Programming Books

Target Audience
Java developers who want to learn how to use the Eclipse IDE or how to develop enhancements for the Eclipse framework.

Contents
This book is a comprehensive coverage of the Eclipse framework, both from the perspective of using the tool and writing extensions to Eclipse.

The book is divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 - Running Eclipse - Getting Started; Using Eclipse; Using Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Teaming Up With Eclipse; Eclipse Configuration Management

Part 2 - Extending Eclipse - Overview Of The Eclipse Architecture; Getting Started: Plug-in Development; Action Contributions: The Integration Fast Track; The Standard Widget Toolkit: A Lean, Mean Widget Machine; Dialogs And Wizards; Views; Editors; Perspectives; Workspace Resource Programming; Managing Resources With Natures And Builders; Resource Tagging Using Markers; Contributions Revisited; Advanced Plug-in Development; Creating New Extension Points: How Others Can Extend Your Plug-ins; Serviceability; Developing Features; Providing Help; OLE and ActiveX Interoperability; Swing Interoperability; Extending The Java Development Tools; Building A Custom Text Editor With JFace Text

Part 3 - Exercises - Using Eclipse; Using The Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Using CVS With Eclipse; Modifying Your Configuration With Update Manager; Using The Plug-in Development Environment; Feature Development And Deployment

Review
As an IBM software developer using Domino and Notes, I'm hearing more and more about WebSphere Studio Application Developer. That's the IBM WebSphere Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is built upon the Eclipse framework. But just what is Eclipse, and why is it so important to you as a developer? This book will help you answer those questions.

The book serves two purposes. Part 1 of the book will allow you, as a Java developer, to understand how to use the tool to code and test your programs. They also devote coverage to how CVS, the open source version control tool. Even if you're not interested in extending the Eclipse tool for your own use, this first part of the book would be worth the purchase.

Part 2 gets into how the Eclipse framework can be used to write your own tools to integrate into the environment. Granted, this part of the book won't necessarily appeal to everyone, as some of you will only want to use the core functionality of Eclipse as an IDE. But you can think of this section as a lesson on the internal architecture of Eclipse. The more you understand about the tool, the more effective you can be with it.

And finally, you have the third part of the book that consists of a number of exercises to bridge the gap from theoretical to practical. Taken as a whole, working through this entire book will give you a solid foundation in Eclipse.

And for Notes/Domino professionals... I think a case could be made that you should seriously consider buying this book to prepare for your future. ND8 is projected to be a rich client built on this platform. By reading up on it now, you'll be prepared for what's coming. And if you're a business partner who builds tools for the Notes/Domino client, you'll need this information to start to figure out how you can transition your business in the future. Don't let it sneak up on you.

Conclusion
If you're thinking about diving into the Eclipse world, get this book. And if you're already an Eclipse user but want to make changes to your environment, this book will give you the information you need to start down that path.

Learning Eclipse, the open-source IDE and tool platform, can be a
daunting task. While a plethora of on-line resources exist for
learning.... knowing where to start, and
remembering what you've read, can be challenging. Finally a book
with much of this in one place: The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse.

As a long-time lover of books, expecially Java books, I find that
learning from online resources on the web can be sufficient, but
often it's hard to know what you've read, where you stopped, where to
find something, etc. Especially when you're learning something very
new, or very complex, having it all in your hands can be comforting.
(And you don't have to close the book during takeoff and landing.)

Written by Eclipse experts with experience using *and teaching* other
developers in its use, the chapters and exercises are well thought
out. The authors are instructors with experience in teaching Eclipse
to software developers, so have a good knowledge of Eclipse and how
to present and explain it.

This book contains three parts: Using Eclipse as an IDE for
Java developement, Extending Eclipse with plug-ins, and exercises
for all of the above. While a few other books are available on using
Eclipse as an IDE, this is by far the most comprehensive
book on extending it by developing plug-ins.

This book is unique in its thorough coverage of plug-ins (extending
Eclipse: want a new popup menu? code reformatter? Write it yourself!)
but don't overlook its good introduction to using the
Eclipse IDE itself for developing Java code, as well as a great
chapter on using CVS and the Eclipse interface to CVS
code respository that is part of the standard download.

The exercises on using Eclipse and building plug-ins are great, and often walking through the exercise
(resources included on the CD with the book) reinforces or sheds
additional light on what is covered in a chapter. At times
I jumped directly to the exercise after only briefly reading
the associated chapter information, and the hands-on learning
accomplished in this manner was great for this impatient Java
developer.

