Microsoft & .NETVisual BasicBook Review: SamsTeach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 10 Minutes

Book Review: SamsTeach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 10 Minutes

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10. A simple number, yet the inspiration for book publishers Sams to produce a book
that aims to teach you Visual Basic in 10 minutes, and sells for a little over $10.

Well, 10 minutes may be a little optimistic. In reality, this slim book is packed full
of topics that are each designed to take 10 minutes of frantic reading and coding to
complete. However, by my calculations this book should take about 2-4 hours to complete,
and if the VB newbie can code his first project on his own after reading this, the cover
price is well worth it.

These are the topics that it covers:

  • Manage projects and files
  • Program with events
  • Connect to a database
  • Create and use menus
  • Use common dialogs
  • Use contol building blocks
  • Read and save data to files
  • Create an EXE file and distribute an application
  • Use graphics and bitmaps
  • Find and fix errors
  • Learn to print results
  • Use the Application Wizard
  • Use the Data Form Wizard

Having had a preliminary flick through the book, I was very impressed with the layout.
There were clear explanations of the jargon all through the book, cautions to help
beginners avoid common mistakes and tips to point out better ways of creating code. The
chapters are clear, starting right at the very beginning, and taking each bit, step by
step. There are also lots of pictures to show you what is going on, and code samples,
demostrating what you have just been shown.

This book certainly lives up to expectations. The lessons are easy to follow, and are
in clear jargon-free English. If you are a beginner, then this book is an absolute must.
It also serves as a companion to Karl
Moore’s Beginning VB Series
that is currently in progress. If you want fast track
success to building good VB applications, then this is the best place to start.

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