a heavenly mix. I went through this book (very carefully) twice. Then I used the exams to brush up. I passed the 70-176 exam with a score of 857! Great book!
Rating:
Summary: Quick Delivery, Excellent Material, About to take exams
Review: I'm very impressed with James Foxall "Straight and to the point" type of technical reading. If you are a Fly by night VB programmer or less than a couple of years experience, this book is an excellent tool to fill in the missing or misunderstood gaps in your skill sets. I do not recommend this book for novices. Great work, and wish me luck on the exams.Huge fan,
-Tim
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Summary: Fantastic Book for Intermediate VB programmers
Review: This book is the absolute best programming book book I've ever read, and I've had the misfortune of reading a few. Very to the point no screwing around here's the straight dope style makes this book what it is. And short! Only ~350 pages of actual reading, scary thing is I learned more than when I read most 1000+ pagers. Covers everything you need to know for the exams and covers it better than I've ever seen. I you used to wonder about ActiveX, classes, and objects in VB than wonder no more. You'll get it after reading this. I only wish all books were this good (and short).
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't live up to the hype
Review: Considering the ratings on this book, I was a bit disappointed with its content. I used only it, Transcender and Exam Cram when I first attempted the Distributed test last year, and barely failed. The Hawhee book by New Rider's fills in the holes that Foxall doesn't, or at least doesn't do well. Namely, the Creating User Services portion of the test, IIS Applications and DHTML applications. The Foxall book seems to make the mistaken assumption that if you are a VB programmer at all, and any good, of course you use menus, ListView, Treeview, Imagelist, etc. in your programs all the time. I mostly program ActiveX DLLs and none of my programs use external files (at least in such a way that I would need a Treeview/Listview combination, or even a Windows Common Dialog to go schplunking through directories.) Both that attitude (and the comparative lack of information on these topics) sent me looking for other supplementation, which again, I found in the huge Hawhee book. Now the Foxall book DOES give much better coverage of COM and ADO than anything else, and that counts for a lot on BOTH tests. It's not a bad book. Just an incomplete one. None of the books that I saw gave an adaquate look at the Package and Deployment wizard (at least as far as the Desktop exam goes.) (After using the Hawhee book and Transcenders, I passed with 885 for Distributed and 814 for Desktop.)
Rating: 
Summary: Good for experienced VB programmers
Review: This book is targeted at experienced VB programmers that do not have a lot of experience with using classes or creating custom components. Most VB programmers use components that Microsoft or third-party companies provide, but do not actually create their own. However, the VB exams require this knowledge, and this book provides an introduction to the concepts. There are some errors, but there is an errata page available online, a feature that is essential for technical books today.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Much Help For Exam--You have been WARNED!!
Review: I read the book from cover to cover twice. I went thru all the questions 3 times. There were some good examples and a lot of info, but this book was of almost no use for the 70-175 Exam. At most it helped me answer about 5 questions of the 71 on the Exam. The exam questsions were just very different from what was in this book. I also read a different 70-175 prep book, and the other one I used was of little use as well.
Rating:
Summary: 942 on the Desktop exam...
Review: ... and this book is the reason. It delivers on it's promise, which is that it takes an experienced VB programmer and gives you the concepts and details that you need to know to not only pass the exams, but do very, very well. O'Reilly's web site support for the book is excellent as well. The author has posted an excellent write-up that details how to approach the tests, with excellent recommendations for additional study aids. And, aside from certification, my level of skill with using VB, which was pretty substantial before, has gone through the roof. If you want to lift your skills and be able to crank out clean, reliable, robust applications, get this book.
Rating:
Summary: worth to buy
Review: I passed both exams of VB,70-175 and 70-176, at an average scores 950 using this book + Transcender.
Thanks to Foxall and other readers had wrote commences here.
I like this book!
Rating:
Summary: Another O'Reilly Classic
Review: I read the book in a month (I'm a slow reader), took some Transcender practice tests, passed the distributed with a 914/1000. Had I known about this book before I began studying for the Desktop exam, I'd have been able to take both tests in the same day and pass them both! It's a great book. The beauty of it is that it doesn't assume you're starting from ground zero. You have to know the basics of building VB apps with forms, built-in controls, database access, etc. That's why it's only 600 pages! However it does start from the beginning on topics a lot of us experienced VB developers have not used much if at all such as building ActiveX controls, using MTS, using property pages, licensing, digital signatures, etc. -- all items you have to know for the first two core exams. If you're going to get your MCSD, GET THIS BOOK and through out everything but your Transcenders, your copy of MSDN, and your Bible. Prayer is always your best resource!
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