I took the IBM class with the same name as the book, and found
the exercises in the book similar, if less extensive than, those
included with the course. But the basics are there, including
the exercise that introduces action sets etc. that I referred
to several times in my first plug-in development. A lot of my
code started with the exercise code and grew from there. As I worked
through subsequent chapters and exercises, I came to a clearer
understanding of what had been done in the previous code imported
in the exercises, yet I was already up and running in terms of
developing my plug-in.

The book is written to Eclipse 2.0, with a few comments regarding
changes for version 2.1. While it would be nice to have the minor
2.1 changes reflected in the book, I know the authors had to stop
somewhere to get published. This was the first Eclipse book
published, I understand.

Excellent, and highly recommended for all Java developers wanting
to use Eclipse, and especially for those wanting to develop
plug-ins for extending Eclipse to their own applications.

This helpful and extremely well-written book is really many books in one. The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse provides a coherent, organized, and well-written reference for using the Eclipse platform and developing plugins. In addition to the basics, the book covers such advanced topics as Eclipse Configuration Management and Providing Help. One section of the book provides a comprehensive set of exercises that enable you to get hands-on experience working with Eclipse.

The book is organized into three sections, each geared towards a different level of experience with Eclipse. While you may make use of all three sections, the organization of the book helps you to quickly find and focus on the material that you need.

The information provided with Eclipse and the Web sites that support it is considerable. The great aspect of this book is that it offers so much usable content in one convenient source, while providing additional information to supplement the online help already provided with Eclipse.

I was initially disappointed that this book did not cover JUnit and that it was based on Eclipse 2.0; however those issues aside this book is a great resource on Eclipse written by folks on the development team. I am using Eclipse 2.1.1 and there are some differences for some things, but most are minor. The book is divided into three parts with Part Two having two sections. Part One focuses on the Eclipse development environment. In this section, there some very good tips about using Eclipse. I particularly liked the chapter on using CVS with Eclipse. There was some practical advice given about how to deal with issues one would encounter in projects while using Eclipse and CVS.

In chapter one, the authors challenge Eclipse veterans to read it with "bet you didn't know how to ...". There are some great keyboard shortcuts and other features of Eclipse that surprised me. There is a blind programmer on our staff that will get great mileage out the keyboard shortcuts.

Part Two is about creating plug-ins for Eclipse. At first, I was moderately interested in some plug-ins, but after digging into this section, I already have a couple of plug-in ideas that I want to pursue. The authors make it seems like a very natural thing to do. Part Three is composed of exercises on using Eclipse for Java development, with CVS, for debugging, for updating your Eclipse, for Plug-in Development Environment (PDE), and for feature development. The exercises are step-by-step instructions relating to certain chapters in the previous parts. Read the chapters first, but do these exercises!

If you are using Eclipse for development, this book has a wealth of information from those in the know. After all, WSAD is basically a bunch of Eclipse plug-ins.

Back in 80's when unix network programming was a black art, Stevens book on Unix Network Programming showed the way to common programmers about how to write something magical in unix/c/sockets. I can only compare this book with the same spirit.

By reading the book and practicing the exercises in the accompanying CD, it is almost guaranteed someone will not only become a good java programmer but it will also help to extend and share the knowledge of creating tools. Writing good code in java is not simple. This book clearly explains what is really needed from a user perspective to become a good programmer and team-oriented productive resource using eclipse.

The first part explains what a freely available Eclipse can do for you. This is the most comprehensive introduction I have seen so far. It will teach you the smartest way to deal with java projects from a life cycle perspective - create, test, debug and maintain. Each chapter is clear and concise. Tips and tricks are every where.

The second part explain that extending and customizing eclipse is no rocket science. It is hard in a way but definitely manageable even for a starter. Referencing eclipse api is a must while reading this part. I wish some concise reference (like O'Reilly's "...nutshell" book style) would have helped the programmer a lot.

The third part is a gem. Added to the explanation of materials of each chapter, it went far beyond. Just by practicing the examples will take the user to a commanding position. This part also makes the book a handy desk reference on using eclipse tools. I'd also recommend the reader to take a look at the eclipse.org site to check the plug-ins. A lot of them are very useful and free too.

