I have been through many VB books including expensive college texts. I immediately found this to be the best one. I picked it up at a Borders (oops...) because I was sick of ordering books online and not liking them when I finally got them in the mail. After I read the first chapter in the book store, I didn't want to wait to get started so I paid the $40.



I found that something simple like naming conventions or form design can ruin a potentially great book. Jesse Liberty uses the standard naming convention (txtName, btnSelect, etc.) and is not nearly as strict with form design as most books I have been through.



I recommend this as a second book because, though chapter 15 and 16 are superb in describing the basics, the complete beginner may be better off with a "For Dummies" book or something like that.



Some SQL knowledge also makes the book go down easier.

I have been through many VB books including expensive college texts. I immediately found this to be the best one. I picked it up at a Borders (oops...) because I was sick of ordering books online and not liking them when I finally got them in the mail. After I read the first chapter in the book store, I didn't want to wait to get started so I paid the $40.

I found that something simple like naming conventions or form design can ruin a potentially great book. Jesse Liberty uses the standard naming convention (txtName, btnSelect, etc.) and is not nearly as strict with form design as most books I have been through.

I recommend this as a second book because, though chapter 15 and 16 are superb in describing the basics, the complete beginner may be better off with a "For Dummies" book or something like that.

Some SQL knowledge also makes the book go down easier.

I have been through many VB books including expensive college texts. I immediately found this to be the best one. I picked it up at a Borders (oops...) because I was sick of ordering books online and not liking them when I finally got them in the mail. After I read the first chapter in the book store, I didn't want to wait to get started so I paid the $40.

I found that something simple like naming conventions or form design can ruin a potentially great book. Jesse Liberty uses the standard naming convention (txtName, btnSelect, etc.) and is not nearly as strict with form design as most books I have been through.

I recommend this as a second book because, though chapter 15 and 16 are superb in describing the basics, the complete beginner may be better off with a "For Dummies" book or something like that.

Some SQL knowledge also makes the book go down easier.

After spending many hours trying to figure why the sample code didn't work, I found the answer buried on Jesse Liberty's message board. A fellow reader points out an error on Jan 21 and as of June 26 Jesse has yet to update his errata. Most tech books have a decent size errata and that is to be expected, but for an author to fail in his responsibility at the cost of many collective hours by his readers is extremely inconsiderate. This book is in my trash can at the moment.

After spending many hours trying to figure why the sample code didn't work, I found the answer buried on Jesse Liberty's message board. A fellow reader points out an error on Jan 21 and as of June 26 Jesse has yet to update his errata. Most tech books have a decent size errata and that is to be expected, but for an author to fail in his responsibility at the cost of many collective hours by his readers is extremely inconsiderate. This book is in my trash can at the moment.

I absolutely love Jesse's books and articles. However, this book does not have a page dedicated to ADO.Net nor does Jesse talk about the debugging methods of VS 2005.

I understand writing a book is not easy, but I feel these are two critical components of .Net development

I absolutely love Jesse's books and articles. However, this book does not have a page dedicated to ADO.Net nor does Jesse talk about the debugging methods of VS 2005.

I understand writing a book is not easy, but I feel these are two critical components of .Net development

Are you a Visual Basic programmer? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Jesse Liberty, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that makes you productive immediately to create Windows and Web applications using Visual Basic and its associated tools.

Liberty, begins by describing how to respond to events to build interactive applications. Then, the author shows you how to use drag-and-drop controls to create that connectivity, how to query with parameters, and how to build master/detail pages. He continues with a review of built-in browser controls. Next, the author discusses custom controls. Then he shows you how to use GDI+ and other techniques to draw dynamic applications. He also shows you how to detect mouse events and respond to them. Then, he shows you how to integrate legacy Com controls in a managed situation. The author continues by showing you how to create complex and sophisticated Windows applications. Next, he shows you the library of controls created for you to greatly simplify these tasks. Then, the author walks you through the controls that makes mastering pages and navigation a very easy task. He continues by showing you how to update the database and manage multiuser applications. Next, the author discusses personalization. Then, he shows you how to create web services and also how to create applications that use web services. He also takes you into some of the nooks and crannies of this tool. Next, the author provides a review of the visual basic language in detail. Then, he shows you how to use the new generic collections to create type-safe stacks, queues, and dictionaries. Finally, the author provides a slightly more formal overview of the visual basic language.

