NOTE:I dont recommend it if you are trying to learn VB ,that's probally not going to happen.

If your an experienced VB programmer, all you need is that book. This book covers all these little aspects that even the best of programmers might not know. Microsoft exams are more concentrated on the Microsoft technologies, tools and softwares then the programming part itself.

This book covers every inch of what you need to know. Don't waist money on cram books. This book is for experienced VB programmers not for easy way out takers. So if the phrase CreateObject or For Each or ADO means nothing to you, you might consider years of practice or easy cram books.

Material in all of the chapters could or will be on the either exam but pay attention to Chapter 13 - Packaging and Deploying an Application and Chapter 14 Visual SourceSafe and the Visual Component Manager. My exams had an overwhelming number of questions about these subjects.

The author indicates at the beginning of each chapter what material is covered on each of the exams. With the exception of Chapter 12 (Creating Microsoft Transaction Server Components), I found the material in every chapter could be on either exam. Regardless of which exam you are going to take, if you read the chapters religiously, you will be prepared for whatever questions that are on either exam. When you combine this book with the Transcender courses, you will pass the exams. Good Luck!

Huge fan,
-Tim

Covers everything you need to know for the exams and covers it better than I've ever seen. I you used to wonder about ActiveX, classes, and objects in VB than wonder no more. You'll get it after reading this. I only wish all books were this good (and short).

The Foxall book seems to make the mistaken assumption that if you are a VB programmer at all, and any good, of course you use menus, ListView, Treeview, Imagelist, etc. in your programs all the time. I mostly program ActiveX DLLs and none of my programs use external files (at least in such a way that I would need a Treeview/Listview combination, or even a Windows Common Dialog to go schplunking through directories.) Both that attitude (and the comparative lack of information on these topics) sent me looking for other supplementation, which again, I found in the huge Hawhee book.

Now the Foxall book DOES give much better coverage of COM and ADO than anything else, and that counts for a lot on BOTH tests.

It's not a bad book. Just an incomplete one.

None of the books that I saw gave an adaquate look at the Package and Deployment wizard (at least as far as the Desktop exam goes.)

(After using the Hawhee book and Transcenders, I passed with 885 for Distributed and 814 for Desktop.)

There are some errors, but there is an errata page available online, a feature that is essential for technical books today.

Had I known about this book before I began studying for the Desktop exam, I'd have been able to take both tests in the same day and pass them both! It's a great book.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't assume you're starting from ground zero. You have to know the basics of building VB apps with forms, built-in controls, database access, etc. That's why it's only 600 pages! However it does start from the beginning on topics a lot of us experienced VB developers have not used much if at all such as building ActiveX controls, using MTS, using property pages, licensing, digital signatures, etc. -- all items you have to know for the first two core exams.

If you're going to get your MCSD, GET THIS BOOK and through out everything but your Transcenders, your copy of MSDN, and your Bible. Prayer is always your best resource!

Luckily, the publisher is on top of these and may correct them in later editions. The O'Reilly web site includes the corrections to the errors. I downloaded the corrections and found them to be a reasonable solution to the problem. O'Reilly invites its readers to submit corrections and suggestions. The process appears to be working.

As far as it being a tool for preparing for that exam, I would would highly recommend it. It spares us from the arrogantly overused techno-jargon that you find in most books. It uses diagrams appropriately to supplement its explanation of concepts and it also includes end-of-chapter quizes and assignments to help you retain its lessons.

(Do the assignments! Doing is learning in the IT field.)

I have the October 2000 edition and I must say that I was less than impressed with the typographical errors, but at least they are not counter to the point of the lessons. I hear the later edition is better. Had it not been for the errors, this book would have received 5 stars.

Good luck.

The book is well written and covers most subjects with enough detail to not only pass the exams but actually understand the material.

If you're trying to learn VB, this isn't the book for you. While experienced VB programmers will find very useful information in this book, it is not meant to teach VB from the ground up.

The architecture section of the book, like most of the Architecture books, covers a lot about the Microsoft Solutions Framework. This makes sense considering the topic of the exam. However, the exam itself concentrates on case studies and being able to pick system requirements out of them. It also concentrates on good database design. There is very little on the actual MSF on the exam, and hence that section of the book is only partially useful.