Overall, this book is excellent. In my opinion, this book is one of the major contributors to the community in the increasing the popularity of using eclispe tools, customizing and enhancing it.

If you are fairly familiar with the concept of a database, this book could very well be all you need to get going. My issue with it is that it skimps on some of the very basic stuff. For example, it never goes over the syntax of the create call for creating a database, doesn't explain calling mysql at the command prompt as a particular user, gives you 11 chapters on manipulating data before showing you how to create a table, waits for chapter 28 to mention administering users, and puts datatypes in the appendix. These are the first things I wanted to learn. By the time I was done googling these concepts, I got pretty good at mySql and knew where to find better resources. At that point, the book became a very light reference.

As others have said, this is a great book for beginners, whether in MySQL or in databases in general. Because I have a lot of database experience, I went throught it very quickly.

When I started to apply some of the techniques I learned to existing applications, I found out VERY quickly that this is insufficient as a reference. Each topic has enough hands-on examples to give you a start, but not nearly enough depth to use for looking things up.

I thought that Appendix B on creating the sample tables might have been a little abbreviated for the novice user. It refers to Chapter 2 to create a new datasource, but I think it was a little confusing jumping back and forth between the appendix and the chapter. This might be better as an exercise right in the chapter.

Overall, I would recommend this book as a starting point.

If MySQL will suite your needs then this book is for you. I read the book cover-to-cover in my downtime at work over a few days and walked away with a solid understanding of MySQL.
Unfortunately MySQL isn't the most mature database solution, but if it's good enough for your project, then this is a great resource.

You do not have to know anything about MYSQL or relational databases in order to start this book; a true novice can begin here. This book is desgined to get you up and running quickly. Although this book can also be used as a reference, it is intended as a series of hands on lessons. Forta's Teach Yourself SQL is also good, but if you are using MYSQL, this is the one to get.

I am a PHP guy not a database guy. I know what I want to do most of the time but I don't know the exact syntax. This book is great, quick reference for just that. I use it probably 3-5 times a day. Great book for a reference!

This book takes you step by step through how and why a packet travels your network. From the first time your workstation issues a command to the individual proceedures your packets take while traveling the wire.

In depth and detailed, the chapters are stuffed with valuable information presented in a personable and easy to understand format.

Excellent!

I have nothing else to add to the other reviews. I have read dozens (honest!) of NT books. This one ranks as one of the best.

Without a doubt one of the best networking and NT-centric networking books I have read. Tony covers all the bases, with an emphasis on NT relevant areas, and uncovers a number of gothcha's in NT that can save you from losts of frustration. Even with Windows2000 this book will be useful as a great primer on Windows TCP/IP networking.

I spend alot of time analyzing packets and work mostly at the bottom 3 layers of the OSI model. This book has been a great help to me especially the chapters on Bandwidth, NetBIOS, and Troubleshooting. Well written with good explanations. The 3 books I use the most and highly recommend are 1. this book 2.The Cabling Handbook by Vacca 3.Switched, Fast and Gigabit Ethernet by Breyer & Riley They are all money well spent - Thanks Anthony Northrup.

BTW, the best course I ever took on NT was NT Network Analysis and Troubleshooting from Network General's (NAI) Sniffer University.

I had occasion to go through portions of this book again recently and could not help but be amazed, again, at how complete and information packed it is. Not only does it cover everything you REALLY need to know about NT networking but Tony writes in a wonderfully easy style that makes digesting all the deep tidbits--and there are a lot of those--easy.

The previous reviewer who said that this book is not long enough is right on. When you finish the book you will be amazed at what you did NOT know and want the author to keep telling you.

We can only hope Tony revamps this book for Windows 2000. If you run NT networks this book is a must have. It is also an excellent companion to studying for many of the MCSE tests because you'll disocver how things REALLY work.

This book is a MAINSTAY in my reference library. Though I do only limited back-end development in the applications I work on, this is the first book I look for when I need to be pointed in the right direction. I highly recommend it!

I bought this book as a complete Oracle novice, transitioning from Microsoft T-SQL to PL/SQL. I was worried about the transition being difficult until I read this book.

It is one of those very rare books that presents advanced concepts in a context understandable by users of all experience levels. The author often throws in tips about Oracle PL/SQL quirks to watch out for, as well as some very applicable information about how Oracle works internally.