The goal of this most excellent book is to make you immediately productive, creating Windows and Web applications using Visual Basic and its associated tools. Thus, by creating applications, you will learn Visual Basic as it has evolved for .NET!

What's with the negative reviews on amazon for this book?!? Plain and simple, Jesse Liberty is one of the top technical writers out there in the field today and I have YET to read a book by him that I haven't liked. Who cares if there are a few typos in a book, the main things that I am concerned about are if the writing is good, the layout is easy to follow with images and graphics put in at the right places, and the flow is tight and concise. The author achieves all of these goals in this book -- quite simply, if you use Visual Basic 2005 and you want to become a better programmer and desire to learn from a true expert in the field, pick up 'Programming Visual Basic 2005' today... you won't regret it.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The book has a lot of useful information, but also has a lot of nuisance and killer typos--both in the text and in the code samples. If you are fairly new to programming, as I am, you will most likely not be able to get much of the code to execute successfully. Jump over to the author's "world class" book support Web site for answers and you will find readers trying to help readers...the author generally claims to be too busy elsewhere, or he will "...check into it." If you are new to programming or new to Vb2005, stay away from this book. We newbies rely on code examples that work as printed. This book doesn't succeed in that regard.

Jesse Liberty's Programming Visual Basic 2005 is a fine introduction to writing Windows and web applications in Visual Basic. It's a quick start for coding with a difference: chapters cover the steps to building applications which tech Visual Basic language concepts and syntax as you go along: this means a working knowledge of Visual Basic is built based upon need in a progressive manner leading to advanced techniques and comprehension.

I've been fighting transitioning from VB6 to .NET. I don't really see the need, but I have a client who wants his next project done in VB2005 so I had little choice. This book is a pleasure; the author does not waste time with what I already know, and focuses in on creaeting real applications and walking you through what can be done by real programmers with real clients.

The writing is clear, reasonably concise, the exercises are well explained, and most important the author provides source code and a forum to ask questions.

This book helped me become current again, and I'm very grateful. This is a terrific book.

Oh how I wished I had Jesse as a teacher when I was going through my college years. Very easy to understand and has a very "cool" sense of humor. He makes even the mundane "fun".

Great book for all levels of programmers, there is something for everyone. BTW, this is my first O'Reilly book, I will be looking for other "Jesse" books, I am very satisfied.

Don't expect a complete reference with this book. In this book you will find out what's new and augment what you already know about the framework. That being said, this is a solid book that is written for the professional developer. There are few illustrations, but the screenshots are good, and the code fragments are kept focused on illustrating the key points in the text.

For a Jesse Liberty Book I have to admit that this book is a tough read since you are forced to read the text in the book to understand the examples. Having been a vb6 middle tier programmer for years and not really too familiar with
windows programming in .net I am impressed that mr. liberty did not pass any framework .net 1.1 examples off as 2.0 in this latest vb.net 2.0 book as I have see in other books.
His step by step in explaining and demos in custom control makes the book a very worthwhile read. The validation controls was a good introduction as was the personalization.
I would have liked his book to go into more depth in databinding with datacontrols and web parts whilst removing vb.net 2005 fundamental chapters, GDI and mouse font chapters.
His book does not really cover web services in depth, however he has mentioned that his asp.net 2.0 book will be out soon. This book did not feel like an intro book although someone familiar with .net framework 1.1 basics can go through this book without problems whilst reading his explanations. This is a good book if you wish to develop windows apps in .net 2.0 and I plan to use it as a reference. There is definetly alot of features to learn from this book. If you are after a book which implements OO or architecture patterns for middle tier programming you will need to look elsewhere.

This is not like any Programming book I've ever written. Targeted directly at VB6 programmers, the goal of this book is to make you productive, creating Windows and Web applications immediately.

The book is divided into three sections: Creating Windows Applications, Creating Web Applications and a Tutorial on VB 2005. The goal is to keep the focus on real-world productivity, and to teach you exactly what you know to become immediately productive.

I fully support this and all my books on my web site (http://www.LibertyAssociates.com) - click on Books, where you will find supporting material (source code, FAQ, etc.) along with a link to a free private support forum.

I look forward to hearing what you think of this book.

-j