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These are books that I have read, with my candid opinion on each. 

Be sure to read  VERSIONS AND BARGAINS at the end of this page.

HOW TO USE THIS PAGE: 

Click on a category below to go to the title list. 
Click on a title to see the review. 
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DIRECTORY

* RECOMMENDED BOOKS

ACTIVE X    (Click on a title to see the review)

Active Visual Basic 5.0, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Guy Eddon and Henry Eddon, (List $40), 399 pages.
ActiveX Programming Unleashed, Sams, 1997, by Weiying Chen, et. al.
* Developing ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 5.0, Ziff-Davis Press, 1997, by Dan Appleman
Using ActiveX, Special Edition, Que, 1996, by Brian Farrar
Using VB Script, Que, 1996, by Ron Schwartz and Ibrahim Malluf

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ACCESS   (Click on a title to see the review)

* Access 2000 Developers Handbook, Volume I: Desktop Edition, Sybex, 1999, by Ken Getz, Paul Litwin, Mike Gilbert (List $59.99), 1547 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7821-2370-8
Access 2000 Development, Sams, 1999, by Stephen Forte, Tom Howe, James Ralston (List $49.99), 877 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-672-31291-2
Access 2000 Power Programming, Sams, 1999, by F. Scott Barker (List 49.99), 1334 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-672-31506-8
Access 2000 VBA Handbook, Sybex, 1999, by Susann Novalis (List $49.99), 845 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7821-2324-4 
Access 97 Unleashed, Sams Publishing, 1996, by Dwayne Gifford, et al
Access 97 Developer's Handbook, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Timothy M. O'Brien, Steven J. Pogge, Geoffrey E. White (List $39.99), 596 pages, Companion CD--ROM, ISBN  1-57231-358-7
Access 97 Power Programming, Que, 1997, by F. Scott Barker (List $59.95), 981 pages. Companion CD-ROM. Reviewed 1/5/99
Access 97 Visual Basic Step by Step, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Evan Callahan
Access and SQL Server Developer's Handbook, Sybex, 1996, by John L. Viescas, Mike Gunderloy, Mary Chipman
* Beginning Access 2000 VBA, Wrox Press, Ltd., 1999, by Robert Smith and David Sussman (List $39.99), 865 pages, ISBN 1-861001-76-2.
* Programming Access 2000, Microsoft Press, 1999, by Rick Dobson (List $49.99).  587 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7356-0500-9

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ADO (ACTIVE X DATA OBJECTS)   (Click on a title to see the review)

ADO 2.1 Programmer's Reference, Wrox Press, 1999, by David Sussman, (List: $30), 607 pages.  www.wrox.com,  ISBN 1-861002-66-8.
Reviewed 11/12/99
* ADO 2.5 Programmer's Reference, Wrox Press, 2000, by David Sussman, James M. Conard, Brian Matsik, Ian Blackburn, Tim McCarthy, John Papa, Simon Robinson (List: $59.99), 931 pages.  www.wrox.com  ISBN 1-861002-75-0.
Reviewed 2000.

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ADO.NET   (Click on a title to see the review)

Professional ADO.NET Programming, Wrox Press, 2001, by Paul Dickinson et al (9 authors), List $49.99, 718 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861005-27-X.

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ASP.NET   (Click on a title to see the review)

Professional ASP.NET, Wrox Press, 2001, by Richard Anderson, Brian Francis, Alex Homer, Rob Howard, Dave Sussman, Karli Watson, (List 59.99), 1271 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861004-88-5.  Reviewed 8/27/01

See also Professional C#

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BACKOFFICE   (Click on a title to see the review)

BackOffice Intranet Kit, The, Que, 1996, by Stephen Wynkoop
Using Microsoft Commercial Internet System, Que, 1997, by Peter Butler, Roy Cales, and Judy Petersen

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CLIENT/SERVER SYSTEMS   (Click on a title to see the review)

Client/Server Computing, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993, by Dawna Travis Dewire
Client/Server Technology for Managers, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995, by Karen Waterson
Essential Client/Server Survival Guide, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994, by Robert Orfali, Dan Harkey, Jeri Edwards
Official Microsoft Intranet Solutions, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Micro Modeling Associates, Inc.
Using Microsoft Commercial Internet System, Que, 1997, by Peter Butler, Roy Cales, and Judy Petersen

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C #   (Click on a title to see the review)

Professional C#, Wrox, 2001, by Simon Robinson, Ollie Cornes, Jay Glynn, Burton Harvey, Craig McQueen, Jerod Moemeka, Christian Nagel, Morgan Skinner, and Karli Watson.  List $59.99, 1287 pages.  www.wrox.com  ISBN 1-861004-99-0.  Reviewed 8/27/01.

