Rating: 
Summary: Good promise, a few errors
Review: Learning a language in a weekend is a mammoth task, especially for someone who is not very familiar with programming. I am currently working through the book and have found most of the code to be correct. A treatment of the Common Dialog control in the first project (ShowOpen) does not work according to plans. I do not recommend this book for beginning programers. I hope that there will be a check of the code in the future to make sure it works!
Rating: 
Summary: It *can* be done in 15 hours -- I did it!
Review: OK, so it took a effort approaching that of Hercules, and I'm an experienced programmer with quite a few other computer languages under my belt -- but at least we know it's possible! I finished the book in 14 hours, 15 minutes -- including all of the review questions (usually just a mental affirmation when I knew the answer), plus 10 minutes to set up the included version of VB on my computer. One of the greatest things about this book is its motivating format. It's a challenge -- learn the essentials of Visual Basic in a weekend! And it was that challenge, plus the generally very positive reviews at Amazon.com, that motivated me to pick *this* book instead of a different title. Simply put, I decided this past week (because of a couple of opportunities that came up) that I ought to learn VB -- preferably, by Monday! I finished the book 15 minutes ago, at 11:35 p.m. Sunday night. My advice: start earlier in the week, and try to get in a bit extra time as you go along. Other matters took some of my time on Saturday and Sunday, and if I hadn't gained an hour and a half on Thursday evening, and half an hour on Friday, I couldn't have finished tonight. The other great benefit is that Mansfield majors on the things you'll use a lot, and skips the things you'll use less, to produce a package that actually *can* be completed in a short (and hence motivating) time frame. He claims "the VB vocabulary has been carefully surveyed to determine which commands you need to know for nearly all programming." Obviously, I can't verify that from experience -- but throughout the book he seems to know what he's talking about. Compare my experience in learning VB via this book with, say, my Java expedition: I began an 1100-page Java text almost a year ago, and I'm still stuck on page 257. Negatives: yes, it could definitely use some better editing, including, in places, editing of the code supplied. For humor, my own favorite example of this was: --------------------------------------
For I = 1 to Numberofcopies
Printer.Print Text1.Text
Next I Notice the convention of indenting the code inside a For...Next loop. This graphically illustrates the loop.
-------------------------------------- (Did you see the indentation? Me neither!) Far less amusing is that the author should've included on page 279 or so the code for cmdNew_Click() that's on page 302. Also, my main finished application didn't behave quite as expected -- and if I'm "keeping to schedule," I didn't have time to debug it (that's OK, I learned enough from it). Incidentally, though, another reviewer's complaint of illegal names -- as in "1stSearch" (a variable name can't begin with a digit) -- was INCORRECT. The previous reviewer misread the text, which reads, e.g., "LSTSEARCH" (as in LIST BOX) -- *not* "1STSEARCH". For most chapters, you'll need to use your computer to really follow and learn the material. Unfortunately, the version of VB on the CD-ROM won't allow you to walk through all the steps in some of the final chapters, but the author (obviously knowing this) has provided more screen shots, allowing you to follow along. A time-saving tip: don't type in the code! Simply cut and paste it from the CD-ROM. Then review it line for line, either from the book pages or on your screen. A perfect book? No. But all in all, this text got the job done for me. I'm by no means a VB expert after one weekend and 375 pages, but I sure as heck am on my way. I give Mansfield's book a quite solid 4 stars out of 5.
Rating: 
Summary: Significant errors, bad programming practices, overly chatty
Review: The concept's a good one: High-level, touch-all-the-bases overview of Visual Basic, in easily digestible pieces. It's exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, the book is marred by glaring production errors, and the chatty writing style is intrusive, plus some of the recommendations are just bad programming. Mansfield could have used a vigorous editing. Errors: For example, on page 177, in the middle of discussing string functions, the text jumps from discussing Chr() to introducing InStr(). Apparently, the InStr() heading and introductory text was just deleted. Oops! On page 192, in the last example on the page, there's at least one line of code missing from the sample. On page 124, in a table of constants, it shows "VbDefaultButton" as having a value of "4768", instead of "vbDefaultButton4" having a value of "768". Bad practices: In the same section on constants, Mansfield explains how to add constants together, as in "vbYesNoCancel+vbExclamation". Good. Then he suggests that you can substitute "48+3" if you wanted. Bad. THEN he suggests that you can even use "51" if you want. Awful! Style: Finally, the chatty style gets intrusive after a few pages, almost to the extent of seeming like padding. Fluff: In some places, Mansfield discusses various functions and practices, and then explains that there's no use for them. Discussing StrReverse(), he says "This function turns, for example, Mandy into yndaM. I can't, off the top of my head, think of a use for this, but it's there if you think of one." How long has he had to write the book? Surely he can go back later if he can't think of one off the top of his head. And if he still can't think of why you'd use the function, then why is it in the book at all? I like the concept, and IDG apparently means to make a series out of this, but I sure hope the future titles are a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: Significant errors, bad programming practices, overly chatty
