World Famous Comics: Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 (Mastering)
Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 (Mastering)
By: Evangelos Petroutsos Publisher: Sybex Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Sybex Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 1118 Publication Date: March 04, 2008
Product Description: This expert guide covers what you need to know to program with Visual Basic 2008, employ the latest Visual Studio 2008 tools, and operate efficiently within the .NET Framework. In an easy-to-follow style, the book moves from in-depth explanations to practical instruction to real-world examples. Explore basic coding in VB 2008 and learn to build interfaces without coding by using Visual Studio 2008's drag-and-drop visual tools. Youll get up to speed on LINQ and handle key tasks such as programming TreeView controls, and more.
Reference Book Only I purchased this book based on the good reviews it has received so far here on Amazon. After going through the book I have to say I am dissappointed.
This book gives a very brief summary and example on different subjects while jumping all over the place and not going into to much detail on any specific subject. The examples are poorly formatted and lacking any comments.
Having used older versions of .Net I was able to skim through most of the book with learning very little that is new. The subjects do not go in depth enough for an advanced programmer and not enough explanation for a beginner programmer.
If you get this book, buy the downloadable version and plan to use it only as a basic reference.
The best by far - simple to follow OK, I have to back up what the others have said. I've only had this book two days and I'm literally jumping for joy. Finally, a book written so that an idiot like me can follow it. I figure he must have been an elementary teacher along the way somewhere. He actually answers all of those little questions that pop into your head as you're reading, which other books omit to do and, as a result, I get lost by about the fourth chapter. Not this one. I'm swimming through it freely and not drowning. Many thanks Evangelos!
Mastering Visual Basic 2008 The book has many well explained step by step examples, which are very easy to follow. In my opinion, it's the best book yet on Visual Basic programming.
Fun Book! I am a non-traditional student right now (accounting), and I have taken some Excel courses where we used a tiny bit of VBA. This, along with a database application design course, piqued my interest to learn more about Visual Basic.
It's been a few years since I did any programming at all, and I had no experience with visual programming environments. The last time I programmed was back in the 90's, with Pascal and C. And even though it's been a while since I programmed, I knew I didn't want a "raw beginner book." I wanted a book I could grow into. Enter "Mastering Visual Basic 2008."
This is not a book for people who have no programming experience (although a bright, industrious person could probably do it). The basics of programming (declaring variables and basic programming constructs) are covered in two chapters. The rest of the book teaches the aspiring programmer how to work within the Visual Studio environment. The programming examples are useful and can become starting points, letting the reader add functionality as needed.
The author does assume some previous experience, and occasionally leaves out some details here and there, which can be slightly frustrating at times. For myself, however, this worked out okay, because in hunting for the missing details, I actually learned more about the program than I might have if all the details were spelled out. (Yes, the cloud has a silver lining!)
I'm not nearly finished with the book, but the content so far has me looking forward to working my way through all the chapters. Highly recommended!
Wonderful Visual Basic 2008 Learning Tool!! 'Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008' by VB expert Evangelos Petroutsos is a fantastic way to get up and running with one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Visual Basic has come so far since it's early days and now the reasons for using VB have gone far beyond just RAD (Rapid Application Development) as you can write world-class applications far beyond the most basic tasks you would have chosen VB for 10 years earlier.
Everything that you would want covered is here in this book, from the basics of how to use VB to condition clauses to array and string access to database connectivity and the newest goodies .NET 3.5 has to offer. Written in a clear, concise manner that calmly takes you from one chapter to the next, I found this book to be an absolute joy to learn from. Sybex has a rich history of publishing easy to use computer books that nearly anyone can learn from and this text is no exception.
Chapter Overview:
01. Getting Started with Visual Basic 2008 02. Variable and Data Types 03. Programming Fundamentals 04. GUI Design and Event-Driven Programming 05. Vista Interface 06. Basic Windows Controls 07. Forms 08. More Windows Controls 09. TreeView and ListView Controls 10. Building Custom Classes 11. Working with Objects 12. Building Custom Windows Controls 13. Handling Strings, Characters, and Dates 14. Storing Data in Collections 15. Accessing Folder and Files 16. Serialization and XML 17. Querying Collections and XML with LINQ 18. Drawing and Painting with Visual Basic 2008 19. Manipulating Images and Bitmaps 20. Printing with Visual Basic 2008 21. Basic Concepts of Relational Databases 22. Programming with ADO.NET 23. Building Data-Bound Applications 24. Advanced DataSet Oprations 25. Building Web Applications 26. ASP.NET 3.5 27. ASP.NET Web Services
My only qualm with this magnificent book is that I wish some color could have been introduced, especially in the sections that discuss the new WPF way of creating applications. These new style apps are meant to have a great look for the user and I feel the tried and true black/white/grey look hurts the book a little bit but this in no way lowers my rating of it.
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