Professional Visual Basic 2008

I just finished upgrading my classic ASP skills to ASP.NET with Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB (Programmer to Programmer). With my newfound comfort in .NET development and urge to develop for more than just the web, I picked this book up. I think the fact that it's targeted at "Professionals" might be intimidating. It's a thorough, well-constructed guide through every aspect of VB programming. It doesn't pull punches, but it is also wonderfully easy to read. I recommend this book to anyone looking to beef up their VB.NET programming skills.

I certainly have not gone through all 1420 pages of this book, but I did go through several chapters in detail. As an example, I went through the chapter on SQLCE. This was an excellent presentation for someone familiar with Visual Studio and VB.Net but would not be good for a beginner. The book is excellent if you are a seasoned programmer and not good for those starting out. The book's title says it all! I f you want to learn the more advanced features of VB.Net and have a good understanding of the basics, this is the book for you.

As a completely self-taught programmer I have reached the point where the beginners' books have no new information for me but I still have gaps in my knowledge. I found this book to be the perfect gap filler. It is loaded with tons of information written in a style that I personally find very easy to follow. Many books as large as this one get much of their size from constantly repeated code, much of which is not needed in the first place. This book has code where it counts and very few repeated lines. When I finish a book I write a rating (0 - 10) on the bottom of the title page. This one got a 10.