Rating: 
Summary: A VBScript programmer's best friend
Review: I've had my copy of "VBScript in a Nutshell" for months now, and it's made my programming life a lot easier. Forget the syntax for something? Can't remember if that function is named InStr( ) or Substr( )? In no time, this neatly organized volume will yield your answer with a minimum of fuss, especially for those of us who switch languages between (or even within) projects and tend not to remember language elements at the margins. Perhaps the only failing of this book is that it is occasionally light on code examples. Especially when I'm in a hurry, a few lines of code make more sense than mentally parsing the complex array of options that might be presented in "definition form." But in most cases, in the places you most yearn for an example of source code, one is provided. One of the more valuable aspects of the reference material presented here are the numerous hints and kinks... The little traps that you can fall into with a given statement or function that ordinarily can only be gleaned from lots of hands-on experience. Sure, some of the tips are more valuable than others, but an attempt is made to cover the bases for both newbies and seasoned VBScripters. As is typical of most O'Reilly books, a very solid index makes a big difference, especially in a book like any of those from the Nutshell series where you're using it mostly for reference and not for front-to-back reading. In addition to the index, in the back of the book, you'll find language elements grouped by type. Want a refresher on all of VBScript's string handling? A complete list is right there waiting (and quite a boon to multi-language programmers). While Microsoft makes available a complete documentation system for their scripting languages available for free download in the form of a Windows help file (indexed, searchable, and full of code examples), I've found that neither this book nor the help file can replace the other. Rather, both are tools I refer to throughout virtually every VBScript project of any import than I tackle. Perhaps in their next edition of this book, the authors will choose to add more code examples -- something that would make an already very good book, even better.
Rating:
Summary: VBscript in a Nutshell is great
Review: If you are looking for a good language reference on VBScript, then this is it. I use this book to help me when writing ASP applications, and it is a life saver. Any programmer or systems admin (like me) should get this book. Would be nice if it had a few examples of how to use some of the objects. Other than that, it is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Good reference, it may have information you don't care about
Review: It's about time someone else reviewed this book! I needed a good VBScript reference book to consult when doing scripting projects for my company. The entire book isn't just a reference to the VBScript language-- that's only about half of the book. The reference is organized alphabetically and contains a description, rules and usually a decent example of the VBScript function, statement, method, etc. So the surprise is the first half of the book, and it may be important to you and it may not. There are 20 pages on general program structure that most every programmer will find boring: pasing parameters by reference, passing variables into a subroutine, etc. After 8 more pages on data types and 22 pages on error handling/debugging, the authors included four other sections on VBScript with Active Server Pages, Programming Outlook forms, Windows Script Host, and VBScript with Internet Explorer. I found these sections to be out of the scope of what I was looking for in what O'Reilly calls a "desktop quick reference" book: simply a reference to the language. I gave it four stars because the thing is only $( ) and you are getting 500 pages. I bought the book for the reference, even if it has this other stuff I don't care about. If you are programming VBScript or ASP in Notepad without "Help" to consult, this may be the best pure VBScript book out there. It will come in handy.
Rating:
Summary: VBScript is not just for ASP development...
Review: More often than not, your first encounter with VBScript will be when trying to edit an ASP script to upload to your site. For this reason, VBScript is closely associated with Active Server Pages and is one of the reasons why I often recommend that VBScript in a Nutshell and ASP in a Nutshell should sit next to each other on any ASP developers bookshelf! VBScript is one of the most friendly internet scripting languages around for anyone that is completely new to the programming scene. Having said that, if you are like me and like to have reference books to hand then you can't go wrong with this one. VBScript in a Nutshell covers all the basics of the language, including structure, data types and error handling. The actual reference section takes up more than half the book, and lists tips and gotchas as well as examples when they are needed. There are times when I've confused this book with ASP in a Nutshell, as it also covers some of the objects I have learned to associate with ASP rather than the Windows Scripting Host. You will find that references to the FileSystemObject and Dictionary objects overlap in both books, but it is necessary to have this overlap for those that own either one or the other.