I've since become more comfortable with PL/SQL, and the book also serves as a great reference. I highly encourage you to read this book straight through.

I recommend this well-written book to anybody wanting to learn PL/SQL, as well as anyone needing a great reference.

Although the information was accurate and useful, I think the strength of this book was it's clear and logical presentation. It is easy to read and very helpful. For example, I needed to know how to dynamically build the "where" clause for select statements and his chapter on DBMS_SQL gave me the tools to accomplish my task at work.

This is definitely an excellent book. No one should rank it less than 5 stars just because it was published in 1996. Please do some research before talk. Actually, Scott Urman has wrote a book, "Oracle8 PL/SQL Programming", which was published in 1997. Buy this one if you want to learn PL/SQL 8.0.

Oracle 8 is out and in this book it only covers to Oracle 7. It is a very well written book. It is a valuable reference however it was published in 1996. Still looking for Oracle SQL Plus 8.0 AND the PL/SQL Programming. I hope the author steps up to the plate and updates his work.

This was a great find. I just wish I had read it sooner. There are things in here that every Access developer should read. Lots of good advice, techniques, and code samples. Very well-written and easy to follow. Right to the point. I especially appreciate the humility that Garry shows in his writing. He obviously knows more than most about Access, yet he gives credit where it is due and provides lots of links for the reader to go out and get the background themselves.

I have read some of the other (excellent in their own right) big books on MS Access, and there were a couple of "non-security" things in here that I did not find elsewhere (not to mention the security issues that were new to me). I highly recommend this book for anyone who may be creating a multi-user database.

Gary Robinson is a master at Access security and this book proves it! This is one of the books that stays on the shelf close to me when I am developing. It has great resources for setting up different types of security and he provides forms and code to help you develop security based on your needs. I highly recommend this for developers, especially those who are just designing more complex databases and need a good background on security. He is such a great resource that I subscribe to his newsletter now! I can only hope that he writes another book soon! A+

All of the other reviews pretty much say it all, but I wanted to place a more recent review in the list. Although I have just started using some of the basics Gary clearly discusses, I am anxious to get to the rest. Being able to secure Access has always been in the back of my mind. Now I know I can tackle the issue and get it done in a consistent manner that I can carry into all my Access projects. Thanks for the good work Garry.

A good book will find the reader. I would like to thank Mr. Robinson for a well written read. Besides all the other things I have in my life to do I was able to finish his work in about two weeks. I have read all the other reviews; there is nothing I can add. I can however tell you that if you are into Access database (and you know if you are) then this book is an imperative. I have had many books on Access database pass my way, nothing compares with Mr. Robinsons' book on security and protection.

Mr. Robinsons' is the first technical book on Access I have ever read from cover to cover with a never ending want to turn the page to see what Mr. Robinson was going to teach me next. I'm going to begin a reread of his work and this time I'm going to use the examples with both Northwind and my own database to incorporate his methods; especially enjoying combining the OS and workgroup security to provide my data a secure base from my clients, friends and enemies.

His book provided me ample margin to take copious notes along with my read, it will prove helpful in preparing for deployment. Mr. Robinson is a professional database administrator and this book is written as from such, you will think like he does at the end of this read and be the better for it. Mr. Robinson is a wonderful dbase admin, author, and now teacher. Again many thanks for his efforts and a heartfelt appreciation for my newly gained knowledge. Should Mr. Robinson ever have a worldwide tour on the subject, sign me up.

All of the reviews are positive, I suggest a review of Mr. Robinsons' Table of Contents and more important, the wonderful Index. A review of these documents will give you better insight into the level of Access database security Mr. Robinson clearly and distinctly explains. Mr. Robinson has the world's attention on this security subject and rightfully deserves it.

The Table of Contents and Index may be found at:

View the table of contents (http://www.vb123.com/get/AccessSecurityBook_TOC.pdf)in PDF format.
View the index file (http://www.vb123.com/get/mapindex.pdf) in PDF format.

Tom Pickett
May 9, 2006
Berea, South Carolina USA

This has got to be the best MS Access resource book that I have purchased. Like others, I have found MS Access security hard to understand but with Gary Robinson's help I am now getting a grasp on how I can keep sensitive data secure. The book is aimed at those who are new to security as well as those with experience. Also, the downloable database, with forms and code that you can easily use in your own applications, is a real time saver.

