MCSD Fast Track: Visual Basic 6 Exam 70-176

As the authors say, this is a book designed for experienced VB users. Works extremely well at categorizing topics in alignment with the exam's. Newbys who try to use this or any other book to obtain the knowledge required to become certified as professionals are neither professional nor realistic in their expectations. I had pre-ordered this book back in April and, upon delivery, registered for the exam. Read the book (not scanned, but READ) from cover to cover the weekend before and felt extremely comfortable on exam day. And passed. The areas stressed in the summary sections are the ones stressed in the exam.

A great review for experienced VB programmers who need to "brush up" on the many minute details which may appear on the exam. However, if you are a novice (or just a lousy programmer!) then this guide will be way over your head!

I laugh when I see reviews by people who are looking for a book that supplies the exact questions with all the answers. Try a braindump site. This book is for those that have an understanding of VB and need a little more knowledge as to what is covered on the exam. If you read the FastTracks and don't fully understand the topic being reviewed, open the VB manual and actually learn something. That's its purpose.I got my MCSD via the Win Archs and VB5 route. I've actually written code in VB. I skimmed through both of the FastTrack books and part of the VB6 Desktop Transcender and passed both exams. The only fault I see is the duplicity of material between the Desktop and Distributed books. They should have been combined.

This book was perfectly good for passing 176. I wrote it a couple of days after 175 and passed comfortably. I would definately say write 175 first as it is the harder of the two and will prepare you for the database questions in this one. Aside from that this book covered the controls you needed to use and generally was very useful. I recommend it, again though, for the experienced programmer, not the newbie wanting to get certified quickly.

I bought this & the Fast Track for -175. I've passed both exams by using the product & reviewing these books. That said, these books ASSUME you know the product. These books do not try to teach you concepts. They point out what the concepts are you need to know for the exam. They tell you how MS creates the questions & what it expects developers to know. If you use the product & know the product, this book will be sufficient. If you are new to VB, a more complete book will be required.