Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications, 4th Edition $39.95, 391 pages, paperback. Add serial communications to your Visual Basic applications using custom controls and the Windows API. Here's the information that you need to use modems and direct serial connections (including RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485) for almost any purpose. Make your serial communications programs reliable, learn how to debug communications problems, and use the extensive resources on the included CD-ROM. Covers VB3 through VB6; Visual Studio 2002, 2003, and 2005 (Whidbey).

Murach's Visual Basic 6 $45.00, 618 pages, paperback. This is an introductory book. It starts from scratch and gives a good introduction to Visual Basic. No book can possibly cover all the niches and advanced techniques in a language this big, but this book gives you a great start. It does a decent job of covering database programming, including the Data Environment Designer and Data Report Designer. Depending on whether you can buy the book as a business expense, it may be worth the price just for these chapters. It will not make you a database programming expert (get a book about nothing but databases for that), but it goes a long way towards getting you started.

Visual Basic 6 Bible $49.99, 1021 pages, paperback with CD. Covers a large variety of topics. Provides a good introduction to Visual Basic fundamentals, auxiliary tools (database tools, ImageEdit, Resource Compiler, etc.). A good book for beginners and intermediate programmers who want a broad programming foundation. Provides an introduction but not great depth on some advanced topics such as database programming, error handling, and using the API.

Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Developer's Workshop (Out of print but you may be able to buy it used), 750 pages, paperback with CD. Explains a wide variety of intermediate and advanced topics like object-oriented programming, ActiveX controls, API functions, graphics techniques, etc. It does not go into great depth in any topic (for more on graphics read Visual Basic Graphics Programming, for more on API read Appleman's book, etc.). It provides a broad introduction to a lot of important topics, however.

Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API $59.99, 1548 pages, paperback with CD. This is actually not my favorite book in the world, but it is the best API reference I have seen. If you do a lot of API programming, buy it.

Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic & SQL Server (Out of print but you may be able to buy it used), 700 pages, paperback with CD. I have not read this one, but a lot of people have told me it is very good.

Doing Objects in Microsoft Visual Basic 6 $49.99, 250 pages, paperback with CD. A very popular introduction to object-oriented techniques in Visual Basic.

Other Popular Books

Animation Magic with Visual Basic 5 $44.95, 451 pages, paperback with CD. Demonstrates some useful techniques and has great sample graphics. The examples are inspiring but implemented without proper care and attention to detail.

Professional Visual Basic 6.0 Business Objects $59.99, 700 pages, hardcover. Covers many real-world issues that face object-oriented developers. If you want to learn intermediate and advanced object-oriented techniques in Visual Basic, this book will show you the ropes in a nontrivial way.

Client/Server Programming: Visual Basic 5 $40.00, 457 pages, paperback. Unfortunately this book wastes a bunch of space on fundamentals such as creating arrays and using For loops. It addresses client/server programming in less depth than it might otherwise. Read it for the examples, but it will not make you a master of client/server programming.

Hands On Visual InterDev 6 $30.00, 383 pages, paperback with CD. This book is billed as advanced/intermediate, but it is not. It contains a nice, step-by-step introduction to Visual InterDev for novices and the computer shy, but advanced programmers should look elsewhere. You will probably learn more in less time reading the online documentation.

VB & VBA in a Nutshell $29.95, 633 pages, paperback. This is a reference book. If you are a beginner, get a different book. It is a good reference, though, and easier to use than the new buggy HTML style help that comes with VB. At this price, it's probably worth a look at your local bookstore.

Learning VBScript $39.95, 598 pages, paperback. This book has something for everybody. For novices, it provides a complete introduction to VBScript programming. For experienced VB and VBA programmers, it provides the depth and breadth necessary to create advanced interactive Web pages. A definite asset on any Web programmer's bookshelf.

1001 Visual Basic Programmer's Tips $54.95, 656 pages, paperback with CD. Despite its name, this is not really a tips book. It is an introduction to Visual Basic broken into hundreds of tiny lessons it calls tips.

About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design $29.99, 400 pages, paperback. An interesting book that raises many issues for you to think about. Some of the arguments are contradictory, however, so this book may be a little confusing for a beginning designer.

Beginning Visual Basic 5 $29.95, 600 pages, paperback. (Email me if you want to review this book)

Dan Appleman's Developing ActiveX Components With Visual Basic 5.0 (Out of print but you may be able to buy it used), 250 pages, paperback with CD. (Email me if you want to review this book)

VB Tips & Tricks $24.95, 170 pages, paperback. Unlike "1001 Visual Basic Programmer's Tips," this book really does contain tips and tricks. Some are outdated by now.