Software Books

The "Agile" umbrella includes multiple approaches/lenses from which to view, practice and evolve software and teams. Alistair's material offers an additional lens. So when reading this material, I don't believe it was ever his intent for people to pick up Crystal and say "This is it". Rather, this material offers an alternative framework of thought that would nicely meld/synthesize with other characteristics/practices/behaviors under the Agile umbrella of software evolution. I've not personally applied the material yet .. but could see it's inter-relationship to those things I do currently practice today under the Agile space.

I love this book. Recommended read for anyone who has to obtain requirements form customers. The book also has many team building elements and a great Agile roadmap.

Cockburn's writing style is fluid, the agile development topic is interesting, and his experience is very valuable.

The Crystal methodology is extremely lightweight, and is not saddled with the percieved "rules" of XP. This is *the* guidebook for the Crystal familiy. Pick a few of the 7 properties and get started building better software!

Lots of relevent information about Software Development project management. It give insight into ways of dealing with stuff I see every day at work. I am about 1/3 of they way through, it is well laid out, I'd recommend it for anyone that is a technology development group and want some good ideas for how to deal with projects.

I was glad to finally see a PowerPoint book that wasn't for beginners. This one--to its credit--does not discuss basics like creating a presentation; instead, it talks about the techniques after mastering the basics. I bought it solely based on a sample chapter where I got something I didn't know out of it.

If you do PowerPoint presentations regularly, you'll also find that the CD will be a big help. I've already saved a lot of time just with the gradient palette enclosed on the CD. Unlike other books with CDs, this has material that you can really benefit from right away.

So you've been doing PowerPoint for years now. So you've even done your own custom templates. Now it's time to take your PowerPoint game to the next level. Cutting Edge PowerPoint for Dummies was written by Geetesh Bajaj, a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP. That means that, while he doesn't actually work for Microsoft, he knows enough about PowerPoint that Microsoft tells people with questions to talk to him, and people like him. He's got the credentials to do this book.

And this isn't a basic PowerPoint book. Bajaj assumes that you know your way around the software, and that you've got a basic understanding of computers. You won't find any tips on formatting text here (try the other PowerPoint book I reviewed for the basics). What you will find are plenty of tips for spicing up your presentations.

One of the things I notice most often in PowerPoint presentations is that the people designing them have no concept of what color combinations look good. Bajaj discusses contrasting colors, and how to use color combinations to make text stand out and be easier to read. Color plates located in the center of the book help to emphasize his point. If more people would pay attention to this simple tip, PowerPoint presentations would be far less painful to view.

Bajaj then gives tips on enhancing presentations with the use of various forms of media -- video, audio, charts and diagrams, and animations including Flash -- in PowerPoint. He cautions the designer that overuse can be a bad thing, but shows how to make the best use of each of these features to create impressive PowerPoint slide shows.

Probably the most valuable part of the book is the CD-ROM that comes with it. Bajaj has included several programs that are designed to enhance PowerPoint, and are referred to in the book. My favorite so far has been SmartDraw 7, which I've used to create tables and charts that PowerPoint's included application couldn't do. You will also find all the examples that Bajaj uses in the book, including backgrounds, slide templates, and Flash animation samples. I've only just started to scratch the surface of what's on this CD, but PowerPoint power-users will find these resources invaluable.

There are a lot of people who need Cutting Edge PowerPoint for Dummies - we all know one or two. Unfortunately, some of them won't buy it for themselves. Be a good friend and buy it for them. They will thank you, and the people who have to sit through their presentations will really thank you.

The author of this book sent me a sample chapter to include at my website and I was so intrigued by it, I decided to read the whole book, and was very impressed.

Do yourself a favor and forget the "dummy" in the title. This book offers great insight into some of the not-so-obvious workarounds that can be used to get the most out of your presentations. So, it's not only helpful to people who are newer to PowerPoint, but also includes lots of goodies for the advanced PowerPoint user. I learned lots of ways to fine tune stuff that I've had to take outside of the program before to get the result I wanted. Geetesh shows lots of alternative ways to get the job done within the program.

