this book attempts to teach the reader how to develop VB.net applications using object-oriented methodologies.
While it tries in meeting this objective, it falls short in a few areas.
First, the codes in the book seem to be different from what you get, even when you follow the authors' guidelines religiously. Some lines of code just appear almost from nowhere; some of those that are accounted for are mysteriously rearranged in the book.
The authors' coding styles are neither here nor there. They do not seem to be within easy grasp of the VB.net newby or at the league of the blackbelt category.
Secondly, there are several omissions and inadequate explanations in the text. The authors obviously know their jobs. But they have difficulty imparting that knowledge to their readers. 21 chapters in a book of 360 pages mean each chapter, including the code snippets and screenshots, occupy less than 18 pages. Not that I am a fan of fluff, but I believe that adequate explanations would require many more pages.
Thirdly, a few explanations are simply wrong. E.g. you don't save files with .visual basic extension, but with .vb; neither do you write:
Me.TextBox.AcceptReturn = True
Me.TextBox.MultiLine = True
.......
But you write:
With Me.TextBox
.AcceptReturn = True
.MultiLine = True
.......
End With
I gave it three stars because it gives the reader a bird's eye-view of what OOP looks like in VB.net. But that's how far this book can go. If you really want to learn OOP in better details, you will need to use additional resources--either one that is geared to the newbies, or one that is aimed at the gurus out there. This hermaphrodite of a book defies easy placement.