I passed the 70-176 (1000/1000) & 70-175 (900/1000) using this book as my primary study guide. Having read many VB, Java, C++, etc. books, I have found found very few that combine good readability, in-depth content, and low price. This one does all that. To give you an idea of the depth of the content, my 2nd time through the book I took notes on the key points. I ended up with 250 pages of notes. That's quite a bit of key points packed into a <600 page book.

Another couple of nice things about this book (& O'Reilly, in general) are the font and binding. O'Reilly is one of the few IT publishers that realizes that smaller fonts are actually more readable and allow more content on fewer pages. Also, the binding allows you to lay the book open on a page, and it actually stays open - nice when you're working through examples.

It's worth noting that you will need to supplement the data access portion with the ADO help file and plenty of practice. That is the only area that I found seriously lacking. The other area that is doesn't cover is Microsoft's data services/business services/user services tiers, but questions related to this on the exams are fairly straightforward.

If you're taking the exams, read this book, write plenty of code to cover the tests subjects, and supplement with MSDN & ADO help.

Oh, what a surprise to find out that the exams wanted me to show expert use in technology I hardly talked about in those days, but I thought "no problem, I just need to get a hold of it, I was good in this, so I can do it". Well now I can tell you that without this book I would have never acomplished this task, just today I passed the first exam with an 89% score, and I can tell you it was extremely hard. How did this book helped me:

- Is the only book I've seen that has a very seriously aproach to the Package and Deployment Wizard (I got 15 questions out of 70 about this topic, that is more than 20% of the exam, and got 77% right).

- A chapter for COM, another one for ActiveX code components, another one for ActiveX controls, and another one for ActiveX documents, at least 50% of the exam is about these topics.

And if that's not enough, there's quite a lot of information about implementing Help, Internet applications, Testing and Debugging, code optimization, all of this topics are going to be on your exams.

If you are seriously thinking of getting certified, don't waste your time and money on books that are going to explain you how to put code in a form or a command button (most "certification trainning books" have this approach), you should already know that, get down to business and tackle the really interesting stuff.

If you are not interested in taking the exams, but want to become an expert in Visual Basic, this is the book for you.

Good luck on getting that certification!!

When studying for the exams you want to be sure that all topics are covered and at an appropriate level. MCSD in a nutshell does better at this than any other book I have seen. (I had access to 4 and only used/needed this & 'Programming VB6' by Balena - the best VB book on the market, but unfortunately not exam focussed)

I have good IT experience, however haven't been using VB for a great amount of time. This book made me aware of, & educated me on, all the VB topics needed, with the exception of web classes which Balena covers well.

Another bonus is it's size. Being smaller than the useless tomes that are out there, I could take it with me everywhere to ensure a steady stream of learning.

If you find this book too much of a slog due to it being too high a level - you're not ready for the exams.

Having the exams behind me, I'll be keeping this book on my shelf. (Right next to Balena of course) It's not intended to be a reference book but it will definately have some use as such.

Finally, use Trancender! You'll not regret it!

The book is excellent and covers all the topics that are needed for the exams. Also, book is an excellent reference for any advanced VB programmer.

No doubt its a bible that should be present in any VB programmer's book shelf!

The book begins with a table dividing the skills & technologies tested on these two exams, the way every certification book should begin. Foxall's treatment of COM and ActiveX is outstanding. In fact, I learned more in the 38-page COM chapter than I did in all of Wrox's VB COM book. The chapters on "Packaging & Deployment" & "Visual SourceSafe" are also noteworthy, primarily because other books skimp on these topics while Microsoft still heavily tests on them.

A final note: people will be drawn to this book mainly for help passing the MCSD exams. Let's not downplay the usefulness of this book as an excellent Visual Basic resource for advanced VB programmers.

It's not riddled with code, but it uses code in adequate amounts to explain the section in question. Its "Key Facts" section summarizes the chapters very well - something that one can scan through before the exams. There are also a proportioned amounts of questions at the end of the chapters for self testing.

Considering the low price as compared with other competing books, MCSD is a sureshot winner.

A caveat - if you don't know VB at all, learn how to use it first. This book will not tell you how to open VB, or how to create a form, or anything that basic. On the other hand, if you have used VB, and are looking for information that will help you pass the exams, this is the book.