And, the texture files and other great stuff included on the CD are fantastic. The CD, itself, is worth the cost of the book.

If you want to see a sample of the AutoShapes chapter, the full chapter is here at my website:

http://personal-computer-tutor.com/geetesh/cepptfull01.html

I believe you will agree with me and follow-up on this sample tutorial by buying the full book ... and I doubt you will be disapppointed. This is a much-needed guide into some of PowerPoint's secrets.

Linda Johnson
Linda's Computer Stop

I use this book two ways.

Whenever I start a new presentation, I scan it for ideas on how to keep my presentations fresh. I particularly like the color plates in the middle of the book for guiding my color related design decisions, and the host of other design related tips.

Also, whenever I run into a technical problem that I can't easily resolve myself, I check the book and the answer is usually there.

Get the book, you won't be disappointed.

Well, to start with this book does not have any dry or boring moments. It's a rollercoaster of PowerPoint info presented typically well in the Dummies style, and it's got lots of pepper and spice on the way to keep your PowerPoints looking awesome. In fact, even when the book is not with you in front of a computer, you'll still love reading it. I should know because I read it on a long airplane journey. And now when I'm not in front of the book, I still recollect the great advice when I'm doing my PowerPoints. It's like yes, this is what Bajaj said in the book! If you can read just one chapter, read the chapter on Color. That itself is worth the cost of this book.

In my estimation The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit is a good source of information for the topic that covers the majority of your Data Warehouse efforts, the ETL process (or ECCD if you prefer, which you probably will after finishing this volume). I took away some good ideas on items that I probably would not have considered, mostly due to my own ignorance, relating to Meta Data, QA and Error Corrections, Data Lineage and Scoring, etc.

The Authors (Kimball and Caserta) do a good job of pointing out other source books for items that the user will probably want to look at in depth.

There is also a pretty good section explaining how to manage your ETL project, the different roles of people who should be involved and a pretty good project plan / checklist to use as you are getting started.

My only complaint is that I did not read this prior to starting my own project and am instead having to correct items as I try to implement these best practices.

The book was mailed well within time mentioned by seller and is a new book.

A great basic tool book for datawarehousing and ETL. I've purchased for my teams here and in India.

This is a very good book from the Data Warehouse toolkit series by Ralph Kimball et al. This one is all about ETL - extract, transform and load, although the authors may put it a little bit different sometime:

[quote]
We expand the traditional ETL steps of extract, transform, and load into the more actionable steps of extract, clean, conform, and deliver, although we resist the temptation to change ETL into ECCD!
[/quote]

Anyhow, ETL or ECCD, it's the same thing - fetching the data from your live operational systems and putting it in your data warehouse.

The book thoroughly covers the entire ETL process. Believe me, I tried to squeeze a digest here. A few times. It goes out of hand. A lot, a huge lot of all sorts of information. Useful, extensive, clear and interesting to read.

Having read the first (?) book in the series - The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling -
helps greatly in understanding, because this book uses the same (standard) terminology - dimensions, facts, and so on.

Probably the only thing to whine about is the pictures. They could have definitely been better. Some of them are cryptic and some of them have no real value. Let's put it this way - some of the pictures do not help.

Anyhow, great book.

This book gives practical guidelines to follow through the ETL cycle, it does not matter if you are using an Industry Standard ETL tool or writing your own ETL process from scratch, this book will be useful for both. I found it very useful. Definitely worth a read for anyone who is new to ETL.

