[.ca] Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials (ISBN 159059021X)

the reason behind the reviews...:
This was one of the first VB .NET books I bought. I thought i would come online to give it a review as it was so good. i thought perhaps i would help it's sales... but there are so many already!! The only extra thing i can say is that this book rules, it's great, and it's fantastic to kick start your .net adventure. Well done!!

Low-impact, high-value intro to VB.NET:
Moore uses a light, conversational writing style which occasionally borders on the downright silly, yet is sure to assuage the fears of first-timers to programming, and/or those unfamiliar with Object-Oriented Programming. Just the opposite of a dense and dull textbook...

Instant delivery, great job:
I took this book on holiday with me to Majorca.. it was fantastic to read a tutorial book without having to even be in front of the computer. Mr Moore teaches in a way that makes you read and want to learn more. If you're new, or are porting to .NET, this is the book you HAVE to buy!! (ps. it arrived next day for me)

For Newbies and Hobbyists Only:
Bdiddy wrote: If you took all of the lame jokes out of this book, it would only be about 30 pages long. David Gurgel wrote: This book is not for professional programmers or serious students. Beginners may get value from it if they can put up with the author's silliness, which goes on and on. That has been exactly my own (disgusted) experience with Moore's inane, sophomoric attempts at humor, and introductory-level treatment of VB.NET. If you're a serious programmer, or even a competent student, this book is nearly worthless. Only the most untalented, raw beginners will get anything out of it. Invest in Francesco Balena's unsurpassed texts instead. I've never returned a book in my life, but if I had bought Karl's text at full price (rather than used), I would absolutely be sending it back.

Adequate intro into VB.NET:
The author, while having an amusing style of prose which does wear on the reader at times, covers a wide range of topics in this book, so much so that rarely does it give you enough to feel like an adequate programmer in that area. Also, most of the time author say "do this" and rarely does he explain well the theory and design behind why you are doing it. I would have given it a slightly worse review, if not for the Tip/Tricks Section (chapter 8) which is an excellent chapter on how to do various tasks in ASP.NET and VB.NET. You will need another book(s) to explain ADO.NET, .NET, and the OOP aspects of it.