Review: The concept's a good one: High-level, touch-all-the-bases overview of Visual Basic, in easily digestible pieces. It's exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, the book is marred by glaring production errors, and the chatty writing style is intrusive, plus some of the recommendations are just bad programming. Mansfield could have used a vigorous editing. Errors: For example, on page 177, in the middle of discussing string functions, the text jumps from discussing Chr() to introducing InStr(). Apparently, the InStr() heading and introductory text was just deleted. Oops! On page 192, in the last example on the page, there's at least one line of code missing from the sample. On page 124, in a table of constants, it shows "VbDefaultButton" as having a value of "4768", instead of "vbDefaultButton4" having a value of "768". Bad practices: In the same section on constants, Mansfield explains how to add constants together, as in "vbYesNoCancel+vbExclamation". Good. Then he suggests that you can substitute "48+3" if you wanted. Bad. THEN he suggests that you can even use "51" if you want. Awful! Style: Finally, the chatty style gets intrusive after a few pages, almost to the extent of seeming like padding. Fluff: In some places, Mansfield discusses various functions and practices, and then explains that there's no use for them. Discussing StrReverse(), he says "This function turns, for example, Mandy into yndaM. I can't, off the top of my head, think of a use for this, but it's there if you think of one." How long has he had to write the book? Surely he can go back later if he can't think of one off the top of his head. And if he still can't think of why you'd use the function, then why is it in the book at all? I like the concept, and IDG apparently means to make a series out of this, but I sure hope the future titles are a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: Do VB6 in 15 hours! (God "did" the world in 7 days!)
Review: This is a good book, but it has flaws. Previous reviews contain a sort of debate about the quality of this text. Here's what I say.
STYLE: The author does, indeed, come across as "chatty". I must agree with the sternest critic (Lester). There were times when I felt like hollering "Cut to the chase!" Also, the author is absolutely DEDICATED to politically correct "gender inclusive language". I'm old enough that the following tom-foolery irritates me: "If the user looses THEIR place . . . .". Of course, style is not the main thing about a textbook.
ERRORS: One of the author's defenders makes light of the errors mentioned by Lester in his review. She says that he has pointed out all the errors. I take no pleasure in correcting her. I have carefully worked through the main project. It contains SEVERAL flaws, which I have been working to correct. For example there are illegal field names: 1stIndex and 1stSearch. An entire feature of the project was left out (On page 279 the Add New button is missing, although it appears on page 302). An "End If" statement was dropped from page 286. And there is more. A careful editing job is indeed indicated.
HYPE: You can complete this book in just 15 hours!!! I estimate about 45 hours. Sixty hours would not be unreasonable.
VERDICT: Despite all of the above, this book is a decent value for the money. It does reward YOUR HARD WORK. Some of the errors are even opportunities for the student to debug code.
As the author might say, "The student will get THEIR money's worth."
Rating:
Summary: It's not all perfect...
Review: To me, this book teaches Visual Basic 6 in a friendly manner, but it lacks explanation in some areas. Even though, it still is able to teach programming farely well.
Watch out! This book does contain flaws in code. I encourage you to buy a little reference book so you are able to point out and debug the wrong code.
This book isn't a newbies dream come true, but it is a decently good Visual Basic 6 book.
Rating:
Summary: Great concept with a very poor execution
Review: When I looked at this book, I thought "What a great idea!" It was just what a beginner like me needed. However, when I tried to go through the sessions, I found that I was unable to complete the exercises because of the numerous errors throughout the book. Those errors included missing code and sample programs that just plain didn't work. In frustration, I abandoned the book after the 10th session. I know some of the other reviewers think the errors are actually "good" because it forces the reader to debug their code. If I wanted to learn in that fashion I would have chosen a book specifically designed to teach debugging skills. No, I wanted what the author promised, "30 step-by-step lessons that will have you programming in only 15 hours." Yeah, right. I imagine that the book has some marginal value as a reference tool. After all, I did pay for it. But it certainly didn't turn out to be the jump-start on Visual Basic it hyped itself to be. My advice: save your money. Look for another book without the glaring errors, omissions, and faulty code.
Rating:
Summary: Great concept with a very poor execution
Review: When I looked at this book, I thought "What a great idea!" It was just what a beginner like me needed. However, when I tried to go through the sessions, I found that I was unable to complete the exercises because of the numerous errors throughout the book. Those errors included missing code and sample programs that just plain didn't work. In frustration, I abandoned the book after the 10th session. I know some of the other reviewers think the errors are actually "good" because it forces the reader to debug their code. If I wanted to learn in that fashion I would have chosen a book specifically designed to teach debugging skills. No, I wanted what the author promised, "30 step-by-step lessons that will have you programming in only 15 hours." Yeah, right. I imagine that the book has some marginal value as a reference tool. After all, I did pay for it. But it certainly didn't turn out to be the jump-start on Visual Basic it hyped itself to be. My advice: save your money. Look for another book without the glaring errors, omissions, and faulty code.
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