Extending the hand dealt to you by the development package is where the quality programmers are separated from the mere developers; often the difference between an adequate product and a great one. If you are a developer using Delphi and want to advance to a higher level of production, this book contains the necessary boost. Anyone moving into Delphi component creation will find it essential. From properly choosing components from the Delphi Visual Component Library (VCL) to building your own components and interfacing with OLE and COM, most of the major topics are covered in detail, with sections of example code to really drive the message home.
The book starts off with a brief explanation of the models used in Delphi, basic concepts of a component, and the analysis and design of new components. This is followed up by an examination of Implementation Details, the fundamentals of polymorphism, virtual methods, exceptions, RunTime Type Information (RTTI), streaming, messaging, OLE and COM interfaces, and optimization techniques. "Design Time Support Tools," opens with an overview of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and emphasizes the interface issues. Danny Thorpe wraps it all up with chapters on property and component editors, and experts and add-in tools.
This book contains many insightful points. The chapter on virtual methods and polymorphism contains the best explanation of the implementation details of virtual methods that I have ever seen. This chapter could serve as a reference in any study of object-oriented programming. I've incorporated many of these points into my own training course. As one whose main approach to OOP has been via C++, I found this material invaluable when teaching a course in advanced Delphi recently. The clear descriptions of the underlying implementation distinctions between virtual and dynamic methods may save you in the area of performance. Knowing and understanding why virtual methods will defeat the smart linking of the Delphi compiler/linker can reduce the size of your EXE.
When I am presenting exceptions and exception handling to experienced programmers, they always ask the following question: "What is the real difference between this and how we have traditionally handled errors?" In only a few pages, the author answers this question and puts forward two lists, "Rules of Thumb for Implementing Exception Handlers" and "Rules of Thumb for Raising Exceptions"; solid advice for both developers and educators who develop developers.
Optimizing code when there is "abundant" stack space (surely a hint of heaven!), multiple threads and different system-defined string types differ from traditional tricks. These topics are all covered in the chapter on optimization. Just because this space is available is no reason to misuse it. Knowing that the stack will never shrink over the lifetime of the thread should force you to rethink overuse. Understanding that long strings are allocated on the heap rather than the stack should cause an occasional re-examination of approach. It is also gratifying to see that there is also a short section on sledgehammer techniques, or put another way, "genuinely useful hacks."
There is also an occasional sweet sprinkle of humor. From polymetamorphicdata (care to guess what that is?) to TypInfo ("tip info") and GUID ("gwid") the jokes are appropriate and blend well into the message. However, they are grains of seasoning rather than the bulk of the flavor.
Delphi is a development environment that provides the opportunity to do many things quickly and efficiently. Add in a copy of this book and you are ready to harness the true power of Delphi by creating your own components and pushing things to the leading edge of software creation. Some sections can be read and appreciated just for their insights into object-oriented programming and design.

Published in Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, reprinted with permission.

This guys are crooks. They advertise a book they DO NOT have, get your money and never reply to your e-mails.

The book is supposed to be great, by the way.

This is purely a Delphi programmer's guide, but it unquestioningly well written, informative, and well-rounded: Anyone seeking to learn how Delphi's VCL component libraries work, how to development components of their own, or how to extend Delphi VCL components already available from Borland or third parties, should read this book. There is simply nothing else that comes close.

Mr. Thorpe's writing style is clear, concise, and does a great job of exploring the topic at hand. Any competent Delphi programmer will be well capable of undertaking VCL development on their own if they have this book at their side. One point to note about this book is what used copies go-for on Amazon.com (and elswehere): I typically see prices of between $50 and $100, even though the book was first published about 10 years ago. How many other technology books, particularly for a specific software technology, remain in such high demand after such a long period of time?

"Delphi Component Design" was written for the VCL [Borland's Acronym for "Visual Component Library"] as it was implemented in Delphi 3.0 - back in the mid to late 1990's: the implementation of VCL it describes is still the foundation underlying VCL as implemented in Delphi today, and is close enough to the modern implementation to still be a very useful text. However, since Delphi's product direction is to pursue .NET as opposed to enhancing the older VCL, the book's usefulness is limited to those who are seeking to maintain or enhance existing Delphi VCL-based applications. Even though I no longer work in Delphi, I still find myself called-upon often enough for Delphi support that I'm not going to give up my copy of "Delphi Component Design" quite yet - even despite the used copy prices I see!

