This book is more on windows forms than it is on VB, there are 5 chapters on the language in this book... and one on debugging. There is a whole chapter on docking windows and changing fonts and font colors etc. If you are a programmer that wants to learn VB or even windows forms this book is like pulling teeth. This book should be titled windows forms with visual basic for dummies.

Unfortunately this is the best book on VB I have come across yet, and when it comes to microshaft front ends VB is just the better language. C# is a good but lacking at the same time, visual c++ makes people want to punch bill gates in the face, and J# is based off of java which means it should not exist. So for GUI's you are stuck with VB and this ridiculous mislabeled book.

I come from the c/c++ systems programming world and have extensible back ground in C# as well, hopefully that puts a perspective on weather this book is going to be a root canal for you as well.

I have Just started learning Visual Basic.
This Book covers in detail all that I wanted to know about getting My first applications op and running.
R.W.

I have never written a serious book review, but I feel compelled to document that after a few false starts with other books, THIS IS THE BOOK I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR! I paid more than I had to when I bought it at a bookstore, but I don't even mind. I was able to bring it home with me and start immediately! My enthusiasm for Visual Basic.NET has been restored.

The book is very straight forward and to the point but not cryptic. The concepts are presented in a very easy to understand format. The book helps you build an excellent, practical, example of a program and I appreciated the Summary, Q&A and Workshop sections at the end of the chapters.

Great book, Thanks!

It is obvious that no subject as complicated as Visual Basic can actually be taught in 24 lessons, each of which is designed to be completed in an hour. Therefore, to criticize any book on that basis is to miss the point. These books should be called "Teach Yourself the Fundamentals ..." but that of course is not as catchy a title. When I examine such books, my standards of evaluation are based on the topics covered in the context of what is a reasonable set of necessary knowledge.
In that area, Foxall succeeds at a high level. The fundamental GUI objects, their properties and methods are covered as well as the events that they are associated with. Variable, functions, subroutines, arrays and most importantly, objects are introduced to significant depth. Control constructs such as the if - then and loops are covered as well the basics of error handling via the catching of exceptions.
If you are interested in getting a quick and effective introduction to Visual Basic and do not want to take a formal class, then this is the book for you. All you need is the motivation to learn, as the Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition is included with the book.

I love this book! The only programming I had had was Basic back in 1984-85 so obviously I am starting from the beginning. I needed basics (like general definitions, logic of how programming works, and specifics for how the Visual Basic works) so I could understand the programmers I work with. After reading and going through the exercises in this book, I can speak the same language and I've even been able to do automation for my quality assurance testing.

BTW - took me about 2 1/2 weeks to get through it all ;-)

I would classify myself as a "hobby" programmer. I enjoy programming, but aside from a few courses taken years ago, I have little formal training. I frequently write programs for myself, my clients, and my friends (I'm a computer technician). Although I know a little about OOP (object-oriented programming), I find it to be overkill for many of the programs I like to write. Most of the time good, old-fashioned procedural programming does the trick, and although maybe if I choose to revisit my code twenty years from now, I will regret not having laid out my code using a proper class hierarchy, I sort of doubt it.

If the preceding paragraph somewhat describes you as well, you may enjoy this book. To me, it takes VB2008 and makes it simple and enjoyable like VB6. The author, James Foxall, doesn't try to cover everything, but he covers enough to be able to actually use VB2008 to solve real problems, and along the way he teaches the fundamentals of Visual Basic (even a blessedly short chapter on custom classes).

When done, you can use VB2008 to: develop and use forms (dialog boxes), manipulate the objects that VB and .NET provide, work with the keyboard, manipulate graphics within your own windows, manipulate files and directories, read/write text files, databases, and the registry. You can use automation to manipulate other applications, and even package your creation for distribution using Microsoft's "ClickOnce" technology.

The book is a good size, large enough to cover major areas, but not so large as to intimidate. I only wish there was more coverage of common .NET classes such as the print / print previewing classes. Overall, I would say this is a great book for all us old VB6 types wanting to "modernize."