AutoCAD Books

I would have preferred the book to have a few more exercises instead of step by step instructions. Too bad you can't view pages of the book before deciding to purchase.

This is a good workbook for an Architect or Civil Enginner but not much of a challenge for the Mechanical or Industrial Engineer.

Worked out great. Service and shipping was excellent. The only obstacle was that were only able to ship it to the billing address, not the mailing address. Aside from that, it was great.

I used this book to do some training at my office. I had hoped it would be a good book and it seemed like it had good potential but in the end I have to give it a poor rating.

The biggest complaint was that it was missing files for Chapters 3 and 5 that were needed to complete the exercise. We tried going to the publisher web site to see if the files were there as missing files are often placed there but found the publisher site to be difficult to navigate or find information. It took several attempts to even find the book on the site. We were unable to find any information about the missing files.

Additional complaints would be that after the first introductory chapter, much of the basics and most used features Revit were only loosely addressed. I would have preferred that there would have been more practice given inserting walls, doors, windows, etc. so that the user could get more practice with those basic functions. Objects such as stairs weren't covered until the very last chapter which I would argue that stairs should have been introduced sooner in the book.

I did like the effort to teach Worksets and other work sharing techniques however this was thrown out early in the book when I feel my users didn't yet have a good grasp of the basics.

I bought this book, because I tought it is good for learning AutoCad 3D. I have to say this is the second book I read from this Author. Authough not as boaring as the first one, this book may help you only if you have been working many years as an architect. But the biggest problem is that you have to type step by step commands and numbers all the time. Why you have to do the next step is never explain, so if you stop to follow the book and decide to do something on your onw, you can't do it.
Another problem is that you can't save your work because the book comes with copywrite cd so if you want to stop and continue later you have 2 options: either never to turn off the program or to finish few chapters at once.
So as a sumary I must say another Big, Bad and Boaring Book.

An excellent step-by-step approach to learning the fundamentals of AutoCad for the architect.

We can't find no much help on this book. The Cd rom that came with the book was blank and I had to download the examples files on the internet.

This is perhaps the worst book on programming I have ever read. I am an advanced autolisp programmer hoping to learn Visual Basic for Autocad and this book claimed to be for me. Unfortunately it wastes its ink on theory and large print than just giving a lot of useful programming examples - which is the best way to learn programming in my opinion.

This book is certainly not for people new to VBA, even though the introduction leads one to believe that is covers the "basics" The second chapter begins with sample program and once the reader finishes that chapter, the authors assume they have taught just about all there is to know about how VBA works. I was hoping the CD would pull me out but it would not open on either win 2000 or win 98+. I learned AutoLISP out of a book in about two weeks and use it regularly but learning VBA from this book is next to impossible

Once I learn how to program in VBA, I will look back on this book for reference. It is not a book to help a non-programmer like myself learn how to write code. I am breaking down and going to a local AutoCad dealership for that. Most of this book is just way over my head right now.

AutoCAD VBA Programming Tools and Techniques

easy to read and to understand for the beginner into autocad architectural drafting. I have learned more than my class teaches me in autocad drafting.

Author tried to cover everything in general. There are very few detailed examples. This book is like a summary for the uses of AutoCAD. It usually ended when you were just about to learn more in terms of one of the specific autoCAD features.

I bought this book as a supplement to The Complete Reference AutoCAD 14, published by Osborne Press, which is an outstanding reference, in the expectation that AutoCAD for Architecture R14 would offer a more directed approach to learning CAD. It seems, instead, to be put together from other reference books, and not even carefully at that. The word "TEMPLATE" is spelled "TEMPLET" except when "TEMPLE" is used. I returned my copy.

I thought this book was okay for someone starting out. there are basic exercises at the end of each chapter. the book claims to have on line support in the way of execises and/or examples but when I went to their website I found none that are useful.

EVER TRY TO DRIVE A TRICYCLE THROUGH DEEP MUD? WELL, YOU WILL KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE ONCE YOU SETTLE IN WITH THIS BOOK. I AM A DRAFTING AND DESIGN STUDENT AT A TECHNICAL COLLEGE SPECIALIZING IN ARCHITECTURE AND I HAVE SPENT HOURS ON THE FIRST CHAPTER IN THIS BOOK. MY INSTRUCTOR IS HAVING ME ORDER ANOTHER BOOK AND START ALL OVER. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME AS A STUDENT TO FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL WHICH SKIPS STEPS AND IS NOT USER FRIENDLY. I HAVE LEARNED MORE FROM THE AUTODESK HELP MENU BUILT IN TO THE SOFTWARE THAN FROM THIS BOOK SO FAR. MY INSTRUCTOR EVEN HAS DIFFICULTY WITH IT WHEN I ASK FOR HELP. UNLESS YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF ALREADY A DESKTOP MASTER, FIND ANOTHER BOOK AND SPARE YOURSELF THE FRUSTRATION.

