This book had great labs to help you get some hands-on experience, but is lacking GREATLY in test sensitive material. I got MCSD In A Nutshell from Oreilly Press. I passed the test with an 857. This book did very little to help me achieve that goal. MCSD In A Nutshell + Transender Exams = You Pass

I am a software programer for this reason it is necessary to reads some book at v.b.6.I also want to pass mcsd tract.So I want to reads some book v.b.6

The book covers about 70% of the exam. Its coverage of VSS, VCM and Package and Deployment Wizard are very superficial. These topics are very important in the exams (PDW has 10 to 15 questions) and can make the difference between pass the exam or not. The coverage of COM is good but incompleted. If you use only this book you need good experience in Client/Server applications. I used this book for some basic material and, the best of all, MCSD in a Nutshell by James Foxall (good coverage of PDW, VSS, VCM and COM). This last was my main guide to pass the exam. I agree with other reviewers: this exam isn't for beginners, you need at least two intensive years of experience building real applications to catch some questions. Without it, this book -any book- can help.

I want to recommend that this book provide not enough information you need to read 70-175 by the same publisher (this will help you ) and still get 60%. A lots of questions in the real exam not in this book and please prepare to select 2 answers at the same time i.e. in some case this book provide you only 1 answers for solutions but in the real exam they need 2 answers : In some quetions you need to answer as Create Symbolic debug info but they will ask you to check 2 answers. What you will answer? All the books just tell you about 1 answers, please be prepared.

I suspect that those who are whining about this training kit are missing the main point of the Microsoft Certification program - DEMONSTRATE YOUR EXPERTISE. You can't become an expert by studying a book and working through a few exercises. This book is essentially a very good guide book that points you in the right direction. I used this book and then followed up on each topic by digging into the on Programmer's reference for VB6 that comes with the product. I passed the test yesterday on the first attempt after 2 weeks of evening study. You want to pass this exam? Use the book, follow up in the online manuals, and work through a small VB6 client server project, including deployment. You will pass.

You do not need a bunch of fancy, expensive sample testing products. I did not take a single practice test other than the one that came with the book.

I read this book from cover to cover, answered the questions at the end of the chapters, and did every hands-on exercise, and after finishing I just knew I wasn't ready to pass the exam.

The worst part is that on the first five chapters I didn't find absolutely anything new to what I knew (I'm convinced that a book about getting a Microsoft Certification shouldn't be loaded with so much basic information), and the following chapters, which are of the interesting stuff, the important technologies that somebody must know, have very shallow information, something like by-the-way-you-may-be-asked-this .... ??????

I definitely had to go looking for some other sources and, fortunately, I found them, save your money on this book and get "MCSD in a Nutshell", that book will really give you all the knowledge you need not only for the exam, but for real life development.

If you are relatively new to Visual Basic, it may be a good book to get introduced to the language and the main technologies, but it definitely is not a good book to become an expert in them.

Hello ppl. I passed the exam yesterday with a score of 971. I used this book and the book by Syngress. Although the explanations in this book are very good and to the point, this book covers only about 50% of what's required for the exam. The other book covers about 75% to 80%. This books doesn't give you an idea about what depth of understanding is needed for the exam. Exam like questions aren't there at all. You CANNOT pass the exam relying on this books only.

You will have to rate your current Visual Basic (VB) skills to help you decide whether you should buy this book.

I consider this book helpful if you have not used VB in a very long time (me), you have used a previous version of VB and are not familiar with VB 6's new features (me), or you have programming experience with a tool other than VB. The material flows nicely from chapter to chapter and the topics build upon each other. The fact that you write an entire application by the time you finish the book is nice because you see how the skills you are learning can be applied to a real situation. You also get some insight into Microsoft's software development philosophy. I felt good after finishing this book because I had a much better understanding of VB 6's features and how they could be used.

For those of you with current VB 6 experience and you just want to pass the exam, buy something else. This book does cover most of the topics that are on the exam, but does not do so with the kind of depth needed to pass the exam. With that said, I would recommend both MCSD in a Nutshell and MCSD Visual Basic 6 Desktop Exam Cram. The Transcender practice tests would be a wise investment, also. I used all of these and was well prepared when I took the exam.

