This book was more than I expected. The layout of the book makes it very easy to grasp the concepts the author is presenting. He explains a topic and then there is a simple exercise to reinfoce the concept. It is basic and doesn't go very deeply into the topics, but that's what I liked. I liked having a few hundred page book instead of a 1000 or 1500 page monster. Eventually you may have to get another book that goes into more detail on the topics listed, but for starting out learning about database/application interaction I thought it was a very good book.

Not what I expected. I was looking for a book to help me use the features of VB 2008 to create and use databases. While this book is very authorative, it does very little to ade me in my goal. The examples and descriptions are all based on using Console application forms in VB. While this gives you the technical information for manipulating databases, it does nothing to examine and instruct one in benifiting from the "high level" commands and form controls available in VB 2008. The title should just be Beginning Databases: From Novice to Professional, with very little emphasis on VB 2008!