Microsoft Books

If you are a programmer and want to know more about the great programmers that came before you this is an incredibly interesting read. It is long out of print and somewhat hard to find but work getting. There is another edition that is somewhat newer that is even harder to find - I cannot tell that there is enough difference to warrant hunting down the more expensive, harder to find version.

This is a detailed account of how some of the world's most famous programmers did their work. While this is obviously dated material, there is no question in my mind that this book should be put back into print. The insights into what it takes to be among the best at something, not just programming, make this book required reading for everyone, not just programmers.

Through a series of biographical snapshots, we not only get glimpses into the personalities of some great and influential programmers, we learn about their thought processes. We also see that, as different as each person is from the other, they all share both a solution-oriented approach to the problems encountered and an incredible ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Most importantly, we learn that programming, like anything else in life, is but a means to an end and that it must be approached with the same vigour, creativity, and thoughfulness that guides the finest practioners of all human endeavors.

Highly recommended.

This is a detailed account of how some of the world's most famous programmers did their work. While this is obviously dated material, there is no question in my mind that this book should be put back into print. The insights into what it takes to be among the best at something, not just programming, make this book required reading for everyone, not just programmers.

Through a series of biographical snapshots, we not only get glimpses into the personalities of some great and influential programmers, we learn about their thought processes. We also see that, as different as each person is from the other, they all share both a solution-oriented approach to the problems encountered and an incredible ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Most importantly, we learn that programming, like anything else in life, is but a means to an end and that it must be approached with the same vigour, creativity, and thoughfulness that guides the finest practioners of all human endeavors.

Highly recommended.

This is an excellent resource for developers who want to learn C#. It includes code samples and advanced topics that can be applied to help even a basic C# programmer build robust applications. I recommend this as the only reference you will need for Visual C#.

Anyone can learn C# in order to complete a given task. Mastering C#, however, is another matter.

While one can combine several resources (magazine articles, web pages, friends, colleagues, etc) along with considerable time to learn C#, what one often needs is a good book. A GREAT book will guide you through the design of the language and help you understand how to use all its features to accomplish more with less effort.

Donis' book is a great example of a really GREAT book that will save novice C# developers weeks of effort and will help experienced developers solidify their knowledge and skills.

And unlike many existing texts, this book is bang up to date covering some of C# 2008's awesome and much misunderstood features such as generics and anonymous methods.

In short, if you want to REALLY get to grips with C# and master this amazingly powerful language, this book is an essential purchase that will pay for itself many times over.

This is the only C# reference book you need! Donis Marshall does a great job leaving no stone unturned as he provides detailed explanations of all the great new features in Visual C# 2008. Of all the C# books in the market, this is the definitive reference. I have all of Marshall's books and am never disappointed.

Good Automation Techniques for Virtual Server 2005. Admins who are good with code can make a good use of this book. A very good book. Value for sure.

The Rational Guide to Scripting Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 is a great broadening of topics covered in The Rational Guide to Managing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 from the unique perspective of scripting.

Written by the same author, its biggest win is approaching automation problems following topics arrangement of its twin book.

Chapters 1 and 2 cover basic concepts of server virtualization and product architecture itself, listing available languages for manipulating Virtual Server 2005 COM interfaces among VBScript, VB.NET or C#, VB 6.0.

Chapter 3 and 4 approaches scripting rules respectively with VBScript and .NET (with examples both in VB.NET and C#), detailing COM objects model and suggesting configuration of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 as development environment.

Chapter 5 teaches how to obtain most informations from virtual machines accessing Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) interface, exploring VirtualMachines and VirtualNetwork classes, and how to monitor performances accessing Windows Performance Monitor counters.

Chapters from 6 to 8 are the heart of the book, detailing automated management of virtual machines (Chapter 6), virtual disks (Chapter 7) and virtual networks (Chapter 8).
Frequent recaps to Virtual Server architecture are disseminated in these chapters, to refresh product knowledge.

