Customer Reviews (1)

A Rosetta stone for BASIC
If you are translating from an old BASIC on one system to a different system or to a modern BASIC this book will be invaluable. Its coverage is comprehensive - both of the main families (HP and Microsoft) as well as many variant forms of BASIC can be found here. This is NOT a textbook - it is intended for an experienced programmer who needs a reference for an extinct dialect. Each command and function is listed alphabeticly with the system that used it and what it does. ... Read more

Product Description
Basic Stamp is the brand name of a chip that is widely used in the prototyping of microcontrollers - the "brains" of electronic devices. The development of such embedded system devices is the fastest-growing chip sector. This book teaches the principles and processes of microcontroller development by demonstrating how to program the Basic Stamp. The companion CD contains a tool that converts the successful Basic program to the assembly language required to run the PIC microcontroller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Better than the Basic Stamp Manual
This book is much better than the regular Stamp manual. It starts out explaining how everything works and then covers each of the commands by function which is a great idea (instead of alphabetizing them). After thatthe author shows you how things work by bringing you through a series ofprojects. Unlike some books most of these projects are simple enough tobreadboard in 10 or 15 minutes. There are a few projects that are morecomplicated at the end so you can get some feel for how do do a real designtoo (like the morese code keyer that has a pcb).

The projects make senseand illustrate specific topics. There are some games, a capacitance meter,a logic probe, an A/D converter. The book is probably meant as a text book(it has exercises at the end of the chapters) but I found it great for selfstudy (the answers are in the back).

The information on the PIC ishelpful and I have even starting programming PICs as a result of readingthis book (it comes with plans to make a Stamp-based PIC programmer). ... Read more

Product Description
If you have basic programming experience, this book is your ideal guide for writing games using Visual Basic .NET and Managed DirectX 9.This Second Edition includes almost entirely new coverage. While coverage of game design and 2D artwork remain, this edition includes more detailed coverage of the DirectX game code and utilizes the free Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition compiler. A true beginner's guide, this book covers each essential step for creating your own complete role playing game, including a character creation screen and a combat system. This book serves as a comprehensive introductory guide for readers who are new to programming or new to programming for games. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Comment from the author
This book was not intended to be a game project book, like "Build your own RPG MAKER in 10 easy steps", but unfortunately that is the impression that many readers seem to have, and it's a false assumption. This book is about learning to program VB.NET 2005 or 2008 with Managed DirectX. That's a very difficult subject, so the game was intended as a way to improve learning. This book teaches how to program 2D games in VB.NET and Managed DirectX, with an emphasis on top-down tile based scrolling. A very large scale tile-based game world is developed using a world editor called Mappy, with tutorials on how to create your own game world. The book even recommends creating your own game levels, and that the one presented in the book is only an example.

Please, if you don't know VB.NET, don't buy this book as your introduction to the language! This is a very difficult subject to master! DirectX9 should only be approached after one has learned VB.NET first. So, please read a primer and learn the language, and then give DirectX a try. =)

Here is the outline for the book:

Part I: The Game Engine
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: Introduction to Visual Basic .NET
Chapter 3: Introduction to Managed DirectX
Chapter 4: Sprites: The Key To 2D Games
Chapter 5: Printing Text and Getting User Input
Chapter 6: Tile-Based Scrolling
Chapter 7: Entity Management
Chapter 8: Playing Sound Effects and Music

Part II: The Game World
Chapter 9: Designing The Celtic Crusader Game
Chapter 10: Creating The Game World
Chapter 11: Exploring The Game World
Chapter 12: Adding Scenery and Objects

Part III: The Characters
Chapter 13: Creating The Player Character
Chapter 14: Building The Celtic Crusader Engine
Chapter 15: Keeping Track of Inventory
Chapter 16: Adding NPCs and Monsters
Chapter 17: Engaging in Combat

what not to do when making a game
The book was interesting for the first few chapters, but then it became frustrating.The classes for the games were constantly modified on the source disk from chapter to chapter without notifying the reader of any changes.The reader either has to open the source file for each chapter and type the changes into their source code, or the reader has to use the source code itself. One thing not to do is load the whole map.Its okay for a small map, but the author loaded a 48000 X 64000 pixels or 1500 X 2000 32X32 pixel tiles.In addition, the map is refreshing every 10 milliseconds.When I tried to run the completed game from the source disk and found out it took 300+ MB of RAM, and this is not a complete game.This takes more RAM than some 3D games I played like Orochi Warriors on PC.The game also drained 30% of from the battery from my friends laptop in less than five minutes.When testing out the actuall game play, I found that I was killing enemies behind me when I was attacking the one in from half the time.When printing text on the screen, the author .png files and placed the them on the screens like tiles.This method would make it really difficult to print text in other languages like Japanese and Chinese that contain thousands of characters.It will take a lot of effort to modify the author's code to make the a more efficient game.

