Rating: 
Summary: Thorough but laborious
Review: My model for a really thorough and clear presentation of a programming language and how to use it is Kernighan and Ritchie, The C Programming Language. Its clear, its terse, and yet its complete, even for beginners. This book by comparison is long, unfocussed, and laborious; the real-life metaphors for the programming process are unclear and sometimes misleading. The sort of block-diagram in chapter 4 illustrating the procedure for making coffee (I have the french edition, I assume the original is the same except for the language) is a joke. Finally, the exercises provide instant gratification, but are in no way challenging or open-ended. Except for its inordinate length, a beginner who buys this book will be able to get through it, and will have learnt the basics of VB6, but he'll have to buy another book to learn how to apply it in a real development project.
Rating: 
Summary: Not too hard, not too easy, but just right!
Review: I browsed through gobs of VB6 books with a background in programming, but knew jack about VB. Most fell into one of 2 categories. The first explaning too much about coding and logic flow and not enough syntax to be useful, and others that didn't explain the example code and were little more than souped up help files.This one was different though. Here are specific reasons: 1.It assumed you knew practically nothing about VB6 2.It gave screenshots and STEP-BY-STEP instructions to help with doing examples 3.It anticipated questions and possible errors that may occur and gave reasons 4.Very few written mistakes (I found perhaps 2 minor ones) 5.It touches on enough topics to get your feet wet for more powerful applications, but doesn't bog you down. Oh, and to those who complained that the book was too easy for them or useless for making powerful apps: That's why it's called BEGINNING Visual Basic 6. Sheeesh.
Rating:
Summary: Hands Down, the best for any Beginner
Review: Im sure there are many other great books on Beginning VB6, but I havent read them all so I can only speak of this book. If you really want to get enthusiastic about learning to program in VB6, and then have a good idea of where you want to go with this language, you will not go wrong with Peter's book. He will get your feet soaked with VB6 and then some; not only that but Peter offers suggested reading, a whole course outline is included on the back of the book (thanx to Wrox.Com), and he even provides 3 major distributable projects created by Professional developers so that you can actually create yourself. Look, I am VERY critical about buying books but you will definitely not regret it if you go with this one. Just one more note to newbies: IF you buy this book THEN you will thank me for writing this ELSE dont buy the book. END IF
Rating:
Summary: great book for beginners
Review: I first picked up a Step by Step book by MS Press and was very disappointed. I then bought this book on the advice of a friend. I am now a devoted Wrox Press fan. This is the book that helped me to understand what class modules and active-x controls are. This book is not for people who have been programming vb. However, if you are new to the field or language it's great. I'm not MS certified in VB and doing VB programming for a living and I still use this book as a resource.
Rating: 
Summary: Stay away from this book. Please.
Review: I teach a continuing education course at the university level. Unfortunately, this is the required text. This is probably the only reason I got past the first chapter. If it were possible to give it negative stars, I would, as the book does more damage than good for someone who is learning VB. This book contains dodgy explanations, outright errors, examples of bad practice, and code samples that would merit a failing grade if any of my students handed in something of similar quality. The answers provided in the back of the book are actually wrong in some cases. My copy of the book is full (on the order of 100) of red Post-It flags to remind me to warn my class about something the author says. Please, do not buy this book. Encourage good authors and buy their books instead. For a good introductory VB book (which assumes that you know a little bit about programming) is Francesco Balena's "Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0" from Microsoft Press. For the author: I will pay you $100 if it means that you do not publish similar drivel when the new version of VB is released.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, but not for the "total" beginner
Review: Peter Wright's writing style may not suit everyone but it worked for me. Unlike many learn-to-program books, Wright doesn't spend much time explaining theory. He briefly explains complex topics like variants, arrays, and classes in a few pages, and then jumps right into coding. From the first chapter to the last, he brings the reader through a series of hands-on tutorials, which is great if you like to get your feet wet immediately. Personally, I like this style. I learned more by following the exercises and trouble shooting them than I have from other learn-to VB books that spend the first few chapters explaining theory and then walk you through a few tutorials. There was a couple times when I was pulling hair from my head trying to get the examples to work, but in the end I was able to figure everything out. But I could see where someone who doesn't have any programming experience might have trouble with this book. I am a self-taught JavaScript and Perl programmer and have some basic understanding of programming, but I think if I picked this book up without this background, I would have been frustrated. If you are a complete beginner, you might want to consider another book that does a better job explaining the basics, and if you are the type who learns best by doing, this is the book to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This is a wonderful book to learn.
Rating:
Summary: Great starting point
Review: This book gives you all the fundamental tools you need to start programming VB. It is concise and engaging. You will get the most out of this book if you are already familiar with the general basics of proramming.
Rating:
Summary: Good enough for the design time
Review: This book is just meant for beginners. Those of you who want to get started with visual basic, this is okay for you, though it is not very wise to buy this book. Its only meant to get familiar with the controls and not enough of the complex stuff is included here.
Rating:
Summary: You can do better.
Review: There are so many loose ends... I think I would have to lay blame on the editor rather than the author. Was this book rushed off the presses? It may work better in a classroom setting, rather than relying on it alone to get you through the woods as a beginning programmer. If you want a good book for nonprogrammers try "Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6" by John Smiley. Unfortunately, I bought this one first.
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