The book is a breath of fresh air and covers a good basic foundation: attitudes of programmers, basic structures of OOP with objects:- various virtual methods, basic construction of building blocks, streams, other forms of communication and a few peculiar things to watch out on. I personally have no interest in databases were some may have. 32 bit is the way to go as I can now see access to the windows API with the assistance of the book and Delphi Pro.
Danny points out its not necessary to understand every base object behind the object you are building off from.
This is true if you wish to add a minor adjustment to a component. But this I believe this is a major miss conception if you are building a new and different component. And for this purpose the book dose not begin to address threading, what is happing in TObject, as TObject is not in Delphi Pro to view and is the fundamental object that every object is built from!!!!!!. This is no different than the Pascal 7 days when every one wanted to read the OOP code for them selves at an enormous cost for a copy.
I'm not saying the book should cover the windows API as that's another subject on its own, but how a action is handled through the Objects, or how a windows event is managed though OOP:- draw, mouse button.....
I need a book that should cover enough to be able to install an object into a base object like a speed button into an editor or a listbox connected to a speed button so something like TCombobox or TGraph is understood how each piece interacts and is constructed together as a unit. When the OOPer's get hold of this understanding the tools for Delphi could become available will become limitless to the users. VB definitely has this advantage over Delphi today because we do not understand enough to create something different or new. Give it another go Danny with an extra book, as it is easy to understand what you have written, be cursus to get such a difficult subject right. And you have made a breath of fresh air already into the subject that is very useful to those that have read your first book but some of us need to go further.

This book is all about what goes behind the curtains. If are a crazy developer like me and interested in knowing how Delphi designers implemented different mechanisms such as WIndows messaging OLE COM this title is a must

I have to say, this book is awesome. It taught me how to build models and understand why I am doing what I am doing. I use it all the time and hopefully he will release a new version for us folks who will outgrow this one. Covers all bases and it's worth 2x what I paid for it...

this is very good because it teaches step by step and it makes sense too.

The book is a very clear, step-by-step of all the processes involved in making a game character leading up to the animation. The animation is covered but not in as much detail. Everything else is though, including the awesome rigging machine which comes with the book.

Its refreshing to see that someone wasnt limited by a publisher to keep the book size down, and he obviously was able to take his time really illusrating every step.

Its a great book.

This is my first time to write this kind of review, therefore, I don't know how to do a good one. But what I can say for this book is it is easy to follow and the method of modeling that I have learned from it is very useful. If you can follow the tutorials patiently, you can gradually build a very good foundation of your modeling skill. ^-^.. I am looking forward for the next edition.

1)This book highlights some important issues in modeling & rigging that no other books bother to emphasis.

2)The accompanying CD contains very insightful scripts (that acutally works) - goodies other books only PRETEND to give.

3)It guides beginners and ease them through relatively advanced topics in character animation.

4)If you really need to achieve something in a hurry in Maya. Yes, this is the book to get.

For a book to be called game development this book sure is lacking on the game side of things.You create one big game at the end,but other than that there is really nothing else in there I would consider a game.That's why the book is getting 4 stars not 5.With that out of the way this book is very well written and the author explains things in great detail. There are alot of good nuggets of coding techniques in this book.

I had used Flash 4 for some time. In Flash 4, if you wanted to do a certain command, like go to a different scene you went to the point and click menu and selected that.But I felt that was rather lacking in what you could do, so I wanted to get the latest and greatest version of Flash. I went out and bought it, (MX 2004) and I soon found out, that there really wasn't a point and click menu, and you needed at least some knowledge in ActionScript. I looked around, and found this book. And I am glad I did. The book is exellent. It's really easy to follow, between the detailed explantions and the demo's on the cd. I found it really easy to understand everything, and it gives you a great way to start programming.

It comes with a demo of Flash MX 2004, but I highly recommend buying it (I got it at an educational discount). Both MX and this book were well worth the money.

There are few author's that take the beginner's (dummy) route to teaching programming to the masses and this book shines brightly in that department. From start to finish, it seems that the author knows what I want to do and shows me thoroughly how to do it properly with different ways to tackle it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to take FLASH MX to sky high heights and not just leave this wonderful program to websites.

This is an enthusiastic book to read because once you open it and see how easy it is to follow you'll be excited to continue to read, and learn how to use flash mx. The author shows excellence in communicating the information to his readers. I am not fimilar with programming, but interested in programming and i was able to gain a lot of information that I was able to apply(which is the most important concept of the book). I definitely recommend this book to those who may want to enhance their knowledge or one who is just curious of the field.