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EXCEL   (Click on a title to see the review)

Excel 97 Developer's Handbook, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Eric Wells and Steve Harshbarger (List $39.99), 623 pages.   Companion CD-ROM.  ISBN 1-57231-359-5.  Reviewed 1/5/99.

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INTERNET/INTRANET (see also ActiveX, JavaScript, MS Office, VB Script)   (Click on a title to see the review)

ActiveX Programming Unleashed, Sams, 1997, by Weiying Chen, et. al.
BackOffice Intranet Kit, The, Que, 1996, by Stephen Wynkoop
Developing ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 5.0, Ziff-Davis Press, 1997, by Dan Appleman
Official Microsoft Intranet Solutions, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Micro Modeling Associates, Inc.
Using Microsoft Commercial Internet System, Que, 1997, by Peter Butler, Roy Cales, and Judy Petersen
Using Microsoft FrontPage 97, Que, 1997, by Neil Randall & Dennis Jones

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JAVASCRIPT   (Click on a title to see the review)

* JavaScript Unleashed, 3d Ed., Sams, 2000, by R. Allen Wyke et al  (List $49.99), 996 pages.   Companion CD-ROM.  ISBN 0-672-31763-X.  Reviewed 10/6/02.

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MAGAZINES   (Click on a title to see the review)

asp.netPRO - Good overall coverage of hardware and software technologies with a lot of useful information for corporate IT support.
Microsoft Office Solutions - Variety of interesting articles on programmatic enhancement and integration of MS Office products.  Current issue is available online, but unlike many of the other magazines, online back issues are available only to subscribers.
MSDN Magazine - Hints, tips and "how to do it" articles for developers using Microsoft products.  Oriented toward the professional developer rather than the casual user.  ASP.NET developers will be interested to note the .aspx extension on this page.  Much more information is available at the MSDN home page.
PC Magazine - Good overall coverage of hardware and software technologies with a lot of useful information for corporate IT support.
PC World Magazine - Geared more toward the "ordinary user" than the "super-techie", PC World has a lot of practical and useful information for all users.  After taking PC Magazine for many years, I have switched to this valuable information source.
Visual Studio Magazine - Successor to the prestigious Visual Basic Programmers Journal and several other publications, this magazine is an essential reference for the .NET programmer ... users of VB.NET, C#, ASP.NET, or ADO.NET.

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MS EXCHANGE   (Click on a title to see the review)

Building Microsoft Exchange Applications, Microsoft Press, 1996, by Peter J. Krebs
Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server, Sybex, 1996, Barry Gerber
Using Microsoft Exchange Server, Que, 1996, by Mark J. Kapczynski, et al.

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MS OFFICE   (Click on a title to see the review)

Developing Applications with Office, Microsoft Press, 1995, by Christine Solomon
Excel 97 Developer's Handbook, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Eric Wells and Steve Harshbarger (List $39.99), 623 pages.   Companion CD-ROM.  ISBN 1-57231-359-5.  Reviewed 1/5/99.
Microsoft Office 2000 Expert Companion: Tips, Tricks and Utilities for the Power User, Microsoft Press, 1999, by Reed Jacobson (List $49.99), 934 pp.  CD-ROM.  ISBN 0-7356-0527-0.  Reviewed 11/12/99.
* Microsoft Office 2000 Visual Basic Programmers Guide, Microsoft Press, 1999, David Shank, Mark Roaberts, Tamra Myers (List $49.99), 940 pp.  CD-ROM.  ISBN 1-57231-952-6.
Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit, Microsoft Press, 1997, Eds. Casey D. Doyle, Maureen Williams Zimmerman
Microsoft Office 97 Developers Handbook, Microsoft Press, 1997, Christine Solomon (List $40), 578pp . Companion CD-ROM. ISBN 1-57231-440-0
Microsoft Office 97 Visual Basic Programmers Guide, Microsoft Press, 1997, Eds. Casey D. Doyle, Maureen Williams Zimmerman (List $34.99), 528 pp.  ISBN 1-57231-340-4.
Official Microsoft Intranet Solutions, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Micro Modeling Associates, Inc.
Running Microsoft Office 97 Standard and Professional, Microsoft Press, 1997, Michael Halvorson and Michael Young
Using Microsoft Commercial Internet System, Que, 1997, by Peter Butler, Roy Cales, and Judy Petersen
* Word 2000 Developer's Handbook, Sybex, 1999, by Guy Hart-Davis (List $49.99), 1271 pages. 
ISBN 0-7821-2329-5.  Reviewed 9/27/99