Good Luck!

You will have to rate your current Visual Basic (VB) skills to help you decide whether you should buy this book.

I consider this book helpful if you have not used VB in a very long time (me), you have used a previous version of VB and are not familiar with VB 6's new features (me), or you have programming experience with a tool other than VB. The material flows nicely from chapter to chapter and the topics build upon each other. The fact that you write an entire application by the time you finish the book is nice because you see how the skills you are learning can be applied to a real situation. You also get some insight into Microsoft's software development philosophy. I felt good after finishing this book because I had a much better understanding of VB 6's features and how they could be used.

For those of you with current VB 6 experience and you just want to pass the exam, buy something else. This book does cover most of the topics that are on the exam, but does not do so with the kind of depth needed to pass the exam. With that said, I would recommend both MCSD in a Nutshell and MCSD Visual Basic 6 Desktop Exam Cram. The Transcender practice tests would be a wise investment, also.

Good Luck!

I bought this book as a resource to study for the MSCD exams. I am very satisfied with it. It is an invaluable study guide for the exams, and it can teach you a lot about some of the ancillary technologies in Visual Basic.

PROS: Excellent self test on the CD. This test can help you prepare for the test as much as the book itself. In depth discussion on ADO

CONS: Inconsistancies in the labs, and a presumed development environment. Make sure you load your software as they suggest in the book. Any variations may cause some issues with doing the labs. They tend to presume you've installed things a certain way.

TIPS: Take the sample test until you get 100% on it.

This book alone is not enough to pass the exam. I did it using this book and Transcender. First I went through the entire book, did all the exercises, and took notes to use for study. When finished, I did the Transcender simulated exams. I took all of the simulated exams (flunked all the first time through), then went back and studied the answers and why the answer was correct. I passed the real exam the first time. A lot of material is not covered by the book, but the book exposes you to areas of Visual Basic that you don't use in your work environment. As one example, the exam covers Package and Deployment in much more depth than the book.

If found this book very useful. It's very readable. You should read this book slowly and carefully and supplement it with VB 6.0 Help whenever you are in doubt, if you totaly understand the context. Pefect combination with this book is to take Transcender's test exam.

I used this book and I passsed today. I only needed to supplement with MSDN Online (or VB 6.0 Programmer's Guide). Both are referenced by this book and reader is even advised by the authors as to which points of the book they can seek the further reading.

Book is very readable and the Labs are the highest points of the book. Lowest point, however, is the simulated questions. They are far below the standard of the real exam and gives false confidence. It should have been more case-oriented and should cover more trivial sub-topics.

An online copy of the book in an accompanying CD would be very good for availability everywhere for mobile readers.

Overall, it is adequate for 70-176.

I failed the test after reading this book for 1 1/2 months. I believe the book is good for beginner programmers who are learning VB but not so good for passing the MCSD exam.

I bought this book to attempt to prepare for the VB certification. It is definately not the way to go. The questions at the end of the chapters are not focused on passing an exam at all. After studying the entire book, I was only able to answer 1/2 the questions on a simulated exam. (And I knew VB before I started)In contrast, I purchased "The Complete JAVA 2 Certification Study Guide" by Roberts, Heller and Ernest and was able to pass the JAVA certification in 2 1/2 months, even though I knew no JAVA when I started. This book is a good book to work through and learn some more Visual Basic. It has good labs, but as far as a preparation for the Certification Exam, you'll need to look elsewhere.

The link to the errata for this book is http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q228/8/33.ASP . In spite of the errors, I would recommend this book. I am a relatively new programmer who learns more by working thru examples than just by reading. (the API calls stuff is what led me to the above page. It doesn't work as written, and I was getting a real complex about API stuff, :-) )

This book has nice layouts, and good concepts for VB programming. I bought this book mainly for exam purposes. As I'm new to VB but not a freshman to programming since I have more than a year experience in Java. It doesn't help me to prepare for exams. I was very confident when I finish this book, I felt that one try was sufficient for this exam. I'm glad that I took the transcender simulation test before registering for the real one. I failed badly in transcender, got around 500 only. Good luck if you are new to VB.

