Rating: 
Summary: After reading them all - the last is the best
Review: I've read the few VBDB books out there, and this is by far the best. I love to read technical books - so read about one a week cover to cover. After doing a search on Amazon, it turns out that Mr. Connell's book is actually the #1 best seller! I can say that I am not surprised. As a professional developer manager and hands on coder, I can tell you that this is the best technical book I have - and not limited to databases. There is so much in this book above and beyond what I expected that I refer to it as a reference guide. I also 'recommended' that my team read the book as well. It not only covers ADO/DAO/ADO_OLE databases, but how to think about developing applictions. The section on user interfaces alone was worth the price to me. I'm getting on the waiting list for any book Mr. Connell decides to write. :-)
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Summary: A lot of Information in This Book
Review: This is an excellent book on the topic of VB. It mainly focuses on the implementation when dealing with databases (using DAO), but covers a little of everything else in the language: ASP, Objects & Classes, and some things that other books mention in passing. This is the 3rd VB 6 Book that I have owned and reviewed, and it outdoes them all in ease of readability and content. John Connell does a great job; I cannot think of a major flaw in this book - errata is covered on the Wrox web site, along with forums to discuss the book. A great touch for a Publisher.
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Summary: Good book but too old for year 2000
Review: If you wanna learn ADO technology you don't have to buy this book. Go buy "Professional Visual Basic 6 Database Programming". This book for year 98 or 99 is a excellennt book but not after ADO become the mainstream for programmers. These DAO old stuff from chapter 1 to 10 will waste you time for sure.
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Summary: Ironically the best book for Office 2000
Review: Most books attempt to cover ADO exclsively. Mr. Connell had the foresite to comment that even though MS said DAO was dead - he felt MS would have to keep it. Well, it turns out he was right on the money. Office 2000 uses DAO and Mr. Connell's book is the best I've found for programming the office suite. Not only is he an excellent writer and teacher, he has a pretty good crystal ball. I find myself rereading sections and shaking my head at how easy he has made much previously incomprehensible material. I want to find out where he teaches so I can sign up for a class or two. Anyway, in my opinion, this book is one of the best. It's easy to see how it is a #1 seller.
Rating: 
Summary: helpful but still need some improvements
Review: overall, this book is helpful to the beginner especially for those like to learn about vb and aceess database. However, it didn't teach us how to use data report designer, which is quite important for those like to print the output in the report format. I hope Mr.Connell will add in this topic in the next edition. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: An esoteric problem answered!
Review: I had a need to use the masked edit box - but spent a full 3 days fruitlessly trying to get it to do my bidding. By chance, I was reading Mr. Connell's book and he covered EXACTLY what I needed. He explained how/when/why to use it, and clearly covered the problem I could not figure out. This one thing alone was well worth the price. I can see why most of the reviews are so positive on this book - its a gem if you are a real world programmer.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many errors and omissions
Review: This book has too many errors and ommissions for a beginner's quide. I also agree that too much time was spent on DAO and not enough on ADO; eventhough, it is important for beginners to understand DAO since so many applications use them. I found the format actually slowed me down and I do not consider it to be a good reference. Also, you should be comfortable with the VB environment before trying to use this book.
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Summary: The search for answers
Review: I have programed in basic and quick basic for years. I needed a database and switched to Visual Basic. I bought 5 books on this website and clearly Connell's book was at the top of the pack. I still had questions and searched the web for answers. I found Lou Tylee's book "Visual Basic and Databases" at www.kidwaresoftware.com. Tylee lays out the comparison between DAO, ADO and Data Environment in a much clearer fashion. When I was done I had one question and Tylee answered by e-mail in less than a day. These two books are a must for the beginner. You can download the Tylee book (with code for visual basic 5 and 6) for $24.95 but you must print it out.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Learning Databases. Painful
Review: I bought this book when I needed to learn how to write a VB program that accesses an Access database, and I learned that. This book teaches what it wants to competently, with many in-depth examples. For example, when the author wanted to demonstrate how SQL statements work, he gave step-by-step instructions on how to build a "query tester" program. Marvelous! However, this is also the only programming book I've read that gave me a headache. I don't mean that it was too complicated, obtuse, or boring. My forehead, physically, hurts when I read this book for extened periods. Maybe it's the printsize. Who knows. Regardless, if you want to "Begin VB Database Programming" get this book. If you already know VB (and have a few aspirin handy) you'll be up and running in a day.
Rating:
Summary: Gets your there right away.
Review: Simply, if you want to learn the correct way to write DB programs using VB, and you want to learn the easy way - this is THE book. I've come over from the dark side (i.e., C++) and have read several VB books. This one - far and away - was the absolute best. If you are a beginner, internediate, or coming from another language, I completely recommend this book. Its clear, concise, and gives example after example that makes me think Mr. Connell is a mind reader. After all, we are after one thing - knowledge. Mr. Connell imparts sage advice - page after page. For what its worth, if you are buying a book - it might as well be this one.
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