Rating: 
Summary: NO clear directions from start to finish
Review: I read ALOT of technical books, and right now I am using this one. This book starts off very nice, and you think its very good. but then when you actually start to construct something useful that is not as exactly in the book - it fails. The CD doesnt contain anything of much use - and for some stupid reason, even though they have like 400M free on the CD - they couldnt include the graphics or working sites on the CD from day 1The author also has some email addresses which are basically useless since I have pointed out some errors in the book and I am still waiting to hear back from them (publishers or author) The author assumes many things - such as the database connections etc. It would be much better if he had spent time on covering more of the connection details. I am stuck on Chapter 11 and havent been able to proceed - and I have 15 years experience with Programming and Computers There is no mention of how to put your sites on a non local machine - which is where this book fails - since 90% of the people developing sites in the first place would be doing something like this I gave it 2 stars - meaning its less than OK - so look at other books first and see if they have more about the type of connections you will be doing - and check to see if they have more information on remote publishing
Rating: 
Summary: Wide range of coverage
Review: This book has a very wide range of topics covered - from database design to dynamic applications and just plain layout. The writing style is very informative and easy to read. I liked the use of MySQL as the database, simply because I don't use Windows, and I was pleased to see that the book wasn't simply an advertisement for Microsoft products. The CD isn't that bad - it does include copies of the final week's projects, but it could have been significantly better - I recommend this be worked on in future revisions.
Rating:
Summary: No code until Chapter 15 of 21
Review: There are several problems with this book. The author fails to give step by step instuctions for his examples instead he expects you to follow along from previos chapters and string the examples along. Also he uses MySQL as the example database. I and many other people use MS Access for development and this makes it tougher for the begginer to get started. Third there is no source code or sample databases for the reader to try out along with the book until chapter 15 and then still no database examples. Its very hard to follow along unless the code is provided. The CD that came with the book is basically useless and I don't know why he included some worthless graphics in it. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because his writing style is OK and does contain some usefull info about Ultradev but it fails as a learning tool.
Rating:
Summary: Creative use of software
Review: I found this book to be very good for someone who has little to no experience in web development. The CD (as others have said) is lacking - but the author really does a nice job of exploring the capabilities of the UltraDev without getting me lost in programming languages. I'm really pleased with this purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't guide you thru building a dynamic site
Review: Examples on the book are tough to follow and are not step by step. The CD doesn't give examples for all the chapters. I found this problem in other Sam's books. The author does give some extra info on what and how ultradev works buts I'm up to chapter 13 and it still doesn't give a coherent step by step examples to follow. I think all these 5 star reviews has to be the Author's friends.
Rating:
Summary: Esential book for exsisting Dreamweaver users.
Review: Being a hardcore Dreamweaver user for many years I decided to advance onto more dynamic sites using UltraDev 4. Being a creative rather than a programmer I found this book pointed me in the right direction in most cases. I recommend doing the Tutorials that come with UltraDev first so you get a feel for the program. Windows 2000 is a good choice of OS so you can run IIS 5.0 and have full ASP support even tho the book does touch on Coldfusion and JSP. I didn't expect much in the way ecommerce info but theres enough allow you build a functioning site. I have access to SQL hosting but not enough people do to make it the main data type in the book. Focus on Access would have been better. Back this book up with a few ASP ones and you should find a nice rounded approach. UltraDev is a powerfull application and this book goes a long way to helping experienced web developers work hands on with new technology without having to put up with boring kipper tie programmers. Down side is the CD. Its terrible. a few demo programs and some of the worst free graphics I have ever seen in my life. It looks like we have paid extra for the CD as well comparing prices to other SAMS books of this size. On the whole tho' damned good value for money.
Rating:
Summary: Nice!!! (A short and concise review)
Review: A few quick words for anyone wanting an "instant review": 1. Nice tone - easy to read 2. Interesting projects (this is the best part) 3. Great if you're using a real SQL server (or want to) 4. Not so great CD. (Not a big loss, but too bad nonetheless) If you've got UD 4.0 and are sitting there asking yourself "what the heck am I going to do with this thing?" You sould definitely look into buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: Must have! *********
Review: This is a must-have for someone learning UltraDev. It gave me one heck of a kick-start in my web development endeavors. It doesn't replace a good reference (like the UD 4 Complete Reference), but it makes a great starter companion, and it's full of great ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Good mid-range text
Review: I enjoyed the author's conversational style. The text is very easy to follow, and talks about everything you need to know to start building database driven websites. I use mysql on Windows 2000, and everything worked well for me. This is the first "in 21" style book purchase for me. I am not disappointed. I'm doing things in UltraDev that I didn't think would work originally, but the text's examples cover alot of ground and helped me figure out many things in my own applications.
Rating:
Summary: Must have
Review: This book isn't for those who aren't interested in becoming serious web developers. It spends more time talking about databases, normalization, and SQL than the other UltraDev titles I've thumbed through. What's outstanding is that it is geared towards those who know alittle, but want to become good at both the frontend and backend programming. If you're never going to want to touch the code behind your apps, don't buy the title. I, personally, see UltraDev as a design tool and a stepping stone towards doing serious ASP programming on my own. In that respect, it gave me exactly what I needed, and then some.
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