I AM A SECOND SEMESTER ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT AT PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, AND I FIND THE TUTORIALS TO BE VERY HELPFUL. EVEN THOUGH THE BOOK IS WRITTEN FOR ADT 2004, I AM USING IT WITH ADT 2005 WITHOUT ANY REAL MAJOR PROBLEMS... THERE WERE A FEW INSTANCES WHERE STEPS WERE OMITTED, BUT, LIKE ANY OTHER TUTORIAL, THE AUTHOR OBVIOUSLY WANTS THE STUDENT TO PUT THE THINKING CAP ON AND WORK OUT THE DETAILS. I RECCOMEND THIS BOOK, AND I OWN PAUL AUBIN'S BOOK TOO.

I am a Microsoft Systems Engineer, and MCDBA, I've read a lot of technical manuals and 'hands-on' are always my favorite. The concept is good 'from the ground up' following standardized procedures for project creation. I looked up Mr. Goldberg on Google and he seems to have credibility as an architect, but not, in my opinion, as an author.

Typical technical manual mistakes; tools and procedures that don't operate as described in text, what may seem perfectly clear to the author are muddy water to the reader. There is no CD backup, so if you can't get something to work, you're dead in your tracks. And, can not proceed to the following excercises.

A book of this price should have had an accompanying CD. Many times using the provided second and third steps, the first becomes clear as you gain application knowledge. If you remember Illustrator in the late 80's, buckleup, this is even more obtuse. I had an AD agency for over 20 years, I know graphics, and I read techno, this book did not perform. After 2 separate attemts to get past the 3rd page of the 1st hands-on, 6 hrs. I'm returning the book. I really wanted it to work desparately.

For those who want to get the building in their head on paper, like a pro the application is great. This tutorial is not.

Do not buy any AutoCad book that does not include a CD of the steps and finished project.

Just another technical book that doesn't deliver

This book goes very well with the textbook. It's easy to follow and, though rudimentry, it does help one practice the functions of the program. Those just discovering Autocad will appreciate the program so much more by using these simple exercises.

The book is way too basic. The exercises are often incorrect/misleading; although, in hindsight, it was a fun challenge to find the errors, but very frustrating at the time.

While this book has some good qualities, the exercises are horrible!! Many dimensions are missing, making it impossible to try to do them with any accuracy. I would not recommend it.

This book is difficult to use. The author repeatedly will give instructions on one page and reference a figure on another distant page. It is full of spelling and grammar errors that make the book very unpleasant to read. Author does not give any detail on steps. I found myself "Going through the motions" without really understanding why or what I was doing. Reader will be unable to successfully apply principles to other projects. I do not recommend this book for anyone, especially for the price. It is almost [$$$] and is only spiral bound!

If you wanna learn how to use MDK and dont known where to start, this is a good book for you. But remember that you must dedicate some free time to practice.

At best a cursory introduction to AutoLISP. It lacks depth. Has no reference tables for AutoLISP functions, group codes, system variables or the like which would have made the book useful as a manual. Although Release 14 is mentioned I don't think had been updated for the new features. The fact that the author illustrates his examples using the edlin editor (an obsolete DOS 3.3 editor)says it all.

I would not recommend this book to those who are new to AutoLISP. Of the 200 pages in the book, only 39 were dedicated to "basic" AutoLISP programming. The rest of the book covered advanced techniques and the last third of the book was designed for the City & Guilds AutoLISP Programming Certificate, complete with assignments and tests. It did not cover the "basics" of AutoLISP and gave little or no explaination as to the theories and logic behind the steps involved. It was a "learn by example" approach, however, the examples were not always adequately explained and were sometimes exceedingly complex. As a beginner I gained very little from the book, but those more familiar with AutoLISP may find it to be a worthwhile purchase.

When I buy a book like this I am really looking for a How to book.
I want tutorials set up in a logical format.
This book is a little too scattered for my taste.