Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This author not only explains COM and database programming well, but the book it well written. I wish all books were done this good. Great job!
Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to Database Programming
Review: This book is a total waste of time and money. The examples in the book are so high level that they don't get down to the details needed in writing a good database application. The book fails to explain any of the object functions or their arguments so you must research the information yourself in A DIFFERENT BOOK. The examples compile but don't necessary work. Don't WASTE YOUR TIME LIKE I DID.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Book Don't Waste Your Money
Review: This book is a total waste of time and money. The examples in the book are so high level that they don't get down to the details needed in writing a good database application. The book fails to explain any of the object functions or their arguments so you must research the information yourself in A DIFFERENT BOOK. The examples compile but don't necessary work. Don't WASTE YOUR TIME LIKE I DID.
Rating: 
Summary: Who Should Read this Book
Review: This book is designed to teach database programming to intermediate-level C++ Windows developers. If you already know something about C++ Windows programming and want to expand your skills to include database programming, this is your book. (Quoted from the "Who Should Read This Book" paragraph on page 2.)IF YOU ARE TRYING TO LEARN C++ PROGRAMMING, PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. The book assumes that you already know something about Visual C++/MFC, and that you want to learn database programming. THIS BOOK WILL NOT TEACH YOU VISUAL C++. No book can teach you the C++ language, Windows programming, MFC, relational database theory, ODBC, ADO, and OLE DB programming in 570 pages. I mention this because a common characteristic of the few not-so-positive reviews is that they come from novice C++ programmers who neglected to read the "Who Should Read This Book" paragraph on page 2 of the book. The positive reviews come from C++ Windows programmers who want to learn database programming. There are no serious bugs in the source code examples in the book. So far, over 8000 people have bought the book. One bug that has been reported is an incorrect parameter in an ADO Connection Open function that causes some trouble in console applications. In the interests of full disclosure, to fix the bug you use "-1" as the last parameter to the ADO Connection Open function. The only other I bug I am aware of is in one example I close a Recordset inside of a loop where I am checking for a Recordset EOF condition. That's all of the bugs. Many readers have emailed me to tell me that they liked/loved the book. It is gratifying to learn that the book is helpful. I hope that the book will be helpful to you too.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to get, but well worth having.
Review: This book is one of the few that gives you a C++ approach to ADO for accessing databases. While I'm semi-comfortable with the Windows internals (thanks to Richter), I came into this book with zero knowledge of COM and the MFC (I'm from the Unix world). Knowing MFC and COM would help immensely, I was still able to get my C++ database up and running within about four hours with this book. I'd prefer a revised version that tosses out the MFC and instead does I/O with iostreams. If you can filter the MFC stuff out, the basic information seems to be there, and the book paid for itself on it's first day.
Rating: 
Summary: In general, a good book
Review: This book is one of the few that gives you a C++ approach to ADO for accessing databases. While I'm semi-comfortable with the Windows internals (thanks to Richter), I came into this book with zero knowledge of COM and the MFC (I'm from the Unix world). Knowing MFC and COM would help immensely, I was still able to get my C++ database up and running within about four hours with this book. I'd prefer a revised version that tosses out the MFC and instead does I/O with iostreams. If you can filter the MFC stuff out, the basic information seems to be there, and the book paid for itself on it's first day.
Rating:
Summary: Very useful introduction and reference
Review: This book offers good intruduction to database programming in the Visual C++ environment. The presentation is very clear and topics introduced are very useful for later application in real programs. I particularly like the author's concise but to-the-point style and honest advises in pointing out the pros and cons of the various approaches. This book is highly recommended to anyone who's starting to do database programming using Visual c++. The complete scope of the materials covered makes it a wonderful reference, too, but one still needs detailed references about OLE DB, ADO, ... occasionally.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for MFC programmers w/limited DB knowledge
Review: This is a great book if you have MFC programming experience but very little database knowledge. It's as if the book was written for me. It's easy to read and it's a great introduction to database programming. You'll learn about SQL, ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, etc. I'll admit that I used to get mind-boggled by this "acronymic hell", but this book gives a great overview and everything finally makes sense. It helps if you have some understanding of COM (ie: what it is and what it's for), but it's not required as it's covered in later chapters. The author presents pros and cons of many different database technologies and provides clear programming examples. Obviously the other reviewers that complained about the examples didn't bother *reading* the book. Some of the examples require that you modify the code depending on where you've installed the sample files. However, these guys probably thought they could learn everything about database programming by cutting and pasting the example code into their programs. I would think that if you're going to buy a book, you should seriously consider reading what's inside...especially if you intend to add "database programmer" to your resume. Duh!
Rating:
Summary: Nice book for C++ programmers
Review: This is a very nice book for C++ database programming. The contents in Day 1 is especially useful for us. As many C++ programmer tend to reinvent their own database (wheel), the day 1's subject is very important. The rest of the book is also well written and very practical. I recommend this book because if a C++ programmer mastered database technology, he may increase his income by 50 to 100 percent. Don't let VB programmers with database knowledge alone make 5 figures income, while you, an experienced C++ programmer, works much harder and make much less money. Buying this book is the new start of your career.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for someone who knows MFC
Review: This is certainly an excellent book to do database programming. It is well written and easy to understand. It also covers a lot of database technologies such as ADO and OLEDB. The examples are working fine. But you must know how to generate MFC project using wizard, as well as adding codes in the functions it generates. The previous reviewer cannot make programs work perhaps they don't know MFC at all. It is a book for intermediate users, not for ones without knowledge of MFC.
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