Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but mis-titled IMO
Review: The authors' expertise in the subject is clear. These guys have been doing this for a long time, and know it inside and out (or at least as well as can be expected at the time of writing). It reads really well, and their added insight is great.My major issue with the book is that it really should have been titled "ADO.NET Examples and Best Practices for C# Programmers Who Are Already Experts in ADO Using SQL" Basically if you aren't interested in the differences between ADO and ADO.NET, you'll find yourself skipping over quite a few sections. I got the feeling that I was reading stuff like this a lot - "This isn't any different than ADOc (how he refers to COM based ADO) so we'll just skip over that and get to what's different." Or - "Here is a comparison of how these ADO properties map to their ADO.NET equivalents." In addition, if you are looking for info specific to anything other than SQL server, you may be disappointed. The book just makes minor mention of OLEDB. If these issues aren't a concern for you, consider this a 5 star rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Two Books in One
Review: The book is divided into two major sections - the "old" ADO and ADO.NET. Bill covers both of these in great detail. The ADO coverage has been enhanced since the first edition. The ADO.NET stuff blew my mind. I'm new to .NET. I was expecting to learn just ADO.NET. I was happily surprised to learn not only that but also the pitfalls to avoid when coding VB.NET. That was a bonus. The IMHO sections had much to offer. Too many books just give you the techie stuff. It's nice to get an honest opinion from someone who's "been there". He goes beyond that, too. Throughout the book, there are "Best Practices" icons to point you to the stuff you really need to know. This book has code - lots of it. Every example is right there on the CD. It doesn't stop there, however. Bill shows you the turns and twists of the Visual Studio .NET IDE, making it an essential reference for any serious coder. The book is written with the intermediate to advanced reader in mind. Even though I'm more like an experienced newbie, I still got a lot out of it. I'm less intimidated by .NET than I was going in. Bill Vaughn has done a great job. I'll give up this book when you pry it from my cold dead hands. :-)
Rating:
Summary: A very good treatise on ADO.NET
Review: This book is not intended for data access programming beginners. The book doesn't assume previous knowledge with ADO.NET. However, those who have prior knowledge of ADO.NET would be the primary beneficiaries. Nonetheless, the book assumes knowledge of *classic* ADO in that ADO.NET is frequently compared to it. ADO.NET is a radical departure from *classic* ADO in most respects, but there are many similarities between the two. Extensive knowledge of Transact-SQL is also assumed (but this shouldn't come as a surprise). Some of the book's examples rely upon Visual Studio .NET. It seems that this book was rushed to the presses. I found some punctuation and grammatical errors in the first edition. I would have given this book 5 stars were it not for these distractions.
Rating:
Summary: A very good treatise on ADO.NET
Review: This book is not intended for data access programming beginners. The book doesn't assume previous knowledge with ADO.NET. However, those who have prior knowledge of ADO.NET would be the primary beneficiaries. Nonetheless, the book assumes knowledge of *classic* ADO in that ADO.NET is frequently compared to it. ADO.NET is a radical departure from *classic* ADO in most respects, but there are many similarities between the two. Extensive knowledge of Transact-SQL is also assumed (but this shouldn't come as a surprise). Some of the book's examples rely upon Visual Studio .NET. It seems that this book was rushed to the presses. I found some punctuation and grammatical errors in the first edition. I would have given this book 5 stars were it not for these distractions.
Rating: 
Summary: Not my style
Review: This book is not my style too wordy and there is really no reference to the code examples, its problematic especially when they dont work. Probably a good book if you've worked with older versions of ADO and know your way around. I'm going back to ADO.NET step by step - its boring but at least I can get the samples working.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a best practices book
Review: This is a "for dummies" book masquerading as a best practices book. It is also a "for people who think Vaughn is as funny as he does" book, as well as a "for people who want to know more about ADO classic than they do about ADO.NET, which would be odd considering the title" book and a "for VB programmers who find C# as confusing as Vaughn does" book. Waste of money. Vaughn is an inept C# programmer and a lousy writer.
Rating:
Summary: Not a best practices book
Review: This is a "for dummies" book masquerading as a best practices book. It is also a "for people who think Vaughn is as funny as he does" book, as well as a "for people who want to know more about ADO classic than they do about ADO.NET, which would be odd considering the title" book and a "for VB programmers who find C# as confusing as Vaughn does" book. Waste of money. Vaughn is an inept C# programmer and a lousy writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent title
Review: This is an excellent book that will get you up to speed on ADO.NET and teach you more than a few things you probably didn't already know about both ADO.NET and C#. It's well worth the price and is definitely a must-have .NET book.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and insightful
Review: Vaughn and Blackburn not only understand how ADO.NET works, but how to communicate their knowledge in a pithy and clear way. The practical tips all struck home, and the sample code was useful. This book has the best stuff I've seen on ADO.NET. I wouldn't call it an ageless classic, but it's worth the $$ and the time that you may spend on it.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and insightful
Review: Vaughn and Blackburn not only understand how ADO.NET works, but how to communicate their knowledge in a pithy and clear way. The practical tips all struck home, and the sample code was useful. This book has the best stuff I've seen on ADO.NET. I wouldn't call it an ageless classic, but it's worth the $$ and the time that you may spend on it.
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