Very well written, pricise, to the point, and light. Covers exams objectives, and doesn't go beyond that.

To prepare for the 70-176, I used primarily this book and the Courseware from the Microsoft Course that covers most of the topics for 70-176. Between the two, and the little knowledge I have using VB, I passed the test on the first try. I found the labs very helpful as they showed the same concepts from the course that I attended but used MS Access as the datasource instead.

Will this book give you everything you need to know for the exam? No.

Does it point you in the right direction? Yes, it does that.But you will need supplemental material AND Practice.

Is this book error-filled? Yes. And the corrections are hard to find.

Is it easy to read? Yes. The language is light enough for someone relatively new to VB 6.

It was hard to tell who the intended audience was. I have enjoyed much success with MSPress's Training Kits in the past. As an MCSD Training Kit, it would seem to be for someone proficient in the language, wanting to know what points to emphasize in study. However it is not detailed enough, and is written in a language style more suited for a newcomer. Overall, this is a pretty good book to sit down and learn some of the language along with the Intentions of the VB Exam. It gives the reader a high-level view of the language and topics covered. However, the detail is left to the reader to find, in either experience or other materials. The exercises are valuable and the demo exam is not.

The largest problem of this book, besides the errors, is the price tag: The cost of this book outweighs the benefits.

Having taken and passed 9 different Microsoft exams and teaching MOC courses the past year, I think I can safely say that I have come to know a good book when I see one. Many people would rather memorize braindumps and Transcender exams that actually 'suffer' through an actual learning process, but for those of us who enjoy computing for its excitement and intrigue (not just for the promise of a higher salary!) then this book is for us! The book has terrific coverage of all areas covered by the exam, and is especially good where using VSS and planning application deployment is concerned!

I did not feel that this book adecuately covered the exam objectives. I bought the Hawhee book and studied that instead. Using that and the Trandender test I got a 942. I don't beleive that using the MS Press book will help you pass the exam. It is unfortunate that Microsoft's exam guides often do not cover the material in their own exams. I would strongly recommend the Hawhee book and of course the Trancender test.

I read this book from cover to cover and used each of the labs. I wish there was an additional workbook with more examples and lab exercises, but what was there was mostly quite good.

One negative comment regarding finding erratta / updates. It was hard. I engaged in a slew of emails with Microsoft before I found the stuff. When I did, it was worth it.

The thing I liked best was the labs followed one example through the entire book. That gave continuity to the practice exercises.

If it was not intended for MCSD Exam, it must be best VB classbook published by Microsoft itself with Excellent Conceptualization and moderate pace. But most people who want buy this book will expect actual exam preparaion will take tomorrow. Anyway, this is both very good VB learning tool and MCSD preparing. Steady Studying or Braindump? I don't know which is right.

This book does not cover every single facet of Visual Basic. However, it gives you the main information you need to understand in order to grasp the essentials of passing the test. The best way I know of to pass this test or any programming test is to sit in front of the computer and type in code until your fingers start to bleed. Do the hands on labs in the book chapter to chapter. Get the Hawhee book and do all the excercises. Create your own programs. The main thing is to write tons of code and work with VB to pass the exam. Do not rely on this book alone. Rely on your hands-on programming experience.

Having read both, I'd strongly recommend the Hawhee book over this volume. It's an unpleasant fact (made plain by taking a Transcender exam or any other good exam simulator) that learning this material is going to take serious time -- this isn't an MCSE elective, this is the dense and complicated (albeit interesting) core of the MCSD certification. The Hawhee book is excellent and, while on the one hand it takes a good bit of time to go through, it is exhaustive and (using the time it requires to best advantage) trains you for both the 176 and 175 exam simultaneously.

I used this book and Sybex's MCSD Study guide to prepare for my 70-176 exam. I passed the exam on the first try and scored 900. These two books were more than sufficient for my preparations for the exam.

You've heard all this before, if you've read any of the other reviews on this page. So I'll be brief about the book, and then tell you what you really want to know, and that's how to prepare for the test.

The book is, as per the MOC usual, a general foundation and overview of the technologies, but very much lacking in the detail needed for you to pass the exam.

