Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy this book!!
Review: I found this book to be very lacking and costing me more time than its worth. 'From the Ground UP' should mean just that. This is not from the ground up. I find that I am constantly having to do my own research in the Microsoft help in order to get the examples to work...way too many gaps in the text and bugs in the examples. I'm an experienced C++ programmer (but not Visual) and struggled with this book's lack of detail.
Rating: 
Summary: Misrepresented by the title
Review: I found this book to be very lacking and costing me more time than its worth. 'From the Ground UP' should mean just that. This is not from the ground up. I find that I am constantly having to do my own research in the Microsoft help in order to get the examples to work...way too many gaps in the text and bugs in the examples. I'm an experienced C++ programmer (but not Visual) and struggled with this book's lack of detail.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Great Theory, Tips, and Other Information
Review: I opened this book with no experience in Visual C++ and was instantly disappointed--so much so that I wrote the author an email about it. He provided me with a nice long response and helped out in every way possible. The title for this book is incorrect--it should be Visual C++ 6 for Intermediate Developers. The "from the Ground Up" portion of the title made me think this book is for novices. So, after I got some background information, I tried the book again.The theory, online sites, tips, and notes in this book are rock solid. I found that I learned many new tricks by reading it and that I was able to develop more complex applications faster and with less effort after reading it. This is the reason for my book rating (along with the author's participation in email). So, if you're going to buy this book, buy it because you want to write better applications, faster. The example code in this book is flawed. Even the author admits that there are problems with it. If you want to see what the code should look like, check out the author's Web site. I found several FAQs for this book and the author promises to provide more. To the author's credit, he will accept input from readers and even make this input available to the public in general. I just wish he had done a better job with the code in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Practice From the Gound Up
Review: If you are looking for something practical with Visual C++ 6, it is the one of candidates. The structure of this book is well defined. You will experience a lot of new features of Visual C++ 6 though the straightforward sample applications. This book covers some topics, like ADO data binding, which you properly just see a brief instruction on many C++ books, in detail. It also explores Internet development hands-on experience and tools. In the last chapter it talks about how to package your application in most developers' interest. The main drawback for this book is that the code is not well-tested. For instance, the code on P210 will encounter runtime error. Another problem is that it has little explanation for window programming architecture and you don't expect you can ask "whys" in therory.
Rating:
Summary: Sample doesn't work
Review: The 2nd sample in this book, Calendar Dialog Application, completely doesn't work. When I compiled it, I got seven errors. So I give up to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Get this book if you want to get the most from Visual C++!
Review: The tag line for this book says it all--it provides an accelerated track for professional programmers. While you won't get a lot of hand holding, I do provide you with relevant examples of the major projects you can create with Visual C++. With this goal in mind, the book begins with an overview of the basic application types, proceeds to database management and the Internet, and finally ends with a discussion of developer issues like how to add help to an application and package it for distribution. So why do you need yet another Visual C++ book? Anyone who has used Microsoft Visual C++ over the years will attest to the enormous amount of change that has occurred in this product. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make the latest of version of Visual C++ easier to use. However, for the Visual C++ programmer, writing programs is still more art than science. Just about the time that Microsoft creates a new wizard to take the mystery out of one area of programming (like the updated ATL wizard in this version of Visual C++), some new technology comes along to put the mystery right back in (like OLE-DB and ADO support). Change is also the reason that you need yet another C++ book. Microsoft is constantly adding new features to Visual C++. While this book won't tell you much about basic C++ programming from a theoretical perspective, it will tell you how to use the new features that Microsoft has added in. For example, you'll find a lot of ActiveX and other Internet-related features in recent releases of this product. The Internet has played a more predominant role with every release of the product, and the 6.x version isn't any different. It's the quest for speed that's driving use of Visual C++ in certain Internet components. Downloading a large application from the Internet isn't a choice; users want small, fast applications. Sound familiar? This book spends a lot of time looking at how you can use Visual C++ to best advantage within today's Internet-driven programming environment. Another reason that you want get this book is for the database programming sections. Database management still represents one of the major categories of programming in any environment, so knowing how to interact with a database is essential for any programmer. The database programming examples in this book provide a wealth of information to someone who already knows a few of the basics of working with databases. If you don't understand what tables are and have a fairly firm grasp of relational theory, you might want to spend a little time looking at these topics before delving into the material provided in Part 2 of this book. However, once you know the basics, it's time to learn about the Visual C++ way of doing things--something this book will help you with. You'll also gain an understanding of the differences between ODBC (open database connectivity), OLE-DB (object linking and embedding for databases), ADO (ActiveX data objects), and DAO (data access objects). This book even spends a chapter each on ODBC and ADO database programming. I welcome comments from my readers because those comments help me write better books. (Obviously, I also want to answer any questions you may have.) Please feel free to send me email with your suggestions and comments.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of In-Depth Information and More
Review: The title of this book is definitely incorrect. If you're looking for something to hold your hand and lead you through each step of the application creation process, look for a Dummies book. This book has it all: ActiveX, the Internet, and database management, along with a healthy dose of basic applications. There were even sections that showed how to package my applications. I did find a few minor glitches in the code, but the author provided help with the problems the same day that I wrote him. I was also a little disappointed that this book is a bit out of date with the release of Windows 2000. Hopefully the author will take time to update it.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the diligent programmer
Review: This book contains much useful information. There are a few errors in the example code which require some effort to work through. I haven't seen a book yet that doesn't have errors. The author has provided assistance in these cases from his web page and through email. And, is also correcting these problems for the next edition of the book. Aside from that, most of the book is error free and provides in depth explanation of up to date, useful programming technique. It also contains useful web programming examples. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the diligent programmer
Review: This book contains much useful information. There are a few errors in the example code which require some effort to work through. I haven't seen a book yet that doesn't have errors. The author has provided assistance in these cases from his web page and through email. And, is also correcting these problems for the next edition of the book. Aside from that, most of the book is error free and provides in depth explanation of up to date, useful programming technique. It also contains useful web programming examples. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good in some aspects but need cover more
Review: This book is good for reader to learn Database, Html, Software Package with hands-on instruction plus information guidance. But you hardly get instruction for other purposes, e.g. graphics etc. The source code privided need improvement.
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