I especially like how he has broken down the overview for each chapter with segments aimed at Developers, DBA's and the IT Managers. In these overviews he explains what in the chapter is important to the reader by their role. The book is arranged so you can easily locate the information you need and not have to go through the whole book to be able to accomplish your security goal. But I recommend that you do read the entire book as it has so much to offer! I am on my second read through.

I wish every book about a programming language was written like this one:

First, it is fairly compact and doesn't waste space (and your time) explaining to you what is a byte or a register, like some 800 page "volumes about everything" do. It correctly assumes that the reader is a programmer and explains the language, not the programming.

Second, it covers Ruby in depth. Read this book and you'll easily understand the most craziest Ruby code examples that could be found inside of Rails and other popular libraries. Moreover, I've found a few tricks in the book that I don't believe I saw in the wild.

And finally, author's language is very clean, free of buzzwords and needless repetitions. As always with O'Reilly books, this one is also very neatly structured and makes an excellent reference book.

Buy it.

Very, very dense reading, but very complete as well. Aspects of the language that were only glanced over (or even ignored entirely) by the "pickaxe" book are covered in great detail. The only downside is that you have to look at several of those horrible high school notebook doodles the wannabe Murakami "Why" produces whenever people convince him that he's either "clever" or "talented."

This is well written, well organized, and covers the whole core language. It isn't a cookbook, and it isn't an API reference, but for what it is, it's excellent.

The organization makes sense, the index is usable, and the writing is precise enough to leave no ambiguity.

My only complaint would be too much space spent on differences between 1.8.6 and 1.9, and too much attention to text encodings.

For a long time now Dave Thomas' Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide, Second Edition (aka. The Pickaxe) has been the standard in the Ruby community as the book to learn Ruby from. Unfortunately the Pickaxe is not the best programming book ever written. In fact, its bulk and slowness almost killed my inspiration to learn Ruby. I respect Dave Thomas a lot for what he does for the Ruby community but the Pickaxe and I just did not click.

Since I didn't find the Pickaxe to be excellent reading material, I had been eagerly anticipating David Flanagan's The Ruby Programming Language to come out and unseat The Pickaxe as the de facto book to recommend to newcomers to Ruby.

I am happy to say that The Ruby Programming Language did not disappoint. I picked up this book solely expecting to just review it since I already comfortable programming in Ruby. However, once I started reading the book I found myself frequently learning things about Ruby that I didn't know before. Not like little things either like, "oh that's interesting". I'm talking significant things like "holy crap that's sweet!".

This book covers both Ruby 1.8 and Ruby 1.9. Initially this concerned me because as impressive as it is, it must have been quite a headache for the authors and was not sure how they were going to pull it off. It turns out to be pretty much a non-issue. The authors make a note of what is 1.8 or 1.9 only and it does not disturb the flow of the book since it doesn't come up too frequently. I do hope though that after Ruby 1.9 stable is released they upgrade the book and tear out all the 1.8 specific material. Since I currently use 1.8 on a daily basis I don't mind having 1.8 material in there but after everything has shifted to 1.9 it would be rather irksome.

The style of the book is fairly straightforward. It starts with an introduction to how Ruby programs work and then goes into an explanation of Ruby datatypes and objects. The later chapters cover advanced topics like reflection and metaprogramming. The authors opted not to go the tutorial route, which I think, was a good approach since the book is not designed to be an "intro to programming" text.

In the preface of the book, the authors state:
> [The Ruby Programming Language] is loosely modeled after the classic C Programming Language (2nd Edition) (Prentice Hall Software) by Kernighan and Ritchie and aims to document the Ruby language comprehensively but without the formality of a language specification. It is written for experienced programmers who are new to Ruby, and for current Ruby programmers who want to take their understanding and mastery of the language to the next level.

O'Reilly is hoping that The Ruby Programming Language becomes the equivalent of K&R's The C Programming Language for Ruby and I hope it succeeds. I think that every language needs their own K&R book for people to turn to as the definitive authority. That's something that I feel like the Java programming language never had and it creates something of a hurdle when browsing for a Java book.

The third edition of the Pickaxe is in beta and will be coming out soon. I really hope it makes a strong showing when it hits the press because after the bangup job Flanagan and Matz did with The Ruby Programming Language, there is no reason to look at the Pickaxe till then.

This is an excellent reference book on Ruby, if you already know Ruby this book will help you a lot, but if you are looking for a tutorial on Ruby this book should not be your first choice.

