Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 (VB .NET) in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit

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Summary: Great Book!
Review: I would definitely recommend this book to anyone trying to learn VB .NET. James Foxall is a very talented author who writes clearly and explains in detail. The only drawback to this book is that it doesn't go as in depth and as far-reaching as I might like. For instance, he only has a few-page overview of web programming, which I think he could have omitted or put as an appendix since it contains little information to have its own hour. After seeing his webpage, www.jamesfoxall.com, I can see that Mr. Foxall is a very personable individual, and I probably would have bought the book after only browsing his website. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn VB .NET, but I would point out that you might want to get another book with more material in it.

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Summary: Another excellent book by Foxall!
Review: I'm a big fan of Foxall's books, particularly his MCSD in a Nutshell book. This is an excellent introduction to Visual Basic .NET. Visual Basic .NET is a different beast from Visual Basic 6, and this book does a good job of teaching you the new way of doing things. I was a little afraid of getting a book that rehashes vb 6 material, but this book is clearly a ".NET" book. Highly recommended!

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Summary: Excellent book for the beginner
Review: If you just starting out with VB.net then this is a good book to start out with. A well written book that keeps your interest and presents its subject matter in a straightforward, easy to understand manor. Each lesson builds on the previous lesson enabling the beginner to get a grasp of the subject matter quickly and easily as well as build a good foundation for more advanced books. Excellent book for the beginner.

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Summary: A Must Read for VB.NET Solution Development
Review: James Foxall does an extraordinary job using his real world experience in Windows application development and his gift for teaching. This powerfull book is excellent for both new programmers and experienced developers new to VB.NET.
James Foxall highlights VB 6 vs. VB.NET differences, VB.NET productivity tools, and covers all the basics for a solid foundation to develop .NET solutions. The book includes the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Professional CD with a 60 day trial, ...
I am a Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) upgrading to .NET. This book is a valuable tutorial and handy reference, a must read for VB.NET development and certification.
Sams Teach Yourself in 24 Hours books are the best format for learning technical subjects that I've found. Providing new subject matter and related projects with solutions for each hour/topic.

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Summary: Good foundation for VB.NET
Review: James Foxall has hit the target with this book. It is good for a reader wanting to get a grasp of the basics, and like many SAMS books, it gives enough of an overview to become a part of any programmers reference library.

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Summary: If only all technical books were as good as this one.
Review: James Foxall is that very rare author, a person who not only knows his subject matter, but also has the ability to teach it to others.
Right away in Chapter One you get to build an interesting application that makes you want to learn more, but the real magic is in the way he takes you there. You learn a concept not in isolation, but within the context of the other key concepts needed to make it work. James is able to teach you just enough about these other concepts to make sense, without swamping you with detail. At the same time, he is careful to explain that he will provide more detail later on, at a more suitable point.
The result is that you learn quickly in a framework that makes sense at all times, and where you know your questions are going to be answered further on. In effect you almost feel mentored as you move from chapter to chapter.
This is an excellent book for people starting out to learn Visual Basic.NET.
It should also be compulsory reading for all authors of technical books. This is how technical books ought to be.

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Summary: Foxall's Book- Excellent for Beginning to Advanced VB'ers
Review: James Foxall's "Visual Basic Book .Net 2003 in 24 Hours" is a winner. The change to VB.NET from Visual Basic can be challenging. James starts out introducing the Graphical User Interface environment. That is important as the GUI can be intimidating to new Visual Studio programmers. James is thorough in his examples. He always reminds you to set the startup form for each project. He tells you how to write short procedures, introduces you to modules, and he discusses objects and collections. I am nearing the end of his book and look forward to his introduction on web development. James Foxall's book won't be the only one you need for learning VB.NET. But for the beginner and intermediate programmer, I recommend that his book be your first book to read.

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Summary: Could do better by buying another book
Review: The problem with this books is ironically due to the success of his others. This book is a warmed-over version, and does not address the sticky issues of .NET

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Summary: For Extreme Beginners
Review: This book is for you if you have little experience programming or zero knowledge of Visual Basic .NET (and Visual Studio .NET). The book is basically written in 2 halves. The first deals with the capabilities and features of Visual Studio .NET, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which you will definitely need. I found this book did a good job at introducing a total newbie (myself) to the VS interface. The second half of the book introduced Visual Basic programming principles, which I found boring since I had some programming experience. I guess it would be ok if i were a total newbie, but even then I have seen better introductions to programming in "professional" editions that used more code examples and went more in depth into coding...after all you are reading this because you are an aspiring programmer, right? Why sugar coat things that don't need to be? No matter how you slice or dice it, at some point you will have to get your hands dirty with code. My suggestion on improving the book: more code examples! The best book I ever read on programming actually used all examples towards the creation of one program, so that you learned the language, its application, and development style...This book will help you learn the interface to visual studio, but it may leave you wanting for real programming examples. Also it has zero info on designing applications for the web...all info is geared towards windows forms.

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Summary: Great book
Review: This is a great book... It was so addicting, I actually read it in a couple of days! I've had prior programming experiences, but never did anything in VisualBasic (in any version) and it was easy to understand. The 60-day-trial of VisualStudio .NET is a great plus.