I'm a business man looking for a programming book to spice up my computer knowledge & some fun, something different and exciting, I came across this book, in Barns & Noble, sitting on the shelve in the actionscript section. The book is very easy to understan, comes packed with not only that but the CD comes packed with cool samples and games and comes with Flash MX 2004!!! Defenietly I recommend it.

There was a time when artists bread and butter work was painting true to life pictures: portraits, battle scenes, ships, landscapes. With the advent of photography, art changed to other forms, some of which bore no recognizable appearance of anything known to anyone but the artist.

With the advent of digital photography and the necessary software to manipulate images, digital artists began to move in the way of the painters. Their digital images are formed by the manipulation of multiple images, of changes that can be made down to the bit level if desired.

This book explores digital art. While as of yet this is not well received by the conventional art community, it is a sign of coming times. Specifically in this book the same three specific images have been given to seventeen artists to use to illustrate what they might create. The procedures they followed to create new images coming from these three seed images are documented. The results are wildly different between the resulting pictures.

This is the forefront of digital art.

Joseph Nalven and JD Jarvis' Going Digital: The Practice And Vision Of Digital Artists is written by a cultural anthropologist who developed photography as a tool for working on ethnographic research, and an author who has long worked in TV production and graphic design: the two together offer a survey of the digital process as it applies to creating the art, from photos to finished products. 17 artists were asked to take three seed photos and use the images creatively in their own works of digital art: Going Digital takes these 17 efforts and blends them with discussions and examples of digital art from around the world, considering common challenges, presenting step-by-step processes from digital pioneer efforts, and creating a solid set of practical examples. A must for any aspiring digital artist.

Anything written about the practice of digital art today is doomed to be obsolete shortly. Very little is likely to survive even as being "quaint" in the way of Bill Gates's famous comment that 640 bytes were enough for anyone.
Since we have digital artists in the thousands, however, all eager to learn more technique, to make the most of all that's available, to see what each other is doing, we need resource material to serve them. "Going Digital" does this admirably in an original way. Seventeen artists each take the same three given photographic images and use up-to-the-minute tools to mold their own creations. The results are startlingly different. Most important, each artist has recorded his or her creative process in a sort of running diary, illustrated with dozens of images used or discarded en route to the final one.
The technology will more than likely change drastically as artists and computer scientists continue to interact. What will remain exciting and inspiring in Joe Nalven and JD Jarvis's book is the implicit discussions among editors and contributors about the meaning of art, the value of art, the place of artists, what changes and what abides. Both the many fine prints and the thoughtful questions raised fit into the history and practice of art, as always fascinating every one of us. Every question has more than one answer; rarely are these answers just yes and no. Although the discussion is implicit, the reader knows that he is in the hands of experienced teachers. The authors leave no doubt that their book goes past "now".
You'll want this book on your shelf or in your hand always. I wish that Amazon would let me give it a sixth star.

There is little that I can add to the previous excellent, detailed reviews. But I did want to add my two cents worth:

I received my "Going Digital" from Amazon a few days ago and read it cover to cover in two sittings - loved it! I especially enjoyed the participant's musings on the three seed photos. It was interesting that most all of them liked the image of the figure.

The resulting prints could not have been more different - a very interesting intellectual/artistic exercise indeed. It is a "must have" book for all digital artists - and will undoubtedly be a classic text book on the subject.

(...)

I find that having to create something with images not of your own choosing forces
you to stretch the limits - to step outside of your comfort zone. I have produced images that I NEVER would have done otherwise.

I have been working digitally less than two years, most of that time I have been in
an internet group with weekly challenges. I credit the "seed image" restriction with helping me grow and find my own voice in this digital world.

When I switched to digital everything was so new and unfamiliar. I have not been able to get into a comfortable rut with the ever-changing challenges. They have pushed me in directions I never would have chosen for myself- and that's a good thing!

When I finished the book I looked for a website that had the images available - I was dying to try my hand at it!

Buy the book, then try out the concept of "seed images" for yourself. It is a fantastic learning experience.

