Rating: 
Summary: Qualified Praise
Review: As a beginner to Visual Studio.NET, I have read and re-read sections of this book for several months now. 95% of the time I love the book and the other 5% I am frustrated and searching MSDN for clues on why something won't work. Chapter 2 is a good introduction to ADO. Not only are great practical examples given, but the authors explain the pros and cons of the alternatives for implementing something (e.g., datareader vs dataset).
Chapter 6 was my first serious contact with ASP.NET. I got off to a very slow and frustrating start when the connection string to the database would not work for my system and no guidance was given on how to customize it. When I did get the connection up and the the project running, I found that the supplied database had date values that had all expired months before I bought the book. A simple note to go into the database to update the values would have saved me hours of troubleshooting. However, now that I have worked through every page of Chapter 6, I can honestly say that I have built a non-trivial Website using both XML and SQL Server data sources, postbacks, and user controls.The chapter on deployment was also very useful.
Rating:
Summary: Qualified Praise
Review: As a beginner to Visual Studio.NET, I have read and re-read sections of this book for several months now. 95% of the time I love the book and the other 5% I am frustrated and searching MSDN for clues on why something won't work. Chapter 2 is a good introduction to ADO. Not only are great practical examples given, but the authors explain the pros and cons of the alternatives for implementing something (e.g., datareader vs dataset).
Chapter 6 was my first serious contact with ASP.NET. I got off to a very slow and frustrating start when the connection string to the database would not work for my system and no guidance was given on how to customize it. When I did get the connection up and the the project running, I found that the supplied database had date values that had all expired months before I bought the book. A simple note to go into the database to update the values would have saved me hours of troubleshooting. However, now that I have worked through every page of Chapter 6, I can honestly say that I have built a non-trivial Website using both XML and SQL Server data sources, postbacks, and user controls. The chapter on deployment was also very useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical floating abstractions...
Review: I don't how these people can give this book a good review, but...
I just got done throwing this book against the wall. The first chapter is enough to drive you nuts. Are you supposed to be typing the code in that he shows? if you do, you'll find that there are variables that aren't declared (until later). I kept leafing through the pages looking for a phrase like "OK - Enter the following code..." Nope. I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to be building these projects or just reading about theirs. The part on using the forms from the CD to make inherited forms didn't work like the book showed. all in all, I would NOT buy this one, if given the chance again.
Rating: 
Summary: Different Code Versions for Book and CD
Review: I was able to immediately implement the solutions in this book at work and also took advantage of the authors suggestions on improving & customizing the applications. I would recommend this book to any developer anxious to crank out some .Net apps but with little time to start from scratch.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Resource!
Review: I was able to immediately implement the solutions in this book at work and also took advantage of the authors suggestions on improving & customizing the applications. I would recommend this book to any developer anxious to crank out some .Net apps but with little time to start from scratch.
Rating:
Summary: Different Code Versions for Book and CD
Review: If you write the code as written in the book, you'll end up with a program full of errors. The book is simply full of erroneous codes that you will tear your hair out trying to figure out where you made the mistakes. On the other hand, the code from the cd will run right out of the box and the projects are pretty decent. But this cannot overshadow sloppy editing and a poor excuse for the authors not trying the book themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Selly Hits a Home Run
Review: In Visual Basic.Net at Work, author Dominic Selly explains the basics of visual basics in clear, concise language that even the layperson can understand.
Rating:
Summary: Enterprising!
Review: This book is a great way to dive right in to the world of VB. I really like the "meat and potatoes" approach. What can I say, it works for me. Chapter 6 is great, I love the authors style and sardonic wit. All in all, this book offers A very meaty taste of the VB world, well LINKED and with a little sauce on the side. A great addition to my technical library.
Rating:
Summary: Enterprising!
Review: This book is a great way to dive right in to the world of VB. I really like the "meat and potatoes" approach. What can I say, it works for me. Chapter 6 is great, I love the authors style and sardonic wit. All in all, this book offers A very meaty taste of the VB world, well LINKED and with a little sauce on the side. A great addition to my technical library.
Rating:
Summary: Great Projects to get Ramped Up on .NET
Review: When I am learning a new technology I like practical examples. After I have worked through the concepts and syntax I need to get my hand dirty with a little more then an 'Hello World' example. 'Visual basic .NET at Work' is a great follow up book to all the basic books because of the real world example projects. Project number 10 is a good example; this project is a solid example of how to set up an in-house corporate information web site that can provide an expandable set of component functions. I liked Tony's friendly and approachable writing style and even more the wide variety of topics covered throughout the projects in the book. As you can already tell I highly recommend this book for those people ramping up on .NET.
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