The exam tests your knowledge of data types, default properties for controls (referencing "text1" is the same as referencing "text1.text"), focuses heavily on how to deploy solutions (to web server? To floppy? To CD-ROM? You decide...), and stresses data services as well (knowing which cursor types and locations to use).

Read this book for a good overall picture, but also read the following:

- VB6 Desktop Exam Prep

- VB6 Black Book

- VB6 Distributed Exam Cram (this will give you some cross-reference on data services and package/deployment)

Good luck on the test.

I have all the books in this series and give all the books 4 stars. Apart from the odd typo here and there, the books are well presented.

Exams 70-016 and 70-175 are relatively simple if you are a Visual C++ programmer who has only used Visual Basic as a test harness. The content of the Training Kits covers 80% of any exam (VC++ exams too) and was enough for me (just) pass them. If you also read the 'orange' books, you will get 100% for the VB exams.

'Desktop Applications for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 MCSD Training Kit'

'Distributed Applications for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 MCSD Training Kit'

'Programming Components With Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0'

'Programming Distributed Applications With COM and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0' books.

Since this book was a Microsoft Press book, I was under the impression that it is the best source to prepare for certification. I was totally wrong, I failed the test. The reason is that a large part of the concepts the test hit were not addressed by the book. For example, data report, some deployment issues (which is poorly covered). Never the less, I felt that the book provides an excellent point to take an overview of Visual Basic 6. The language is friendly and non technical. The book has some mistakes in code (addressOf in the Enum childWindows API), but the rest was OK. In general, I don't like books that give a single big project and work through the whole thing throughout the whole book. I think it is better to give small examples ( in a case study like approach) , and suggest the solution). I am not new to programming, my MCP is in Visual C++. Overall, I would recommend this book as a starting point, and a good reference to learn about Visual Basic in General, but not to pass the test.

I have read all the reviews and disagree with everyone who says this is not enough to pass the test. These exam books are for people who are developers. If you have never used VB 6.0 to develop client/server applications then do not expect to pass the test. This book provides a good overview necessary to prepare you for the test. There were some errors but I have found this to be common with every tech book I have ever bought. The only reason I gave a 4 of 5 stars is because I found the book a little expensive.

Bottom line, it should only take one week to study for this test. Read every word cover to cover and do every example and lab. In addition to this study guide I used the measureup.com test prep to get me familiar with how the test would be worded. I spent at least 25 hours preparing for this test and passed without a problem. If you have only opened VB 6.0 to write a little "Hello World!" program then do expect to pass the test.

As other people have indicated, this book presents a good review for the 70-176 exam. However, some areas that you might want an alternate source include: Deriving the Physical Design, Deploying the Application, Creating and Managing Com Components

If you're studying for your MCP exam, get this book. I also recommend Mike MacDonald's Exam Cram series book, too.

This book won't give you what you need to pass the test but it will point you in the right direction. But don't buy this book and think you'll pass the test.

I found this book to be good but it does not contain enough info to pass the test. For example, coverage of the Package and Deployment wizard is too minimal. I recommend it highly, but you'll need more info so don't count on the info from just this book.

There are a number of factual errors that are unacceptable in any sort of official curriculum (you *can* call an event procedure if there are arguments to it; there is no Description property to a menu). Code examples or screen shots sometimes did not match the text. I have yet to find a good book that really covers the exam.

Found this book to lack depth in all but the most basic areas. Many of the code samples have errors which is unacceptable. There are some areas on the test not covered at all in this book. You will need to supplement your study with another source if you want to pass the exam.

I read this book in two weeks and passed the exam. I like this book. It is well-organized and highlights important points in each chapter.

This book is okay at introducing some key topics in VB6, but the coverage is minimal at best. The associated CD-ROM contains some multimedia presentations which are also light on content. In my opinion, if you aren't up to the level of doing the exercises in this book, you have no hope of passing the exam anyway. I bought this book and read it, but there were MANY topics on sample exams that I took that were not even mentioned in this book. For the money, I recommend buying both the Exam Cram VB6 Desktop book and the VB6 Black Book. Those two resources helped me a lot in passing the exam, and together they cost about the same as this MS "guide."

