this book is good on most applications, but its lacking a reference point to variables. you have to hunt around for a specific function. but over all its better than the vb 2005 book for beginners in VB programming.

I've used Murach's books -- in particular, this author's -- for several years, through VB.Net, VB'03, VB'05, and now VB2'08. My students applaud its readability and the comprehensive coverage, without mind-numbing detail on how to perform common trivial tasks!

These Murach books provide a thorough guide to using the VB language, using the Visual Studio IDE, and producing a robust, professional product, while they remain accessible to undergraduates within the CIS major and without.

I really can't add much to what has already been commented buy others here. The relevant thing I have to say is that out of 3 kids (1 intermediate & 2 beginners with little experience in programming) working on a same project (at High School) bought this book and came up with results and - more importantly - with solid concepts, within less than 4 weeks, after unsuccessfully trying 2 other authors.

After browsing the book myself I would say that if you can't learn to program in MS VBE2008 from Murach's then programming is probably not something for you.

Not a bad book, but it could be a lot better. There are too many places where the really interesting material is dismissed as being beyond the scope of the book, not enough attention is paid to the transition from VB6, and the author flip-flops from "I" to "We".

On the other hand, it does contain a lot of good information.

I certainly plan to keep my copy, but I shall be looking around for another book or two on the subject.

This book is easy to read and follow and doesn't induce sleep even after lunch. One way this is possible is the unique layout of the book: facing pages contain narrative on the left and examples on the right. This makes it easy to glance back and forth between the text explaining some subject on the left page and the example illustrating it on the right. I was a bit suspect of this layout at first, but before the 1st chapter was out I found myself liking it a lot. Another layout difference that I appreciated is the physical size of the book. At 8 inches wide by 10 inches tall, it's a bit bigger than most technical books. This helps get the examples on the page without squeezing the font down to unreadable sizes.

Beginning programmers will find the first two sections (the first 12 chapters) ready for immediate consumption. These chapters begin with an overview of the IDE, move on to basic Windows Forms concepts and then cover VB language basics. More advanced programmers can either skip or skim these chapters: the engaging writing-style (almost tutorial without talking down to the reader) and unique layout (the facing-pages) will hold your attention. You might even learn something you didn't already know.

Later chapters cover Database programming (including bound controls, data sources and datat sets, and ADO.Net), Object Oriented Programming (with copious examples of VB syntax), File IO, XML, and a brief explanation of LINQ.

Note that this book DOES NOT cover asp.net web programming using VB.Net. That topic is covered in other books by Murach books (Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with VB 2005 for one). This is probably a good thing, since - at 797 pages - this book is long (and heavy) enough.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was easy to read, easy to understand and held my attention through its explanations and examples.

I purchased this book to learn Visual Basic 2008 as I have been "out of the loop" since VB6. The book helped me with that task as it presents each topic in a manner that really drills home the information. Half way through the book, I had to create an app us VB08 and the book then doubled nicely as a reference guide. I would highly recommend it and will be looking for Murach books on future technical topics.