Shot the editor
I like the concept of the book, but there are a lot of inconsistencies in the code for the projects.Up until the fifth chapter I was fully ready to endorse the book to my district as a textbook for an advance Visual Basic class on game programming. I like the fact that he builds a game one step at a time, starting with an experiment to illustrate the concept, then building and testing a class for the game. However, when he got to the fifth chapter, he changed his naming conventions and added code to the classes with no mention in the book of these changes. This can be frustrating especial to high school students or any new programmer. There are several places though out the book where he made changes to the classes on the CD that he does not mention in the book. Then he adds the class method to the current project and your left wondering where it came from. I felt he needed to make changes in the book, so that the code was consistent though out the book and matched what on the CD.

In my opinion, His editor should have caught this. Thomson as a publisher is starting to get a repetition for there badly coded books. It is obvious that an editor should be reviewing the code in a book along with the grammatical errors in the book and Thompson fails to do that. If you understand visual basic and you are looking for a book on game programming concepts the book is good. However I would not recommend this book if you are new to Visual Basic and I would definitely not recommend it for teenager, it will only frustrate them.
... Read more

Product Description

Praise for The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language

“There is no substitute to getting the inside scoop directly from a book written by the father of a programming language such as Bjarne Stroustrup for C++, James Gosling for Java and Alan Cooper for the original version of Visual Basic. Paul Vick, the father of Visual Basic .NET, explains the whys and hows of this exciting new language better than any other human being on the planet.”

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). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

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 oneform.

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.

---------------------------

This is my additional feedbackafter I put more time into this book.

This book Does not deserve even 2 stars but only one.
Keep away from this book!

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.

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.

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.

Great Book
This book is one of the best Visual Basic references I have read. ... Read more

Product Description
Assuming no prior computer programming knowledge on the part of the reader, the updated edition of David Schneider's best-selling Visual Basic 6 book now includes an introduction to Visual Basic.NET.This book uses Visual Basic 6.0 to explore the fundamentals of programming in general and to explain how to use Visual Basic as a front end to take control of major applications such as Microsoft Office. A broad range of examples, case studies, exercises, and programming projects gives readers significant hands-on experience.Introducing good programming practices that are in-step with modern programming methodology, this book uses well-chosen examples to illustrate every new concept. It includes carefully designed examples that both reinforce the text and challenge the reader to make original connections. The book also incorporates real, current, and sometimes humorous data throughout to add fun and interest to the overall presentation.The updated edition of Introduction to Programming with Visual Basic 6 includes the addition of "named constants" throughout the book, an update of all the data, and the addition of new programming projects in each chapter. An essential reference for every programming professional. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

I'm Impressed!!
Just like the subject says: "I'm impressed".I was someone who had absolutely NO IDEA of how to begin with VB (I didn't even know what VB was for anyways!).But now I know, and trust me, I'm good at it (I do have to spend time reading it :P).I love the fact that it has practice exercises which leaves you in an analytical environment (very good help for future programmers who are independent enough).

Anyways, if you're into VB, then this is the best selection out there.Hope this helps.

If there had to be only one...
I've always been interrested by the computer world and one day decided to teach myself programming. I picked up this book and started to read. At that moment, I didn't even know what a programming language was. I read it from cover to cover and didn't have the impression to learn something but suddenly I found myself programming small applications. I read other books then and today I'm a MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer). During my whole journey on the learning of programming, this one was the clearest book I've read. So, if you're a complete beginner in programming, get this book fast ! I would even recommend you to read it BEFORE moving to .NET books. If you already are a programmer coming from another language, it may not be the right choice.

College text used - not happy
I have my VB final due tommorrow.I have to agree with another reviewer.The examples don't explain what you need to know for the projects.My teacher is very smart but she grades hard.Between that and this difficult to learn from book our class has gone from 22 students to get this 4. There are 4 of us left in what should have been a beginner type programming class.
I am going to buy a Thompson Learning VB book instead.I am sure it will be better.
The only guy who did well with this book already had C++ I and II.

