PRObooks
Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005
Traditional Visual Basic programming books only teach us such concepts as how to use various Toolbox controls and other related topics. Even though it helps, in the real world you ll be required to develop an application by using all the features and techniques associated with Visual Basic 2005. What about having a book that completely examines the language with the help of a project? It is very hard to find a book on the market that examines Visual Basic 2005 with the help of a mini project. But Tim Patrick s Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005 thoroughly examines all aspects of the language, from beginning to end, with the help of a project. When you finish reading the book you ll be in a position either to develop a real project or customize the project discussed in the book (you can download the software from http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321398009&rl=1#info3).
The first two chapters introduce you to the world of .NET and Visual Basic 2005 with a comprehensive explanation of all the important concepts, accompanied by relevant source code. Each chapter initially discusses the relevant concepts and then demonstrates how to implement them into the project. For instance, in chapter 13 the author first discusses XML and the various namespaces associated with it. At the end, the author demonstrates the application of XML into the project. I must say that you can not only learn the concepts examined in each chapter in this way but also create side-by-side an outline of the project under discussion. Indeed, the author presents Visual Basic 2005 in a practical manner.
The author then examines in detail the layout of the discussed project. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the database design and the implementation of .NET assemblies into the project. Others chapters provide detailed coverage about data types, Windows Forms, object-oriented programming concepts, error handling, and ADO.NET. Chapter 11 includes a concise explanation about security-related aspects, such as cryptography and encryption and their implementation into the project. Further chapters demonstrate the application of some of the important concepts, such as operator overloading, XML, application settings, files, and directories, all with the help of comprehensive explanations and with supporting source code.
An interesting point to note is that the author devotes one complete chapter to discussing generics, which is one of the new features of .NET 2.0. However, I think the author missed an opportunity to provide coverage about Anonymous types and Partial types. The author nicely integrates some features of the Graphics class into the project, and Chapter 17 discusses the various concepts involved. While chapter 18 discusses internalization of the project, chapters 19 and 20 demonstrate printing and reporting related concepts, and their application into the project. These chapters are of high importance because developers need to implement printing functionality into their Visual Basic 2005 project, be it a billing system or library management application.
Whatever software you develop, you must create some sort of license files so you can sell the software under various editions. Chapter 21 examines all the techniques required for licensing Visual Basic 2005 applications (and their implementation into the project). This chapter is an invaluable resource for developers because most books don t cover this.
The author examines some of the important concepts related to ASP.NET and its application into the sample project in Chapter 22. The final three chapters provide concise coverage about the creation of online help and various methods of deploying Visual Basic 2005 applications. The book wraps up by providing a complete overview about the project and also an appendix, which provides a good overview about the various steps required for the installation of the project discussed in the book. Chapters 21 and 23 should be combined into one, as the licensing aspects should be discussed along with deployment topics.
I would suggest the publisher include a CD with complete source code of the project, including additional tools like Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Web Developer Express Edition. However, you can download the complete source code from http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321398009&rl=1#info3.
This book is code intensive and will be a good reference material for all levels of developers.
Anand Narayanaswamy
Rating:
Title: Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005
Author: Tim Patrick
Publisher: Addison Wesley Professional
ISBN: 978-0-321-39800-0
Web Site: http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321398009&rl=1
Price: US$49.99
Page Count: 888