Chapter 9 and 10 are dedicated to advanced concept like triggering scripts by specific virtual infrastructure events and automating Virtual Management Remote Console (VMRC) server and client operations.

Source code of book scripts is available only online for registered readers and it's really worth to download to avoid rewriting all the code and speedup learning.


Conclusion
In a young virtualization world where out-of-the-box datacenter automation is still a big missing but a most wanted capability this book helps you approaching Virtual Server 2005 scripting fundamentals to fill the gap.

While inappropriate for programming novices, this book, unique in its kind, is highly suggested as starting point for automating complex tasks and streamlining virtual infrastructure management. And considering both Virtual Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 are free, it's a cheap one to become more productive in small time.

$15.00 well spent!! Once I was clear with the fundamentals of Virtual Server (see Managing Virtual Server by the same author), I needed to take it to the next step. I needed to be able to (through some simple scripting) create, deploy, and manage my Virtual Server environment. I mainly used VBScript so far, but I may move to VB.NET or C# at some point. This book is chock full of usable real world examples of common tasks that can (and should be) automated. I wish more tech books could be written as concise and full of usable information as this one.

I bought this book to refresh my memory of the statistics class I took in college and also to master how to use the ubiquitous Excel program for statistical analysis. I was not willing to try any other statistical analysis softwares.

This book exceeded my expectations in both regards. It explains key concepts very well, backed by real-life examples to illustrate their practical aplications using Excel. I have had an easier and more enjoyable time both reviewing my statistics and learning Excel.

Before I conceded the bar I went through profound mathematics courses through "Yale's Professor Challenge Program." Dr. Gerbing and his book have brought me back to brilliant years in the statistics classroom; this book brought me up to speed on the innovative computer technology that is premeditated for statistics. I was astounded how thorough this masterpiece is such auxiliary. By extreme, the book went more in depth than the professors at Yale. I would definitely advise this book; it will be sitting on my bookcase in the oval office very shortly.

This book accomplishes a great deal - it moves the reader from basic, descriptive statistics to inferential statistics quickly and logically. Each chapter is organized so you can repreat the steps using Excel functions, the Excel Data Analysis Add-in, or using traditional notation. The data are included on a disk, so you don't have to re-key. Also included are Dr. Gerbing's own templates, which include important tools that the Redmond Raiders left out.

I was fortunate enough to have had a course with Dr. Gerbing; I know that he has spent the last five or so years refining his teaching methods, so MBA students can learn AND apply statistics to their business lives. This book is truly a great accomlishment and a contribution to business people who want to use regression analysis - or just have a better understanding of the components that make for solid market research. In an age where we all spend thousands on research studies, it is more than a good idea to know what questions to ask of the syndicated research we're offered, or how to set up the framework for a proprietary study. As a marketing professional, I have found this text very useful. Now - if you can get Gerbing to market the powerpoint slides ...

The projects are very good, and you learn a lot just reading about them -- you don't have to do all 21 of them! The writer's style is very conversational and easy to read, you could actually read this book for pleasure, unlike most computer books. The title says it takes 21 days to learn it -- not really true. I got through it in about 10. You can skip the parts that cover apps you don't use, or read the whole thing to learn all about Office. You'll feel so powerful after you go through this book. There are creative ideas for using Office that I'd never thought of, and I had no idea all the things you can do with Word! I recommend this book to new and experienced users.

I don't have time to take a class and don't have the patience to sit still that long anyway, so I thought a book called "Teach Yourself" would be the next best thing. It was better.

If you learned Office by trial and error, this book will correct your mistakes and show you the right way to do things. You'll learn more stuff than youthought you could. You don't realize how much stuff you're learning until you try to do something on your own and realize you can!

Get this book!

This is a really good book. Before reading this book my experience with Office was mixed because we had Office 97 but I only used parts of it. I knew Word pretty well, but not much about Excel or PowerPoint, and I knew nothing about Access. When we upgraded to 2000, this book taught me things I didn't know about Word (and I thought I knew alot to begin with!) and now I'd feel safe saying that I know and can sucessfully use the rest of the suite too. I've been tracking our production schedules and employee data in Excel, and I put together a presentation in PowerPoint based on what this book taught me, and everyone loved it. I was very proud of myself! I've even started training some of our people, just based on what I learned in this book.