Great get-to-the-point book on VB
I had to use this book for a VB programming class. I really like the style. Instead of laboring the point, Schneider briefly presents information on a topic, then uses examples to explain the details. If you are learner by tutorial, then this book is NOT for you because it is not a lot of hand-holding. But if you can read something, see an example, then grasp the concept, then you will enjoy reading this text and find it very beneficial.

My class project was to build a conctacts database, and this book has some great examples of how to build a database application both in the front end (forms and controls) and back end (coding SQL and VB data-handling commands).

Not for raw beginners
Most of the reviewers for this book seem to have had some previous programming experience, and thus, armed with an understanding of programming generally, i.e. the jargon, the logic, and general concepts, this book might well deserve a good wrap. However, it has been my first exposure to programming and I am finding that it is not a great help to a raw beginner.

This is the prescribed text for a uni subject I am doing, and I know of other students who have been very critical of the book also.In fact, the lecturer recommended that those with no prior experience refer to other books for a better explanation of the concepts!

I do not want to be a programmer - and I am not someone who enjoys spending every spare moment experimenting with code - my interests lie in other areas of IT. Having said that, I have put as much effort into this subject as any other that I have done.

Specifically, I have found that the book skips over the basics, and makes a lot of assumptions about the reader's prior knowledge. I often find myself leafing backwards and forwards through the book looking for information that I know I have previously read, but cannot find again without wasting a great deal of time because of its poor layout. There is a dearth of explanation - I know that the best way to learn programming is to do it, but if what you're doing isn't working you need to understand why and be able to fix it without wanting to throw the computer out of the window ;-)

I am searching now for some books that will help me to finish the subject.I don't want to go into the exam on a wing and a prayer, I'd actually like to do well. This book on its own is not going to get me there.

Perhaps, it's different these days, as kids leaving school may have already studied computing subjects before going to uni, but for mature age students new to programming, there is a lot of catching up to do before this book would be helpful. I hope this has been of assistance to anyone else in the same boat. ... Read more

Product Description
Filled with the ingredients developers need—code samples, instructions, and solutions to common problems—this book is the logical place for developers to start building projects and learning more about Visual Basic .NET. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Great text for vb.net 1.1.
This book save me in school.The professor would issue their own text, that really didn't explain all the tools that the homework required.This was my supplement.

The text provides very simple uses and after effects of a great deal of items in the language.Microsquishy put in many useful items in this text.

Casual programmers handbook
Whenever I want to do something in VB, if I haven't done it many times before, I will check this book because it most often has a "recipe" for my problem.Used my neighbor's book so often I bought one for myself.

Excellent VB.NET resource
I found this VB.NET reference of tremendous help to me.The content covers a wide cross-section of topics and addresses the needs of varying skill levels.Easy to use.Had just the information I initially needed to parse and manipulate XML files.I am very pleased with this book.It is proving to be an excellent resource for now and the future.

Programmers Cookbook
The book was new as presented and came very quickly in the mail. Thank you

Great recepie book.
Book has a lot of practical suggestions, especially for rudimentary string handling operations.It stands out over most other books of this genre on the topic of .net.

Even after i switched to c#.net, this book was still handy.
... Read more

Product Description
Write your own programs with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET—faster, smarter, and better. Use easy coding techniques and expert tips to learn syntax and language elements, functions and classes, Windows® Forms, Microsoft ASP.NET, data access, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

full of inessentials
sorry, i just bought these kinds of books. they have lots of talking and less explaining and teaching...besides, you're loosing all the essentials.


find some other book for beginners or programmers alike. the title is lying, it doesnt reflect the content.

Faster Smarter Beginning Programming (using Visual Studio)
While only having been through the first couple chapters, this book is written like it is referring to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, but some of the menus referred to actually are for an earlier version of Visual Studio, so you have to do some investigation of what is available from the program that matches the text.
The first program did not work as the author predicted; I followed directions but running the program led to errors.

An Honest Review
Although I'm only 80% finished with the book, I believe I can review it now.

The reason being that the remaining chapters (9-12)
pertain to non-groundwork topics
(i.e.designing windows forms, web page programming).
Obviously an intro. to more advanced uses of programming.

The author, Jim Buyens, consistently writes in a clear, modern, and organized way.
He lives up to teaching the basics (plus techniques!).
I have only found 1 mistake in his sample code, and it was an uncritical piece.

