Once in a while, Visual Basic goes through a paradigm shift. The recent jump to .NET was one, and
The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language succeeds very well in explaining to programmers--and not just experienced VB programmers, either--what the changes mean to software architecture and implementation. If you need to figure out how VB.NET works, this book, more than any other, will help you make fast initial progress. This guide is clear; it's practical; it focuses on the parts of the VB.NET programming language and its runtime environment that every developer has to understand. You'll probably want to supplement this book with more specialized ones that deal with databases, networking, user interfaces or whatever specific capabilities you need to work with, but this book is probably the best place to start. The author's attention to coding style and software design is a bonus that will help you write code that not only runs, but is more self-documenting and easier to debug.
The educational value of this book is inversely proportional to its mass. It's a thinnish volume, but Paul Vick--who works for Microsoft and helped design VB.NET--makes such clever use of examples that it's likely you'll find answers to many of your questions (for example, `How do you write class constructors in VB.NET?` and `What does the VB.NET inheritance model look like?`) in the form of executable code. Read Vick's explanations, examine and run his code, and you'll be well down the road to VB.NET proficiency. --David Wall
Topics covered: How to program in VB.NET, with emphasis on the core language itself rather than on any development environment or specialized API. Sections address basic and complex data types, operators, and exception handling. About half the book is a clear, example-driven explanation of object-orientation under VB.NET. An appendix deals with difference between the old Component Object Model (COM) and the new Common Language Runtime (CLR).
User review
A Developer's View
I try this to be as honest as I can.
The Good:
You see less talk and more how VB.NET works.
The sample codes are usually good and clear.
Book tries to cover many topics on VB.NET.
The Bad:
The book is more like a reference book,
Lots of topics are explained in less than half a page.
The examples given for the topic is not enough.
Even though the book covers VB, there is nothing visual,
It DOES NOT COVER FORMS. Which is an integral part of VB.
Handling and transferring data between forms is one of most confusing topics for VB6 and those who learn VB.NET. So even if you read this book 100 times, you most likely won't be able to make a standard VB.NET program which has more than one form.
It also does not cover VB.NET controls.
The proper Title for this book should be:
`Writing Console applications with VB.NET.`
Also please note that this book is not for beginners. It does assume that you have some advanced programming knowledge.
Examples are pointers, classes.
There are better books out there for learning VB.NET. I do recommend this only as a reference for experienced VB.NET programmers.
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This is my additional feedback after I put more time into this book.
This book Does not deserve even 2 stars but only one.
Keep away from this book!
User review
Not like any other Visual Basic book on your shelf
This is distilled expertise on Visual Basic .NET - concise, complete, and correct. Anyone from beginner to pro will learn new things about VB concepts and syntax.
I use this book when I teach introductory Visual Basic .NET. It is the best way for a student to zero in on a single topic. They can find a brief but complete exposition, and an example that strips away all irrelevancies to illustrate the concept at hand.
But I also learned some things that I didn't know from this book, and that's after 4+ years working on VB.NET (back into the betas) and writing several books of my own.
Don't buy this book to learn how to build complete applications, or to learn a lot about the .NET Framework. There are other books for those needs. But if you live in the world of Visual Basic, this book is an essential resource.
User review
The book to read if you want to understand VB.NET.
I love this book.
I've been programming in VB for ages, well, the better part of ten years anyway. I've also been in VB.NET since the early betas, and I'm passionate about where the language is today and where it is going. I also think I know my way around the language pretty well.
So, I picked up this book mostly to see if I wanted to recommend it to beginning or intermediate programmers. What a surprise when I found myself learning, or at other times remembering forgotten details of the langauge. Paul has a great style, and hits the right level of detail and history. It isn't overwhelming, but he isn't afraid to get deep into the gritty details either.
This book is all VB.NET. It talks about the framework where the framework matters to VB. He talks about history when it helps explain something about the way VB is built. Beginner's may want to read it yearly for a while, and I doubt there is any VB programmer who could read this book without learning from it. For me, that combination in a readable format is as good as it gets.
User review
Excellent Book
An excellent reference book for Visual Basic .NET!
There are a lot of good things about this book:
- It is precise but not terse.
- Examples are short and designed very carefully.
- There are a bunch of notes on historical or design aspect of the language. These notes brings the things into context. These are informative as well as entertaining.
The organization of this book is great. Especially if you are an instructor, its so easy to structure your course around this book.
User review
Great Book
This book is one of the best Visual Basic references I have read.