Rating:
Summary: Broad intro and good reference
Review: The first part introduces Vbscript concepts which may already be known by the intermediate level target audience. The sections on error handling and Active Server Pages will be useful to me. A value of reading this book is to be introduced to topics you didn't previously know existed. For example, learning about programming Outlook forms and Windows Script Host were useful though I have no immediate need for them.
The real meat is the 260 pages of the reference. Before jumping into that section, I would recommend reading Appendix A for a categorical listing of the elements. For example, if you are interested in doing string manipulation refer to the section on "String Manipulation" then look up the specific function alphabetically in the reference. I would also recommend browsing through the complete reference - you are sure to find some new useful function such as the dictionary, filtering, regular expression matches and complete set of string functions. In a few cases, I wish the examples were available on CD or from the web, but none are that long that re-typing is a major problem.
Rating:
Summary: Broad intro and good reference
Review: The first part introduces Vbscript concepts which may already be known by the intermediate level target audience. The sections on error handling and Active Server Pages will be useful to me. A value of reading this book is to be introduced to topics you didn't previously know existed. For example, learning about programming Outlook forms and Windows Script Host were useful though I have no immediate need for them.
The real meat is the 260 pages of the reference. Before jumping into that section, I would recommend reading Appendix A for a categorical listing of the elements. For example, if you are interested in doing string manipulation refer to the section on "String Manipulation" then look up the specific function alphabetically in the reference. I would also recommend browsing through the complete reference - you are sure to find some new useful function such as the dictionary, filtering, regular expression matches and complete set of string functions. In a few cases, I wish the examples were available on CD or from the web, but none are that long that re-typing is a major problem.
Rating:
Summary: Nice reference section
Review: This book assumes you know a bit about programming already. They don't spend a lot of time teaching in this book with "how to's". You get this book for the reference section instead, which has examples of how to use the code which are much better than the ones found on MSDN's VBScript Language Reference pages.
Rating: 
Summary: This is not the one.
Review: This book is completely reference oriented. If you want to learn to write VBscript using this book, you will get nowhere.
I found the first error in the book within 30 minutes. To be fair, I have not yet found the second one after 10 more hours. The problem is, with 10 hours of intensive reading and searching, I am not able to figure out how to write a simple script to find a file with a known name and check its last modified date and conditionally delete it.
Many say it has a good reference section. It may be true, except that a) it is not complete - I found no reference for Subfolder except the container, and b) the examples are plentiful but they are mostly one- or two-liners which show how to use a particular language element, rather than how that element can be employed to solve real life problems.
$23.07 and ten hours. That's it. I am cutting my losses.
Rating: 
Summary: Another winner from O'Reilly!
Review: This book is with out a doubt the best reference book out there on the market today on VBScript. I am currently learning server-side programming in school and this is the book they are using to teach us ASP programming. That, in itself, says A LOT! Not only is it a great reference book but it is also being used as a teaching tool! I am also in the process of creating a website purely in ASP and between this book and the ASP in a Nutshell book I am well on my way to creating a great personal website! Definitely Worth a Buy!
Rating:
Summary: Ok Reference
Review: This is an Ok Reference and Just that. PROS: (the very few there are) It list every function, subroutine, and Language construct in VBscripts with tips on how to use the command, and problems with the command. The information present is layout well. CONS: This reference lacks versioning info on commands! Regular Expression where not introducted until 5.0! The beginning sections are written like someone rambling on about VBscripts. This person is knowledgeable but completely ignors organization and structure leaving out important topics. 1. Syntax Rules (ie case-sensitive, how to define a script, identifier rules) 2. Variables, Types, Constants, and Expressions (maybe Scope) 3. Control Structures (If, While, For) 4. Functions, Subs, Classes, Events (Scope, pass by ref, parameters...) 5. Error handling 6. etc.. I know a lot of this is covered in the reference but it is nice to have it laid out logically. Also he is missing a list of reserved word (keywords). I am also aware that this is just a nutshell book but these sections could have been included in a very brief way. These seam like large omissions to me.
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