There is even some sincere humor in chapter subtitles.
i.e.
Chapter 7 subtitle "a touch of class[*]".
*group of properties and methods.

If you buy, a real learning effort is a must.

definitely a five star!

Exactly what it claims to be & more
I am a Systems Admin who knows networking like the back of my hand and support hundreds of systems running numerous OSs. I can develop dynamic web sites using PHP & mySQL, and I use javascript. But as most of you know, those in the development community don't consider those true programming languages (since they're just scripting languages), thus it doesn't make you a true programmer. I have always been interested in 'someday' learning to program. Well, I finally decided to start the process. I first tried to tackle what language to choose. Since VB is so widespread and (enter comment here) Windows does command a very high percentage of the desktop arena, I chose VB .NET.

The problem was that I have no formal programming experience, and most books on VB .NET tried to teach you by comparing it to VB6. Also, since VB6 was not fully OO, I didn't want to learn a programming paradigm just to use it as a stepping stone to another, when the first is clearly phased out. Either that, or I would find books or online tutorials that would explain the IDE and say OK that's it. Just put your code in here and you're good to go. But what if you don't know how to code?

I needed a book that taught a technically proficient professional how to program from the ground up using the most recent version of VB without reference to other versions.

That is exactly what you get and more. It gives you everything you need from the very basics and builds on the skills you learned. It also gives great code examples then walks you through every line of code explaining exactly what it did. Finally, it offers a tutorial on the subject you just learned using the code it just explained line by line.

This is not for intermediate programmers or experienced programmers that are new to VB. It truly is what it says in the Intro of the book...

If you are an experienced PC user who's never delved into programming but now has the itch, this is the book that will get you started. It presumes you're proficient with Windows & Windows Apps but wouldn't know a line of code if it came up and bit you.

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Create professional-quality applications, components, and user interfaces faster and more efficiently than ever with the powerful object-oriented programming capabilities in the Visual Basic 6.0 development system. From Windows® common controls to data access, Internet, and ActiveX® programming, this book covers core development topics for version 6.0—providing insightful explanations and expertly rendered examples for rapid acceleration of your Win32® productivity.• Expedite development with the object-oriented capabilities in Visual Basic 6.0—including events, polymorphism, and object hierarchies• Develop great user interfaces that use the full range of controls in Visual Basic and take advantage of OLE drag and drop, data-driven forms, and advanced Windows API techniques• Build datacentric solutions using ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) 2.0 and 2.1, the DataEnvironment designer, and RDS components for remote activation over the Internet • Master ActiveX technology to create controls, learning advanced techniques such as COM callbacks, multithreaded components and applications, and windowless ActiveX controls• Deploy rich, Web-ready components and applications with Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and Microsoft Internet Information ServerAn electronic version of this book is available on the companion CD. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (89)

A great book for any serious VB programmer
I'm a C/C++ programmer, but for some reason I had to learn VB too. I tried two different books (both with good ratings), but as far as I'm concerned this book is ways better. I recommend it to all those programmers who really want to start using VB as their second (or first) programming language.

Why am I writing a review for this supposedly outdated book
Because Visual Basic 6 remains a very useful programming environment for me.Mr. Balena's style goes way beyond a tutorial through menu creation.He tells us about pratfalls ofthe Microsoft environment ( while writing for Microsoft! ) and useful ways to work around limitations ofthe environment.If you are still using VB6, like I am, this is a useful reference.We might want to start looking at .NET, eh?

Staright forward walk through
Good book for the novice with some experience programming but new to VB 6. Walks through the differences between other versions, and has some nice documentation.
I would recommend.

author shoud be banned from writing programming books
code snippets are fragmented and some variables are used without
naming their types, causing confusion in many cases.

the chapters on classes and objects and databases are worthless:
i'm glad i didn't learn objects and databases from this guy.

many explanations are needlessly lengthy and confusing.

i've documented with profane remarks so many problems in this book that are simply not sharable.

Best VB 6.0 book I own.
This book is a must have for any VB 6.0 programmer period. So buy it.

Not only is this book extremely informative, but Balena writes excellently. The way he communicates the information help's make the info stick in your head.

As for the informative part Balena covers all the major bases in depth and some of the more obscude/advanced topics to get your feet wet. He also shows you different and more efficent ways to write code.

