Beginning Access 97 VBA Progr Amming

Rating:
Summary: Beware of Title
Review: This is not a true beginners book. The word "Intermediate" should appear somewhere on the cover. I am divided on this book, some chapters are fantastic, while others are terribly written. On the negative: the authors make constant reference to how easy this is, however they are forgetting that the readers of this book do not have the multi-year experience that they possess. Certain chapters are extemely complicated are clearly intended for seasoned professionals. They also spend considerable time on procedures that would likely never be used in the real world. On the positive: there is a great deal of information here, the chapter on recordsets in sensational. The authors and I agree that recordset (note this is a broad subject) manipulation is one of the most crucial issues in Access VBA development. After employing what I learned into my real world applications, it is clear why this subject is so critical. They did a great job of writing the chapters that cover recordsets (and all of its' subsets) as well as program logic (If/Then, Do/Loop, For Each/Next, Arrays, etc.). If you are truly a beginner to VBA then buy "Step by Step" first. I would warn that the reader should not be taken in by the word "Beginner" in the title. Do not buy this book unless you are serious about application development. If you can understand this book, then you are moving into an elite status. I would not recommend this book unless your goal is to be compensated (to at least some degree) for your Access programming skills.

Rating:
Summary: Beware of Title
Review: This is not a true beginners book. The word "Intermediate" should appear somewhere on the cover. I am divided on this book, some chapters are fantastic, while others are terribly written. On the negative: the authors make constant reference to how easy this is, however they are forgetting that the readers of this book do not have the multi-year experience that they possess. Certain chapters are extemely complicated are clearly intended for seasoned professionals. They also spend considerable time on procedures that would likely never be used in the real world. On the positive: there is a great deal of information here, the chapter on recordsets in sensational. The authors and I agree that recordset (note this is a broad subject) manipulation is one of the most crucial issues in Access VBA development. After employing what I learned into my real world applications, it is clear why this subject is so critical. They did a great job of writing the chapters that cover recordsets (and all of its' subsets) as well as program logic (If/Then, Do/Loop, For Each/Next, Arrays, etc.). If you are truly a beginner to VBA then buy "Step by Step" first. I would warn that the reader should not be taken in by the word "Beginner" in the title. Do not buy this book unless you are serious about application development. If you can understand this book, then you are moving into an elite status. I would not recommend this book unless your goal is to be compensated (to at least some degree) for your Access programming skills.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent choice for Access VBA programmers
Review: Though titled "Beginning" this book gets up to speed quickly but does so in a clear step-by-step way. I searched countless books, looking in bookstores and reading online reviews. I even ended up ordering 3 Access/VBA books with the intention of returning 2. This is the book I kept. Wrox books in general seem to be written in a way that is easy to understand and not unnecessarily repetitive. My advice: get this book if you want to program in Access (as well as learn to get behind all of the Office suite, using VBA.) I recommend at least checking out what Wrox Press has to offer before buying a technical book. I own 3 Wrox books (after much research) and have read/seen many more. They're just well put together.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent choice for Access VBA programmers
Review: Though titled "Beginning" this book gets up to speed quickly but does so in a clear step-by-step way. I searched countless books, looking in bookstores and reading online reviews. I even ended up ordering 3 Access/VBA books with the intention of returning 2. This is the book I kept. Wrox books in general seem to be written in a way that is easy to understand and not unnecessarily repetitive. My advice: get this book if you want to program in Access (as well as learn to get behind all of the Office suite, using VBA.) I recommend at least checking out what Wrox Press has to offer before buying a technical book. I own 3 Wrox books (after much research) and have read/seen many more. They're just well put together.

Rating:
Summary: Smith and Sussman rock!
Review: To those who grumble that the book is not for beginners--people, it does say on the cover that some knowledge of Access is required! Let me say that the book has been a godsend for me, as it enabled me to develop a one-of-a-kind application for my employer (the oil industry) in a short amount of time (it was actually also a project for my information systems class that my professors liked enough to give an honors rating!). I should add that I had endured four programming classes in the past so the book was a fairly easy read for me. Although I might find myself moving on to the next level of VBA programming in Access and hence, more technically challenging books that might not be as enjoyable to read, I will always have a spot on my bookshelf for this invaluable tome. Yeah, there are some typos here and there, and there are also sections (particularly the examples concerning list boxes) that could have incorporated better solutions, but for a technical book that's targeted to budding VBA programmers, I've seen a lot worse. Well done, Robert and Dave!

Rating:
Summary: This is not a book for beginners - beware!
Review: Upon completing the first two chapters, you'll find yourself eager to rip through the rest of the book. Upon reaching chapter 3, you'll come to a screaching halt. If you haven't done any programming in the past, prepare yourself for a frustrating experience, tediously plowing through this book.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely NOT for Beginners
Review: Using the word "Beginning" in the title of this book was a mistake. However, they got me to buy it based on this word...hhmmmm. Don't get me wrong; it has a lot of good information. But once you get past chapter 3, it's no longer for beginners. I loved it up until that point. I suggest that if you REALLY are a beginner in VBA, do NOT start with this book! Try Microsoft's Access 97 Visual Basic Step by Step.

Rating:
Summary: This book was a User to Programmer launchpad
Review: Very good instruction for someone trying to cross the bridge between user and developer. Code examples are challenging. Some sections are project-specific and not contributive to learning programming.