Oh wait... while I am here. Harald Johnson's other book "Mastering Digital Printing" (second edition) is another "must have" if you are serious about your digital art.

Carol
(...)

This book is a treasure trove of ideas for aspiring digital artists. Digital art has come of age, and Nalvin and Jarvis offer a comprehensive overview of the revolution that is transpiring before our very eyes. The book features an international group of digital artists working their magic on three simple images, while explaining their techniques and exposing their creative thought process at every step along the way. For the reader, each chapter provides a compelling intimate journey through the creative mind of a digital artist. My favorite was Greg Klamt, whose creativity is boundless. For me, this is digital art its at its very best. As Jarvis has stated in his digital manifesto, in the digital art world ".high cost will no longer signify superior work. Galleries and critics alike will soon have to realize that creativity, vision, diversity and craftsmanship have returned as the benchmarks of "value". Bravo!

I was looking for a good book on WCF and saw that this book received great reviews. I started out with their other book "Programming WCF Services" and thought maybe this one would be better to start out with. I am now returning both of them and will try either the Pro WCF: Practical Microsoft SOA Implementation (Pro) book by APRESS or the Professional WCF Programming: .NET Development with the Windows Communication Foundation (Programmer to Programmer) book.

I personally don't like the way this book is organized. You walk through several examples in the first chapter using terms and technologies that you haven't learned about yet - I found myself jumping around in the book to try to figure out what I just typed into Visual Studio and why I typed it. I like to learn a little bit about the concepts before I start getting into the examples.

I had to cross through several WCF books before finding the right one for me. This book has very easy learning approach - going straight to the technical WCF matter. In a good intro chapter, explaining everything about creating and configuring WCF servers and clients the book defines serialization, hosting, bindings, behaviors and other specific WCF basis. All these meanings are discussed deeper in consecutive chapters.

Not only does the author write well and explain concepts expertly, but from the effort she expended in putting together the instructional materials that readers can download to follow her along for the "hands on" parts of the book, one could tell she understands very well what readers need from a tech book writer!!

I am very happy with this book: it's easy to read, the structure is very intuitive and logical, and everything you need to know is covered. If you're just starting with WCF and you're looking for an excellent resource on the subject, look no further.

I purchased this and Lowy's book on WCF. Of the two, I'd say this is the one that will make WCF real to blue collar developers. More technical books need to be written this way. The author does an outstanding job of describing the pieces and parts of WCF from a functional standpoint before leading the reader through simple step-by-step exercises. These do a solid job of reinforcing the theory. I normally blow off working through sample code in technical works, but with WCF, it really helps to explore some of the nuances to things like serialization, callbacks and security. These are best appreciated by doing hands-on walkthroughs and fortunately, the author has provided very good examples in the companion download.

Lowy's book is good for different reasons, but I feel far more conversant in the WCF area having read and re-read Bustamente's book. Lowy's is a nice companion and it goes deep into stuff that, unless your current project really needs it, you'll brain dump in two weeks. Quote Lowy at swank cocktail parties with the hoi poloi, but use this book when you want to gain a solid understanding of this thing we call WCF.

Bustamente writes clearly and to the point. Git r' done types like me who are interested in exploring the functional without getting lost in the minutiae will appreciate Learning WCF.

This book is not about SOA although the author does touch on some basic premises governing what it does for the enterprise. Unlike Lowy, there weren't any real groaners about how SOA is going to replace OO and end world poverty. OO maybe got 30% penetration among software developers in formal polls. (As an informal measure, go into any MS shop and check out how many OO diagrams are created by devs in their work and you'll see what I mean. Most MS shops won't even spend money on third party modeling tools.) SOA isn't going to do any better and it addresses a different set of problems than does OO. Bustamente gives developers a solid grounding in appreciating what WCF can do while leaving all the fluff about "paradigm shifts" and what-not for others.

This book has everything I need to know about computer networks. It's the best book I read about networking.

I read a review of the new Network+ exam from CompTIA, and this book was listed as being one you could use in studying for it since no books on the new exam were out yet.

Skeptically, I plunked down the money, read the book, and took the exam. I passed with 95%!