If I had one complaint is that his code is not the most readable, Balena seems to center more on condensing his code and making it as efficent as possible rather than making it readable. He attempts to offset this with comments.

But that is also a postive about the book Balena covers different ways to write a statment to make it most efficent. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive book equips readers with the skills necessary to develop computer applications in any language by helping them develop a framework for creating programs. The program development cycle and fundamental programming concepts are emphasized.Comes with free software: Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Working Model. To highlight emphasis on programming concepts instead of GUI elements, a limited number of program controls are used in the examples.For anyone interested in learning to program in Visual Basic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

One of the Best
This is one of the best textbook for Visual Basic 6 programming, for MIS students or professionals.It is easy to follow and designed for self-starters.The reference materials in the Appendix A-C are very handy and useful.I have used this book for my introduction to Visual Basic, at a few colleges.

Warning!
This book does NOT teach object based event driven programming of VB6.This book teaches code based 1960's structured programming in a VB5 environment.Unfortunately the authors do not know VB6 code.This book is a VB6 desert.

Using this book as a textbook for a 2 quarter course
I have been in the teaching profession for over 30 years!Currently, I teach COP 2172 Visual Basic, and COP 3170 Advanced Visual Basic: a two quarter course sequence at Florida Metropolitan University and have used this as a textbook.The presentation style of the authors of this book is excellent. They use the theory introduced in each chapter in a large number of worked out examples and programming projects in each chapter.Then each chapter ends with a good selection of programming exercises as well as programming projects.The book also provides a CD-ROM containing all the worked out examples and projects of the book and the publisher usually supplies another CD-ROM to instructors that also contains the solutions to the exercises and projects appearing at the end of each chapter.I found all this material to be excellent instructional tools.If you wish to view the qualifications of this reviewer to judge the validity of his review, feel free to visit:....

Introduction To Computer Programming with Visual Basic 6
As the title suggests, this is a book that stresses (really) programming and programming logic for beginning programmers.Though the book was written as a classroom textbook, I have really developed a clearerunderstanding of Visual Basic programming through self-study following theexamples and exercises (hey authors, how about providing answers to thecoding exercises at the end of each chapter for non-students like me?).Itwas painstakingly written and explained, stressing programming exampleswith each topic introduced.In addition, at the end of each chapter, codeand screen shots are provided for a composite programming example coveringthe topics of the chapter.I cannot stress enough that this book isexcellently written and a great choice for the beginning programmer inunderstanding the core of Visual Basic programming.Good work, and thanks! ... Read more

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. You?ll get up to speed on LINQ and handle key tasks such as programming TreeView controls, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008
Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 2008

Very easy to follow and learn. Very practicle...

3 Stars.. average
I rate this visual basic book 3 stars. I purchased this book because it had the "Mastering Visual Basic 2008" as the title. I know C++ but not Visual Basic 2008, so a beginner book was not what I wanted.

The main problem is the code and the information is scattered throughout the chapter. It could be placed in a more methodical order, without needing to flip back and forth.

I would advise to download the code from Sybex and use that as a reference if you are not new to writing code. You do not need the book. Using the book in conjunction with the code from Sybex is confusing as they do not match. What the book says is not presented in the sample code.

I would recommend Murach's VB2008 instead to get the basics down over this book

It has Everything you need!
I've read many books about visual basic 2008, and when the real challenge emerges they lack the knowledge to help you go through it. But this book is different; it goes deep into every issue and makes it easy for the programmer to understand. I would say that if you have some basic knowledge of visual basic, and you are willing to buy another book, this one would definitely be the one that I would take, and you won't have to buy another.

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! ... Read more

Product Description
For beginners, Visual Basic is easy to learn. For veterans, its power is impressive. Small wonder, then, that it's the world's most popular programming tool. And this kit is arguably the simplest, most convenient way for beginning programmers to learn this important language. The MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 DELUXE LEARNING EDITION gives aspiring programmers the complete Learning Edition of MicosoftVisual Basic and all the outstanding proven tools that programmers can apply and combine to fit to their particular learning style.

Includes: The Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Learning Edition on CD-ROM MICROSOFT LEARN VISUAL BASIC 6.0 NOW, the popular CD-based interactive program for hands-on learning MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 STEP BY STEP, the acclaimed book that provides clear modular lessons you can complete at your own pace MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE, a rich reference for everything from programming fundamentals to optimizing and distributing applications The MSDN Developer's Library on two CDs

Now you can learn how to program for Microsoft Windows(r) the easy way. Get MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 DELUXE LEARNING EDITION. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Good
I bought this 8 years ago, and don;t use it anymore. It's an old version and I am looking forward to an update. No. I will not hold my breath. haha.