On balance, the book provides a useful learning experience. Completing the lessons forced me to learn about a number of topics I had simply skipped over in my programming experience, and that is probably good for exam preparation. I was, however, apalled at the large number of errors. In some cases the process of figuring out why the code in the book did not work was in itself an interesting learning experience. In other cases the errors simply could not be fixed - such as essential files missing from the CD. I looked in vain for some instruction on how to report errors. I guess they just don't care.

This Book is the ticket if you want to pass exam 70-176 Desktop Applications for VB6. I read the entire book and worked the labs in two weeks. I took the test today and passed.

I especially liked the "Using this Book to Prepare for Certification" section (which is a task by task outline of the certification requirements as they relate to different lessons in the book). The practice test that is included on the CD that comes with the book is very much like the real test and helps to give you a good feel for what to expect in the way of delivery of the exam. The CD also has a full VB 6.0 multimedia course "Learn VB 6.0 Now" that is very much like the MS Mastering Series in design.

The only problem with the CD is that you will have to hunt for each of the Setup EXE's to load these training aids on your computer. There is no master Setup EXE to step you through loading everything the CD offers.

This book is designed to refresh your memories and not to make you a hardcore black belt programmer. Rely on your experience. Will be great, if this book is used with Mastering series CDs from Microsoft.

The book is overpriced and does not go into depth on any of the subjects. Typos are all too common which in unacceptable for a 70 dollar list price book. Most will need to supplement this book with the VB Mastering CD (what a money making racket MS has here)or other study aids to pass the exam.

After several exam guides and failing the test, I purchased this book. Read the book and completed all the labs within 5 days and passed the test with a 900 score.

The training kit is a nice method of studying for the MCSD exam. It covers basic to indermediate Visual Basic programming. However, it may not be enough to pass the exam.

In order to fully take advantage of this product, you will need to do the various examples in the book and understand what is happening. Some of the most important topics, like ADO, will require additional learning. The MSDN CD that ships with Visual Basic should help here.

For those who are not up to the level of this book, the CD-ROM ships with a copy of Learn Visual Basic Now, which should get you to the the level you need to be to complete this Training Kit.

My biggest problem with this book is not the material, but the stupid typos. For a company that prides itself on its spell-checking ability, typos like knoe (for know) are absolutely unacceptable. Fortunately, the material is much better than the spelling.

I've just begun reading a few pages of it and I found a number of typographical errors - a sign of poor publishing. Wish I could return the book, get my money back, and buy another VB6 exam guide book.

This book is not for the exam. It's just an overview VB for beginners. If you want to pass the 70-176 exam, you will need a more detailed book. The best choice is MSDN.

I work with VB, I bought this book to help me pass exam 70-176. I was shocked that the "Microsoft Official Curriculum" would be so brief. I said what the heck it's the "Microsoft Official Curriculum", they can't be wrong. MS Press has always been so good, they can't go wrong, well they did!! Big Time. I took the exam and was shocked that there was so much emphasis on Deployment and Installation (some thing I don't work too much with). A roll of the dice is more help with the questions than this book.

Although this book provides a good overview of Visual Basic, it is no exam guide. If you want to pass the 70-176 exam, you will need a more detailed reference. I'm very Disappointed in MSPress

I suppose this is like slitting my own throat being a Microsoft shareholder. This book was insufficient to prepare me for the exam. If I didn't work full time with VB and VBA every day, there is no way I would have made it.

This book also had several errors in its sample code. Some of them I managed to work through, with others I wasn't so lucky.

The direction was way too general, and one short chapter was inadequate review for the 20 or 25 questions I encountered about COM components on the exam.

In addition, the sample exam that comes with the book was misleading. I didn't encounter any general questions on the exam such as "Which statement enables error handling?" or "Where can you change the height of a control?" (both of these taken from the sample exam on the CD that comes with the book). All of the questions on the exam gave sample scenarios about building components or about the result of executing a block of code, etc.

Although I passed the exam (barely), I am very disapponted with the quality of the materials in this book. - Shad Storhaug