...I gave it one star because I couldn't give it none.
While I'm only in VB II, I have over 200 hours of college credit and 18 hours of computer science. This is the worst textbook I have ever used.
Why?
It is filled with errors--ex. p. 23, used MCSD instead of MSDN, p. 95, "The key field ...may be a text field, such as last name, or a combination, such as last name and first name (I guess this is technically correct, but I sure don't want the authors designing any databases for me), p. 223, program code Sets variables but doesn't declare them first.
The different chapters appear to be written by different authors. Chapter 3 uses a step-by-step tutorial in excruciating detail. None of the other chapters up through 5 use this style. Chapter 5 doesn't even give program snippets complete enough to see what the authors are trying to do. On the other hand p. 177 gives three examples of a sort procedure, changing only the field name.
The authors introduce topics without giving enough detail to determine their significance. They may or may not come back to them in later chapters. Example, unbound controls on p. 175 and p. 215. Parameterized queries are introduced on p. 185 and not even discussed with the Command object in chapter 5.
The coverage of SQL is pathetic, at best.
The first 200 pages of the text emphasize the DataControl and the DataEnvironment and then on p. 208 the authors say "You will find that most professional VB database applications use ADO code except in "quick and simple" projects." Then why did we just spend six weeks on them?
I wouldn't waste shipping charges on this book. Surely, there is something better.