Is Amazon Pulling a Fast One?
Surprise! I'm reviewing Amazon. Your reviews for Microsoft Visual Basic 6 Learning Edition discuss the compiler that comes with the books, so people would naturally assume the compiler is included with the used books you're selling. It is NOT INCLUDED. Site visitors must click on details to learn that. Look, I know you don't have nearly enough billions yet to satisfy you, but play fair. Tell visitors on the review page that the compiler, the most important element in the reviews, is NOT part of the package.

Excellent Resource
This package has EVERYTHING that you will need to learn V.B. 6.0 and compile executable programs on your own.The step-by-step manual goes at a good pace for someone with little programming experience.The programmer's guide book and MSDN Help Library have the information necessary for those going beyond the 'Basic'.

An Excellent Resource for Those New to VB.
I found this book extremely helpful.I am a professor at Houghton College and purchased this book to write software for the genetics course that I teach.I had no prior experience in Visual Basic, although I have just taken a course in C++.The Step by Step guide is very helpful to orient users toward the visual basic environment, and has chapters on the syntax of the language itself, which is something I really needed.There are numerous helpful programs that come on the CDs, and I found the book extremely readable.In short, I highly recommend this book for its clarity and thoroughness.

Excellent starting point!
Although finding and reading a good Visual Basic book is an excellent start to ones Visual Basic career, I cannot over emphasize how important it is to get ones hands on a copy of the Visual Basic compiler. With both the book and the compiler you can quickly become comfortable with the Visual Basic Development Environment by typing in some of the source code in the book and test running it for yourself. Eventually, when you feel comfortable with your knowledge of Visual Basic you can begin writing and running your own programs. Visual Basic Deluxe Learning Edition will allow you to do just that.

A highly recommended set of materials! ... Read more

Product Description
Take your Excel skills to the next level with VBA programming

Now that you've mastered Excel basics, it's time to move to the next level—creating your own, customized Excel 2010 solutions using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The new edition of this non-threatening guide is your key to getting there. Using step-by-step instruction and the accessible, friendly For Dummies style, this practical book shows you how to use VBA, write macros, customize your Excel apps to look and work the way you want, avoid errors, and more.

The book's Web site provides all the programming examples from the book.

• Introduces you to a new range of Excel 2010 options
• Shows you how to use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to program your own custom Excel applications or to automate functions
• Explains how to create VBA macros, program, handle errors, debug, and more
• Covers Visual Basic Editor tools and functions; working with range objects; controlling program flow; and the easiest ways to create custom dialog boxes, toolbars, and menus
• Includes a companion Web site with all the sample programs from the book

Create your own, custom Excel programs with this information-packed guide!

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

i'm still waitig...
i have been always very happy with amazon till now. I m still waiting to receive the book althoug it is more than 1 month ago the i ordered the item. I hope to have good news soon

Great Book
This was a truly great book that helped me with Excel VBA for a project at work.

That being said, this book is purely for introductory purposes. Assuming you know how to work with Excel, this book will greatly help you get a start on VBA for Excel. This book doesn't cover the kind of topics you would find in the Power Programming in Excel VBA book, but it covers really basic topics for a beginner.

If you're a beginner to Excel VBA, I would highly recommend this book as a starting point for learning to master it.

Excel VBA Programming for Dummies
I am an accountant--not a programmer and I am only about 1/2 way through the book.I need this information to improve my job skills.I need to complete Excel spreadsheets faster, more accurately, and less manually repetitiously.I am learning many new things that are going to help reach that goal.My previous experience with Macros only included what you could write with the keystroke wizard method (which is very limiting).

Starting around Chap 7, Mr. Walkenbach starts giving a lot of examples of code that is setting dimensions; static counters, offsets; cells vs ranges, etc, but he doesn't complete those examples with the actually code that would run some macro after the previously defined dimensions.I would prefer to see how each actually work; thus I need an example of some code in each case so I can type it and run it.Maybe in some following chapters, he get to it, but by then I will have to go back and review.

Guess this is why this is a book for "Dummies"--looks like I qualify. LOLAll in all, I'm getting along well.And occasionally, he throws something funny in--which gives me major amusement considering how intense all of this language is for non-computer programming techie like me.