This is one of the best books I have read in preparation for the Networking Essentials Exam. The tear out booklet is amazing and was a great help the night before the exam. This book uses a lot of excellent illustrations and examples to explain concepts and ideas. The 'Key Concepts' section in each chapter focus on important points to remember for the exam. Using this book helped me pass this exam on first try. I highly recommend this book to anyone preparing for exam 70-073. This is the only book you will need to buy!

This book is fantastic and it covers in its pages what most books do in 600+ pages of fluff. The advantage is you don't get lost in the influx of information. I highlighted the book from front to back, then purchased the Transcender study engine - every question in that engine was answered in this book!

Unfortunately, I had to take this exam twice. So, be ware, do not depend on this book for the MCP exam. I am wondering about other people who previewed this book and said that they passed the exam using it???

I do not recommend this book for those who are planning to take the MCP exam. This book covers almost 50 % of the material of the exam. There are some poor parts in it which represent some objectives of the exam. These poor parts are: troubleshooting, performance enhancement, topologies, and protocols. From experience, I can tell you the following points are mentioned heavily in the two exams and were not slightly covered by this book which are:

*Troubleshooting: It does not tell you about the way to low-level troubleshoot a bus topology networks, which include measuring resistance in different parts of the network .

*Performance Enhancement: nothing about window size and packet size for TCP/IP protocol.

*Topologies: Nothing about mesh topologies.

*Protocols: Nothing about the TCP/IP suit and IPX/SPX suit. It does not mention which protocols are under these Protocols and to which layer do they belong to.

Besides, the sample test at the end of the book is silly and does not represent real MCP exams.

Comprehensive. A good resource to have in the collection of books.

Andre Van Staden - Senior Developer
Marco Giani - Group IT Back end Developer

This is a great book. I have recommended it to coworkers who also purchased the book and they were equally impressed. This helped me have a much greater understanding of both Access and SQL Server and how they work together.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone using Access with SQL Server. It is easy to understand and has plenty of useful code examples. I use this as a reference on a regular basis.

This answers a lot of programmer level questions about using MS-Access with SQL Server. It describes the limits and penalties when going the various routes. The book is quite clear in its descriptions. It would make a good addition to any Access programmer's collection.

I have been an Access developer since 1.1 (1993). I have bought many a book over the years. Some good, some bad. This book, however, is super! It is designed totally with the Access developer in mind. All of the questions that popped into my head seemed to be answered in practical terms chapter by chapter. The organization is terrific and the flow is second to none. The topics that are worth repeating are repeated while others are left for a one-time only view. The writing is easy to digest, powerful and very explanatory. The pictures are all also very helpful. You can tell the writers paid attention to every line they wrote. But they also inject a human kind of writing style which keeps things interesting throughout.

In addition to a thorough discussion on SQL Server security vs. Access security, data conversion, upsizing, etc., the book covers the differences among MDWs, MDEs, ADPs and ADEs beautifully and it addresses scenarios for when to use stored procedures, server functions, views, etc and with great attention to detail. The chapters ADO vs. DAO and on T-SQL are well written too. Later the book even goes into simplifying building multi-tier apps with Access as front end, VB-based COM+ components in the middle and of course, SQL Server sitting in the back. And just when you think the last chapter will be a letdown as many last chapters are, it wows you with an incredible amount of insight into how to optimize, backup and perform other settings in SQL Server.

If you are a serious Access developer like me, and are timid about moving full force into SQL Server, then this is the book for you! I recommend it highly!

I have a lot of SQL server books. Everything from SQL Server 2000 for Dummies up to SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming. And many times none of these books had what I needed. Then I would turn to this book. I was using VB.Net, so I figured this book wouldn't apply, but I was wrong. Even if you are not using Access, this book explains SQL Server the right way. Chipman and Baron offer simple but thorough explanations and samples of the things you actually need to know as a developer. They don't spend a lot of time on the things a SQL Server DBA might need to know that a coder would not.

Maybe their approach works so well for me because I came from an Access background, but I am willing to bet anyone coming straight from VB and needing to understand Transact SQL, effective stored procedures, funtions, and triggers would appreciate this book as well.