I love this book. It is the best written VB book I have seen. It is so well written. I have read 4 chapters so far, and I am understanding all the information so far. The examples are terrific. I am thrilled with it. If you want to learn about COM and objects......GET IT!

I don't often run across a book that impresses me to the point that I feel motivated enough to write a review. I needed to learn how to use COM in order to use ActiveX components in an IIS ASP application. After purchasing and reading several other books, I ran across this one. It has proven to be the primary source of information for me on developing robust and useful components. Mr. Vogel manages to keep his focus on the details of COM that are challenging to understand and not already covered in the Microsoft documention. I would suggest this book for programmers of any level who need a thorough understanding of creating solid COM components.

If you want to learn to design and create COM objects and code in a generally OOP type of way in VB, this is your book. For those coming from C++ who want to componentize their VB apps in the true spirit of OOP, this book has all you need. Well written, full of useful examples, it belongs on the shelf of every VB component creator.

This book is well-organized, informative, well-written, and (unlike most books I run across) actually usable!

His advice is excellent, his approaches are clean, and he gives it to you in a way in which you can actually put it to use without having to untangle it.

This book takes comprehensive look at Visual Basic Objects and Components including ActiveX EXEs, DLLs, Documents, and MTS/COM+. Every type of object or component is examined in this book and very well explained in a way to make you understand. Peter Vogel's writting style makes reading this book easy.

This book was a major study guide for the Designing and Implementing Desktop Applications using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 (exam 70-176) and the Designing and Implementing Distributed Applications using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 (exam 70-175). I passed both exams. This was an excellent addendum to the Transcender courses and I use this book several times a week as a reference. There are a lot of Visual Basic 6.0 shops out there and I would highly recommend that this book be part of their reference library.

The author is suppose to be writing a Visual Basic.Net Object and Component Handbook which is due out next year. If that book is as good as this book, I will highly recommend it too. I have about 30 Visual Basic books and this book is one of the best.

I have little to add to the effusive praise of previous reviewers. This is a one-of-kind book. An instant classic.

Beware, however. As others have noted, this is definitely an _advanced_ book. If you're not comfortable with arcane command syntax, bits and bytes, and such this will be painful to incomprehensible for you. On the other hand, I dare say you will never be a true Master Debugger until you have a good grasp of this material.

You would do well to start with Debugging Microsoft .NET 2.0 Applications or the now-unavailable Debugging Applications for Microsoft .NET and Microsoft Windows. Both will give you an easier introduction to WinDbg. The latter, older volume has much more information on native code debugging than the newer version. As they also cover the Visual Studio debugger in detail, most developers need go no further than one of these.

Note that WinDbg _can_ be used with SOS and ADPlus to do some pretty fancy .NET debugging that isn't possible with Visual Studio alone. For that matter, the .NET CLR on Windows is implemented using the same Windows API as any native application. I've seen WinDbg used to trace bugs through C# application code down to find that the defect was actually in the CLR or Windows itself. John Robbins (author of the previously mentioned books) states in Chapter 6 of the latest version that "in our consulting work at Wintellect, which as you know works on the toughest bugs, we use WinDBG nearly 70 percent of the time."

Don't ignore this book just because you program in .NET!

Watch out for the font used in the listings though. Not being a master myself, I've been stumped for quite a while because the letter 'l' looks like the number '1' in the font they use. (I've been assiduously following the examples line-by-line).

I also recall being stumped because of an error or two in the text, though I admit I can't find them now. These as you can imagine could be a serious problem given the arcane and undocumented nature of quite a bit of the material. Just make sure you check the errata periodically. Ironically, the errata web page for the book is not functioning at the moment...

Chapters on debugging heap/stack corruptions are simply invaluable. Worth reading even if you think you know everything about those issues, this book will easily prove you wrong.

A very good hands on book with many gems of knowledge. It walks you through the processes of different debugging techniques with easy to follow screen shots. I definitely recommend this to anyone writing Windows OS dependent code and it is even a very good book to read even if you are a .Net or Java developer on the windows platform. Even if you consider yourself advanced in this area you will still find a few new tricks.

This book has completely smashed every possible expectation I had when I set out to read it.