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.NET   (Click on a title to see the review)

* Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming in Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Press, 2002, by Jeffrey Richter and Francesco Balena, (List $49.99), 609 pages, www.microsoft.com/mspress, ISBN 0-7356-1787-2.  Reviewed 12/15/02
* Beginning XML, Wrox, 2001, by David Hunter, Curt Cagle, Dave Gibbons, Nikola Ozu, Jon Pinnock, Paul Spencer, (List $39.99), 795 pages, www.wrox.com, Reviewed 8/27/01
* Moving to VB.NET: Strategies, Concepts, and Code, Apress, 2001, by Dan Appleman, (List $39.99), 560 pages, www.apress.com  (code samples), www.desaware.com (book updates),  ISBN 1-893115-97-6, Reviewed 12/26/01
* Professional ADO.NET Programming, Wrox Press, 2001, by Paul Dickinson et al (9 authors), List $49.99, 718 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861005-27-X.
Professional ASP.NET, Wrox Press, 2001, by Richard Anderson, Brian Francis, Alex Homer, Rob Howard, Dave Sussman, Karli Watson, (List 59.99), 1271 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861004-88-5.  Reviewed 8/27/01
* Professional C#, Wrox, 2001, by Simon Robinson, Ollie Cornes, Jay Glynn, Burton Harvey, Craig McQueen, Jerod Moemeka, Christian Nagel, Morgan Skinner, and Karli Watson.  List $59.99, 1287 pages.  www.wrox.com  ISBN 1-861004-99-0.  Reviewed 8/27/01.
Professional VB.NET , Wrox, 2001, by Fred Barwell et al (17 authors), (List $59.99), 942 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861004-97-4, Reviewed 12/26/01
VB.NET Programming with the Public Beta, Wrox, 2001, by Billy Hollis and Rockford Lhotka, (List $34.99), 421 pages, www.wrox.com, Reviewed 8/27/01

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SQL SERVER   (Click on a title to see the review)

Access and SQL Server Developer's Handbook, Sybex, 1996, by John L. Viescas, Mike Gunderloy, Mary Chipman
Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server, Microsoft Press, 1996, by William R. Vaughn
Microsoft SQL Server 6 Unleashed, Sams, 1996, by David Solomon, Daniel Woodbeck, Ray Rankins, Jeffrey R. Garbus, and Bennett Wm. McEwan

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VBA   (Click on a title to see the review)

Access 2000 VBA Handbook, Sybex, 1999, by Susann Novalis (List $49.99), 845 pages, CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7821-2324-4 
* Beginning Access 2000 VBA, Wrox Press, Ltd., 1999, by Robert Smith and David Sussman (List $39.99), 865 pages, ISBN 1-861001-76-2.
* Word 2000 Developer's Handbook, Sybex, 1999, by Guy Hart-Davis (List $49.99), 1271 pages. ISBN 0-7821-2329-5.  Reviewed 9/27/99

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VB SCRIPT   (Click on a title to see the review)

ActiveX Programming Unleashed, Sams, 1997, by Weiying Chen, et. al.
Using VB Script, Que, 1996, by Ron Schwartz and Ibrahim Malluf
Inside Visual Basic, Scripting Edition, Microsoft Press, 1996, by Scott Hillier

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VISUAL BASIC   (Click on a title to see the review)