I recommend this Teach Yourself book because it really does let you learn at your own speed and its a great place to look things up if you get stuck. The explanations are clear and I liked the examples because they helped me think of practical ways I could use the software in our office.

I think this book is excellent. I found the material accurate and easy to follow. I brought this book for my whole project team, I thought so highly of it meeting it's title claim. I was able to take a topic and actually learn it in the alloted time. The beginning chapters provide a good overview of the topics and using MS Project, setting up the project, and good structured project design. When I have a team I need to get up to speed quickly on MS Project, I will again use this book as the tool.

This is one of the best software manuals I have ever used. If you want to learn the essential basics of MS Project quickly and easily, buy this manual. He uses the online templates to walk you through the steps to build a project. It was easy to follow his instructions. I had the outline prepared for my own project. Begining with chpater 3, I used the manual to build my project as I progressed through each chapter. This was a great hands-on learning experience!

This is one of the best software manuals I have ever used. If you want to learn the essential basics of MS Project quickly and easily, buy this manual. He uses the online templates to walk you through the steps to build a project. It was easy to follow his instructions. I had the outline prepared for my own project. Begining with chpater 3, I used the manual to build my project as I progressed through each chapter. This was a great hands-on learning experience!

Read this book if you are new to Microsoft SQL Server. This book is well written and gets right to the main points of T-SQL. I especially liked the later chapters on Views, Stored Procedures, XML, and programming with T-SQL. This is one of my top 10 computer books and I always keep this book close at hand for reference. Use another book if you are looking for the hard core nitty gritty details of SQL Server. I hope Ben Forta writes a "Sams Teach Yourself" book on for other SQL server features like SQL Server Integration Services or SQL Server Reporting Services.

This is a great book for any newbie to T-SQL. There are lots of examples and each of those is accompanied by an explanation, without assuming that you already knew something (a pet peeve of mine for many how-to books). The chapters are broken up well and each leads into the next seamlessly. It is not the ultimate reference guide, but if you are looking to learn and understand how T-SQL works, then this is the book for you.

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server T-SQL in 10 Minutes (Sams Teach Yourself)
by Ben Forta

Short Review:
If T-SQL (Transact-Structured Query Language) is foreign tongue to you, after reading this book, you will speak T-SQL. This book is SQL Server version of best-selling book Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. This book teaches what a SQL developer must know methodically, systematically, and exactly. Anybody who are new to SQL Server and wants to learn most of T-SQL which can be implemented in short time in their application - BUY this book immediately.

Detail Review:
This is the one book I was awaiting eagerly. I claim that I am very experience Database Administrator and Database Developer, however, I have learned something new from this book of acclaimed author Ben Forta.

This book is focused on T-SQL only. It begins with simple data retrieval and continues to develop complex topics. It addresses various topics that are enough to get some work done with SQL Server as well explains concept in depth. SQL Server 2005 is a very complex, feature rich product. This book does a wonderful job of explaining the various features with out going to too many details that majority of the users will not need anyway. This book covers all of the important aspects of SQL Server 2005 without clouding the information with tons of examples that are not for every user.

Author has divided the book into short comprehensible chapters along with to the point examples and explanations of the concepts. If you see "Table of Contents" of this book, you will find that this book covers many areas. I will talk about few of my personal favorite chapters of this book here to demonstrate, what this book does is best at.

Chapter 5: Sorting Retrieved Data
If you want to sort in descending order on multiple columns, be sure each column has its own DESC keyword.
When you are sorting textual data, is A the same as a? And does a come before B or after Z? In dictionary sort order, A is treated the same as a. If you need an alternate sort order, you can not accomplish it with a simple ORDER BY clause.
It is not required, and it is perfectly legal to sort data by a column that is not retrieved.

