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Rating: 
Summary: Handy Reference at Your Side
Review: As the title suggests, it is a reference to the features in ADO, but the authors have done a good job of presenting a primer of ADO's more useful features. I was disoriented at first by how reference material was weaved together with extended textual explanations of concepts, but the format works. I ended up reading most of the book cover to cover rather than just looking up topics that interested me. And an extensive index goes a long way in making the material accessible for reference. Most of the code snippets are in VB or VBScript, but the authors used pseudocode a lot, so developers using any language will find the material helpful.
The Introduction and first chapter take about 25 pages to give an overview of ADO. If you're new to database programming and ADO, I wouldn't start here; there just isn't enough to get you up to speed. But if you have a couple of database apps under your belt, this section serves as a good refresher and introduction to what's new in version 2.0.
The next five chapters cover the ADO object model, each of the main objects, and the various collections, all in a fair bit of detail. The lists, tables, and technical detail got to be a bit tedious, but programmer's reference guides aren't meant to be riveting reading. These chapters serve as a good reference guide to the ADO architecture.
The last three chapters are worth their weight in gold. Chapter 7 gives a good overview of remote data access and ADO. I was disappointed that ADO MD (multidimensional) received nary a mention, but otherwise the material is surprisingly up to date, such as by mentioning XML several times. Chapter 8, Data Shaping and Recordsets, is a gem. I suspect that relatively few developers have worked with data shapes yet, even with the data environment features of VB 6.0. And chapter 9 provides plenty of information about tuning your application's ADO performance.
While I consider this book to be a mandatory addition to any Windows database programmer's library, it has a few annoying flaws. For one, it could have stood one more careful edit to catch typos and grammatical slips. The authors take on a patronizing tone at times, patting readers on the head. And there are ads for other Wrox Press titles scattered throughout the text, disguised as helpful notes about where to go for more information.
Nevertheless, I'm glad to have this book at my elbow as I tackle data access with ADO. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: ADO was designed for the VB 6.0 Programmer
Review: For those readers that complained about that Lack of C++ and Java code in this book, well common sense says (and so does Microsoft) that ADO was designed and optimized for Visual Basic so why show C++ and Java.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent Reference
Review: Good in depth reference on the ADO object model, but nothing new provided on MSDN CDs except for one topic - the performance analysis. It is a must read issue if you programming with ADO & SQL.
Rating:
Summary: A useful reference and implementation guide
Review: I bought this book intending to learn about ADO and scripting. For the most part, the book was successful in teaching me the concepts and relevant objects. One of the good points was the ease of use and reference of the book - it's nice to have each chapter solely devoted to each ADO object. There is also a very interesting performance study that is probably alone worth the price of the book - very useful.Now, complaints. As others have said, although the cover and intro text may indicate you can use this book as is with many languages, this is not the case. The authors show very brief examples in one of the leading chapters on C++, J++, and other more advanced languages, and then proceed to VB/VBScript for the rest of the book. If you aren't using these two languages, I'd suggest you look for a book IN ADDITION to this one. Overall, an excellent book, especially for the price. I was able to get ADO working with a simple Access database in no time after reading it. Also, for those who bother to look at the examples on the Wrox site, they work well and provide all the source.
Rating:
Summary: The book Microsoft should have shipped with ADO
Review: I cannot recommend this book enough. It is actually a joy to read - a reference book - imagine that! It contains everything I needed/wanted to know plus a whole lot more. It is the book that Microsoft should have shipped as their own.
Rating:
Summary: On my desk at all times
Review: Overall this is a great reference book. I have been developing asp database applications using ado for over a year, and this book is the reference I turn to the most. There are few real world examples, but that's not what a reference book is for. There are code snippets illustrating the programming methods for the major techniques, and the sample code (on web site) is valuable. Overall, it's a great reference.
Rating:
Summary: Good book - not comprehensive
Review: This is a good book. Authors have tried to present all the information related to ADO in nutshell. If you are looking for a reference book with little-little examples and how-to concepts then this is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book on ADO
Review: Whay are you promoting and trying to sell a book that is obsolete. ADO is at version 2.6 now. Promote the new book!
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