Best PC Programers book ever
I have worn my copy of this book out. I can't imagine not getting this book.
The examples have saved project after project.
I will be getting the VB.Net reference as i learn VB.Net.
If you work with VB.6 as I do, you MUST have this book!!!! Easy to read, easy to search,, and you will learn something as you use it.
PROGRAMMERS, GET THIS BOOK!!!
A fair command reference rife with errors.
I purchased same with the idea of making it a handy, portable syntax reference. Unfortunately, it is fair for that purpose, but the errors simply make it a poor investment. I attempted to contact the author, but was met with rude, rude replies. Unless you are in need of kindling, save your money.
A Good Quick Reference
I've owned this book for over a year (and have 8 or 9 other VB books on the shelf,) and it's literally the first one I grab when I've got a question regarding VB syntax or useage. While it doesn't cover the advanced functionality much (Winsocket / API access, etc.) or at all, it covers the basics very well, indeed. I've got a copy at home, a copy at work, and have ordered two more copies for co-workers. Although I've found a few errors, It's easy enough to pencil in the corrections.
Previous works
I sincerely hope this book is better than Mr. Rahmel's previous works. I had bought Mr. Rahmels' "Sams Teach Yourself Database Programming with Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours". There were numerous technical errors (code snippets that simply didn't work) and no way to find out how to correctly code the problems. When I attempted to contact Mr. Rahmel I was met with little cooperation in correcting the problems. The publisher did offer to refund the money for the book however. Be forewarned!
Worth the money?
The real question with a book like this is - is it worth the money?The book markets itself as a 'quick reference' book, so you would hope it would provide value over and above what you can find in the help files.
Unfortunately, I did not find this to be the case. There was little info that the help files wouldn't tell you. Some of the information seemed out-of-date or lacking.
As examples:
IIF - The book claims you need to distribute an extra DLL to use this function (which is not the case with VB 6). It also fails to mention the classic pitfalls of IIF (slowness, and the fact that the valueIfTrue and valueIfFalse parameters are evaluated regardless of the value of expression).
IsEmpty - This function is described as 'Determines if variable is empty' - not very helpful. Then, the examples suggested do not even include a line where IsEmpty evaluates to True. The writer would *appear* to believe IsEmpty("") is True, which is a grievous error.
IsError - Like IsEmpty, the description is again not very helpful. Plus, again, the example (IsError(13)) evaluates to False. There is no indicaton of what the expression would need to be for IsError to evaluate to True.
IsMissing - No mention is made that as of VB 6, this should only be used of optional parameters of type Variant.
With so many errors in the space of 20 pages (of a total of 450), I really can't justify expenditure on this book. Read Books Online instead.
(9 reviews)