Chapter 10: Using Data Manipulation Functions
It is far safer to always use a full four digit year so that SQL Server does not have to make any assumptions for you.
When comparing dates, always use DATEDIFF(), and do not make assumptions about how dates are stored.

Chapter 15: Creating Advanced Joins
It is worth noting that table aliases are only used during query execution. Unlike column aliases, table aliases are never returned to the client.
Self joins are often used to replace statements using subqueries that retrieve data from the same table as the outer statement. Sometimes these joins execute far more quickly than do subqueries.

Chapter 22: Programming with T-SQL
This is my most favorite chapter. Experienced programmers will find this chapter most interesting.

To discover the secret of SQL, this is the book you need to read, extremely well written, easy to follow and most importantly to the point. This has got to be the smallest SQL book in existence with highest amount of quality content. A really MUST have book.

Rating: 5 stars

In Summary, A MUST read.

Pinal Dave
Principal Database Administrator
(http://www.SQLAuthority.com)

I am brand new to SQL Server and have been reading a handful of large SQL Server for beginners type books, but I kept getting hung up on all the T-SQL commands. No book seemed to explain it clearly, or they'd suddenly introduce a series of mind-numbing code without explanation - assuming you knew it. Fortunately for me, I stumbled on this gem of a book. It is well laid out, concise, and there is no filler. It starts with the absolute basics and works on up through to more complex T-SQL scripts (stored procedures, cursors, triggers etc.), but by the time you get there - you're more confident with this stuff. I'd highly recommend this book if you want to learn T-SQL.

Technical books are often preachy. 'This is the ONLY way to this. You've been doing this wrong ALL your life.' We've all read one of those. These three books are like gentle friends discussing what one might need/want to do to survive successfully through a software project. My favorite book out of the trio is the Survival Guide. It has all sorts of checklists I have been able to modify for use in my projects. Additional support/tools is/are offered through the author's website. I like the 'contingency planning' aspect that this book offers, and a lot of others miss. A great read overall. I didn't sleep at all through this one. ;)

Anyone aspiring to be (or in the current position of) project lead or project manager should get this set. These help you understand, accept, and shape to your advantage many of the "soft", human, non-technical factors in software development.

Also - be sure and get "Code Complete" - it is a comprehensive collection (and interpretation) of many of the great ideas from notable gurus such as Yourdon/DeMarco/Constantine, Kernigan & Richie, Dijkstra, Meyer, etc. etc. (plz excuse the spelling errors!) Every programmer needs a copy of "Code Complete" and the companion, "Writing Solid Code". Software Standards and QA groups should use these texts as references and standards.

I have read all three of Steve's books, and they ALL are worth ten times their price!

If you are SERIOUS about making software a career, buy this set!

Before purchasing TYV MS Word 2000, I would just be hunt and pecking my why through a document. Now, I zip through twice as fast with usually no mistakes. Clear and concise is the trademark for the entire series of teaching aids! So far it appeasrs that every book in this series is a WINNER!

Everything you need to know about Word 2000. Clear, easy to understand, great photos, step by step instructions. Find what you need---fast. Keep it by the computer, you'll reference it often, especially for the rarely used stuff that's easy to forget.

This book cannot be overpraised. Through the use of step-by-step text and pictures, with expert use of colors, numbers, callouts, and what not, the book makes the learning process easy and pleasant. This is THE book for beginner--look no further! (Also the font size in the pictures is not so small that I have to use a magnifying glass, as I had to do with another publication of the same series). A MUST FOR THE BEGINNING WORD USER!

I want to get the program code in this book

This book teaches you the nitty-gritty old fashioned way of writing Windows C++ code. You learn how to code without frameworks (MFC or OWL). It's a lot tougher to learn, but you get a deeper understanding.

Topics were covered from a realistic and helpful prespective. The chapter projects helped to re-enforce the information covered in the chapter. Good incrementing from the basics to the more complex. Got me up and running and helped to separate the useless information from the useful information.