Active Visual Basic 5.0, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Guy Eddon and Henry Eddon, (List $40), 399 pages.
Building Microsoft Exchange Applications, Microsoft Press, 1996, by Peter J. Krebs
* Developing ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 5.0, Ziff-Davis Press, 1997, by Dan Appleman
* Developing Visual Basic 4 Communications Applications, Coriolis Group Books, 1996, by Michael Floyd
Doing Objects in Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0, Ziff-Davis Press, 1995, by Deborah Kurata
Hardcore Visual Basic, Microsoft Press, 1995, by Bruce McKinney
Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic and SQL Server, Microsoft Press, 1996, by William R. Vaughn
Jet Database Engine Programmer's Guide, Microsoft Press, 1995, by Dan Haught, Jim Fergusson
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Developer's Workshop, Microsoft Press, 1996, by John Clark Craig
Object Programming with Visual Basic 4, Microsoft Press, 1996, by Joel P. Dehlin, Matthew J. Curland
Programming Components with Microsoft Visual Basic 6, Second Edition, Microsoft Press, 1998, by Guy Eddon and Henry Eddon (List $44.99), 389 pages. Companion CD-ROM.  ISBN 1-57231-966-6. Reviewed 9/27/99.
Visual Basic 4 Enterprise Development, Que Corporation, 1996, by Craig Goren, James Schmelzer, and Jeffrey Smith
Visual Basic 4 Performance Tuning and Optimization, Sams, 1996, by Keith Brophy and Timoth Koets
Visual Basic 4.0 Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API, Ziff-Davis Press, 1996, by Daniel Appleman
Microsoft Visual Basic 5 Step by Step, Microsoft Press, 1997, by Michael Halvorson

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VB.NET   (Click on a title to see the review)

* Moving to VB.NET: Strategies, Concepts, and Code, Apress, 2001, by Dan Appleman, (List $39.99), 560 pages, www.apress.com  (code samples), www.desaware.com (book updates),  ISBN 1-893115-97-6, Reviewed 12/26/01
BACK TO DIRECTORY Professional VB.NET , Wrox, 2001, by Fred Barwell et al (17 authors), (List $59.99), 942 pages, www.wrox.com, ISBN 1-861004-97-4, Reviewed 12/26/01
BACK TO DIRECTORY VB.NET Programming with the Public Beta, Wrox, 2001, by Billy Hollis and Rockford Lhotka, (List $34.99), 421 pages, www.wrox.com, Reviewed 8/27/01

See also Professional C#

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VISUAL C++ (Click on a title to see the review)

Basic to C++, Leaping from, AP Professional, Harcourt Brace & Co, 1994, by Robert J. Traister
C++ Nuts & Bolts: For Experienced Programmers, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995, by Herbert Schildt
Inside Visual C++, Microsoft Press, 1996, by David J. Kruglinski
Visual C++ 2 Developer's Guide, Second Edition, Sams Publishing, 1995, by Nabajyoti Barkakati
Visual C++ 5 Programmer's Reference, Ventana, 1997, by Richard C. Leinecker (List $49.99, Street Price $4.99), 1213 pages plus a 60-page "Jump Table" listing Classes alphabetically  and Functions alphabetically by Class, with page references. Companion CD-ROM.
Reviewed 1/24/99
Using Visual C++ 5, Special Edition; Que Corporation, 1997, by Kate Gregory

See also Professional C#
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XML (Click on a title to see the review.)

* Beginning XML, Wrox, 2001, by David Hunter, Curt Cagle, Dave Gibbons, Nikola Ozu, Jon Pinnock, Paul Spencer, (List $39.99), 795 pages, www.wrox.com, Reviewed 8/27/01

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VERSIONS AND BARGAINS

The latest version of a book may not be the best one for you.  The latest versions tend to emphasize new features of the latest software.  Typically, those new features are of most interest to users who are well-versed in the most recent version of the software and want to get all the details about the newest features.  If you are less experienced, you will probably have no interest in the advanced features until you have mastered the basics.  The time that it takes you to master the basics could well take long enough that there would be another new version of the software by the time you are ready for the advanced book.

As an example, not long after Visual Basic 5.0 had been released and books on that version had been published, there were a great number of VB 4.0 books on the “Bargain” tables at the bookstores.  I picked up an excellent book on doing graphics in VB 4.0 for $5.00, although its cover price was around $50.00.  Everything that I found in that book still applied to VB 5.0, and because it was specialized on graphics, most of those topics were not even covered in the newer books.  In other words, a valuable book was available for a song simply because its title was out of date.

For another example, see the review of JavaScript Unleashed review above ... how I got a $50 book for $11.

Exercise care when you look for bargains, because sometimes there is a big difference in content.  Examples include the transition from VB 3.0 to 4.0 and from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95.  Both of those involved the shift from 16-bit to 32-bit versions of the software.  Another example is the change from Windows NT version 3.51 to version 4.0 when the appearance of the user interface underwent a major change.

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