I recommend this book as a good starting place for someone like me who has some experience using the Macro Record tool in Excel.

Helpful book
A good book for first learning VBA. Not as in depth as other books though.

A good reference for part-time Excel users.
I`ve been trying to learn VBA for some time and have several books on the
subject.Excel VBA for Dummies is a good reference tool and
an easy read.I think however, the best book I own on Excel
is the old QUE book, Using Excel Visual Basic for Applications
by Elizabeth Boonin.I had started using it first and since
I am only a part-time Excel user I thought another perspective
would help me understand Excel better which the for Dummies book
does.I would certainly recommend this book to anyone just learning
Excel.Mr. Walkenbach makes learning Excel fun and interesting. ... Read more

Product Description
All the tools you need to create the full range of Visual Basic(r) color graphics applications

Expert Rod Stephens provides you with everything you need to add advanced graphics to your applications in this in-depth introduction to graphic programming with Microsoft Visual Basic. From images using as few as 16 colors to "true-color" applications that use more than 16 million, he shows you how to create the full range of color graphics applications. You'll learn how to use Visual Basic controls to create impressive graphic effects without having to buy expensive add-on products.

This book/CD-ROM package also explains how to integrate imaging, animation, and two- and three-dimensional graphics into an application. And you'll find the tools to manipulate color images, overlay one image on another, build scrolled windows, and much more.

The Second Edition covers:
* New API functions
* Bitmap image morphing
* New algorithms for hidden surface removal
* Print preview with multiple pages and scales
* Image processing, including high color and true color
* Examples of controlling animation using simulation
* New examples that demonstrate shape-distorting transformations
* New examples of fractals and tilings
* Gouraud shading, Phong shading, and texturing
* Ray tracing speed improvements
* Ray tracing for new kinds of objects

The CD-ROM includes:
* More than 400 complete, ready-to-run example programs
* Pictures to use with the example programs
* Images generated by the programs
* Color images of many of the figures from the book
* Source code for all example programs from the First Edition ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great book, regardless of your programming language
I'm not a VB programmer, but I was able to understand the theory in this book, and I could easily work through the code examples to translate them into Delphi and C#. It's very hard to find a book (for any programming language) that explains 3D graphics in simple terms, and with useful code examples. Even though this book is getting a little dated, this book will still be among my highest recommendations for years to come. The basic theory does not change, even though programming languages evolve.

The BestVB 6 Graphics Programming Book
This is an excellent book.It covers many aspects of Computer Graphics including Vector Graphics, Raster Graphics, Animation, Curves and Surfaces, 2D and 3D Transformations, and Rendering.Each chapter comes with lots of sample code on the CD.The underlying mathematics are also nicely explained.

I only wish their was a 3rd edition for VB.NET.

Excelent Reference on Graphics Work
This book is very close to perfection in covering topics of the graphics manipulation, which up to the current times was an option of C/C++ developers ( as far as availability of information and samples). It's good for novice and seasoned developers alike.

Extremely good book
If you just HAVE to develop graphics apps in VB, this is your best bet.

Outstanding book!
I am happy with my decision to buy this book, it has what I was looking for and even more than expected.

Highly recomendable. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Great book for newbies wanting to learn Visual Basic
I was looking for a book that is cheap and would teach me Visual Basic in general. This book is for great beginners, because one: It's a big bargain. it does not just teach you The Visual Basic edition of Microsoft Visual Studio, it also teaches you 2 other parts of VB: VBScript, & programming databases with VBScript. This book is very helpful to people looking to create Web Sites with VBScript, looking to create databases with Visual Basic, and the core language. It gives you a few paragraphs on a specific subject(really in-depth), Then dives right in and throws an example project at you. BUY THIS BOOK; IT WILL SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY!!!

Very Good for newVB users
This is for students using VB and those new to VB.Great for showing how to develop the Users Interface and how to place code in buttons (objects) to execute the programs.Clearly written and shows the logical steps needed to make programs work.Remember this is only the first book to start with.You will need more comprehensive texts to complete the picture. ... Read more

Product Description
Currently there are more than 500,000 programmers worldwide who use Visual Basic and Microsoft Office to develop applications. This is a great book for beginner and intermediate Visual Basic programmers and an excellent training guide for in-house corporate developers. The tutorial/reference focuses on automating objects--mostly Office 95 objects--from Visual Basic for Windows 95. ... Read more