Let me put it simply. There comes a time in every software developers' life when he contemplates the age old question of, "If I were to be stranded on an island and I could bring only 3 things with me, what would they be?" Well, this would be one of the 3 items. (The other two would be Windows Internals by Russinovich and some other obvious classic like the Windows via C/C++ by Richter, or UNIX Network Programming by Stevens). This book is easily on the same playing field as such classics as those, and its only flaw is that it is not 1,000 pages because when a book like this comes along, you really just don't want it to end. There is so much useful information in here.

The chapter on LPC debugging is worth the price of the book alone, as LPC is completely undocumented and you literally will not find this type of information anywhere else. Every single chapter in this book is filled with gems, and with the plethora of average books being released recently, it really took me by surprise to read such a well thought out book that hits all the right topics in all the right ways.

That being said, it is advanced. Yes, I realize the title says it, but too many books come out with the word Advanced in the title that are merely Intermediate. You need some assembly language, you need to be comfortable with native code, you need to not be frightened at the thought of debugging something for which you have no source code. But for those that meet the pre-requisites, this is a must-have in every sense of the word for the serious developers' bookshelf.

The focus is on debugging using tools other than Visual Studio. There is still a lot of useful information about other tools, but if you want to learn how to debug with the Visual Studio debugger, this is not the book to get.

I have used this book and it has proven to be a highly resourceful Visual Basic and SQL Server book, that I am anxiously waiting for the release of Beginning VB.NET Databases by the same author!!!.

It's very good Books with good Price and (Wrox Press)

OK for beginners who want to know some of the innards of SQL server, but there are two major faults. One is that newbies to networkable machines will find themselves crushed under the weight of networking and communications jargon that the author never explains, and Win98 machines can't handle half of the book. Second, the last third of the book for some 200 pages has nothing to do with VB: the samples are written entirely in XML, DHTML, and a mere snippet of VBScript. There are better VB tools for creating Web apps that can handle big datasets and ActiveX, whereas XML has enfuriatingly slow performance and an unattractive and inflexible interface that looks like something pounded out on a typewriter (remember those?). 5 stars for the first two-thirds, zilch for the remainder.

I had to learn SQL programming with Visual Basic 6 in about a month's time for a project. This book taught me everything I needed to know to deliver the application. Everytime I came across a stumbling block in my code or in SQL Server 2000 I found the answer in this book.

This book will make you feel that you not only know how to make Visual Basic talk to SQL Server, it will make you feel you know more than the basics of SQL Server itself. Previous to reading this book I had no idea what a stored procedure was, or how a query works in SQL Server (I had worked extensively with Microsoft Access, and these skills were not necessarily transferable to SQL Server, though many of the concepts are similar). Now I know my way around SQL Server 2000. This book fulfilled a dual purpose.

There are chapters on Database design, SQL Server installation, SQL Server security, Querying, Stored Procedures, the SQL language, IIS, and XML. Most of the book is taken up with what developers do everyday: the storage and manipulation of data. Over 300 pages of the book is dedicated to data in general, and how to get the most out of it using VB and SQL Server.

If you need to create a VB6 (there is no discussion of VB.NET since the book predates it) database application using SQL Server, this is the book to start with. Its bulk pays off.

This is an excellent introduction to SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic 6.0 developers. I used this book and Robert Vieira's Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming (Also by Wrox) to study for the Designing and Implementing Databases using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 exam (70-229). The 2 chapters on XML were especially good. Thearon does his best work when he works solo and this book is one of his best. I have his SQL Server 7 book and both books are well-written. I really like the "Hardware Tracking" tutorial that he follows for most of the book. This tutorial will also help with your Visual Basic skills. I have learned several new VB tricks just by following along. I hope that Thearon writes a Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic.Net Developers.

The GlassHaus "Constructing Accessible Web Sites" book has been a great find. I began working to build sites and applications for use in Web browsers that had to be used by individuals with disabilities in 1997. Over these years I picked up a lot of hard won knowledge and experience, but have never run across a resource that fully backed what I had gathered. The GlasHaus Accessibility book not only echoes what I have learned, but has provided new insights to improve upon what I already have. The best part of this book is that I can point others to it and I am assured they will be able to build an accessible site or Web applications that can meet high standards.

Many folks think accessibility is a great inconvenience, but it takes a little thinking and planning to do it right from the beginning. Having a great resource at hand makes the process a cake walk. Not only are the processes and guides helpful for creating sites that are accessible for those that are disabled these steps outlined also make the information in the site future ready. Sites that are accessible are much easier to use with a handheld PDA device or from even a cell phone browser. Accessibility for everybody in more situations improves with structuring the information properly, which is all making Web enabled information really requires to get it ready to be consumed. Is your information ready to be consumed by everybody?

I don't usually come it the "lyrical type", but to find such a worthwhile book on such a worthwhile topic is a breath of fresh air!

Above all else, it offers practical advice on how to actually do the right thing. Unlike certain titles with animals on their covers, there's more here than just reams and reams of tables containing cut-and-pastes from the man pages on the subject.

It's also of a nice size. (I know that would be no recommendation, if the book didn't actually teach you anything, but it does - and you don't feel intimidated, like you can when you pick up some dirty great Red tome from a Certain OtherPublisher.) You feel as if the subject is managable. Knowable. It may be just me, but if a book is smaller than my own head, I generally feel that there's an outside chance I may be able to fit the contents inside my own skull!

I'll have to keep an eye open for these blue things... they're quite good.

Of the books and resources that I've read on accessible web sites, this is by far the best - especially from a UK perspective.

The main UK legislation that specifically mentions web sites and accessibility comes into force in October 2004 which, at the time of writing this, is still over two years away. This means that there isn't a great deal of information and certainly no legal cases that we can draw on from our country, so we have to look elsewhere to see what is happening.

This book benefits in that, although it does cover Section 508 and other already in place legislation, it also gives a great all round understanding of the topic, and is very easy to read. Having chapters written by different authors means that you get a far greater depth of experience and information, which can only benefit the reader.

If you're going to buy one book on accessible web sites, this should be at the top of your shopping list.

Two new words have joined the vocabulary of web designers in recent years - usability and accessibility. You will often come across them used in tandem.

Usability really became an issue when Jacob Nielsen infamously denounced Flash as 99% bad. Accessibility became a priority for web developers working on government projects after Section 508 was brought into law in the United States.

Accessibility became an issue in Australia during Maguire vs SOCOG in 1999, when a blind man filed a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) that neither Olympic Games tickets purchasing information nor the souvenir programme were available in Braille. Most importantly he alleged that the SOCOG website was not accessible, and to make it so would have been well within budget. SOCOG was found to have discriminated against the complainant and damages were awarded against the organization.

Accessibility is now a civil rights issue. It is also not that difficult to implement on a website, once you learn how it can be done. This excellent book, Constructing Accessible Web Sites, teaches you all that and more. It is the first on its subject, and will not be the last, but it is damned a good beginning.

All eight co-authors have been pioneers in the field of accessibility, and Glasshaus deserves praise for having assembled such a team. They cover more than website accessibility - their expertise extends to the accessibility of web design tools themselves. An apt reminder that the web is as much about reading as writing, for writers as much as readers, a real medium of two-way communication.

All websites can now be made accessible to varying degrees, even Flash websites since Flash MX, as Macromedia Senior Product Manager for Accessibility Bob Regan demonstrates in Chapter 10. So there are no excuses for failing to add increased accessibility, and usability for that matter, to that new project you are just about to commence.

Ensure you have a copy of Constructing Accessible Web Sites at hand when you begin. And also take a look at another equally essential reference on the subject due out any day now, Joe Clark's Building Accessible Websites. Accessibility is the newest and most necessary website building skill. There are no excuses now.

The GlassHaus "Constructing Accessible Web Sites" book has been a great find. I began working to build sites and applications for use in Web browsers that had to be used by individuals with disabilities in 1997. Over these years I picked up a lot of hard won knowledge and experience, but have never run across a resource that fully backed what I had gathered. The GlasHaus Accessibility book not only echoes what I have learned, but has provided new insights to improve upon what I already have. The best part of this book is that I can point others to it and I am assured they will be able to build an accessible site or Web applications that can meet high standards.

Many folks think accessibility is a great inconvenience, but it takes a little thinking and planning to do it right from the beginning. Having a great resource at hand makes the process a cake walk. Not only are the processes and guides helpful for creating sites that are accessible for those that are disabled these steps outlined also make the information in the site future ready. Sites that are accessible are much easier to use with a handheld PDA device or from even a cell phone browser. Accessibility for everybody in more situations improves with structuring the information properly, which is all making Web enabled information really requires to get it ready to be consumed. Is your information ready to be consumed by everybody?