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Visual Basic Books
The links below lead to more information about the books and secure purchasing at
Amazon.com and
Amazon.co.uk.
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I particularly like these:
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Murach's Visual Basic 6, Level: Beginner, $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.
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Ready-to-Run Visual Basic Code Library, Level: All, $39.99, 424 pages, paperback with CD-ROM
This book presents 173 detailed example programs demonstrating basic, intermediate, and advanced techniques for solving real-world programming problems. Learn to work with numbers, manipulate databases, handle text, format output, get the most out of ListBox, ComboBox, TabStrip, and other controls, use menus, etc.
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Bug Proofing Visual Basic, $39.99, 397 pages, paperback. This book teaches programming skills that every Visual Basic developer should have. It explains ways to minimize the number of errors in your programs, methods for exposing errors so they are easy to fix, and techniques for correctly handling unexpected errors that do occur.
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Amazon.co.uk]
- Visual Basic 6 Bible, $49.99, 1021 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. 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.
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- Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Developer's Workshop, $44.99, 750 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. 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.
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Advanced Visual Basic Techniques, $31.99, 440 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. Explains advanced topics like most recently used file (MRU) lists, splash screens, client/server development, print preview at multiple scales, and interface customization for particular users.
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- Core Visual Basic 5, $39.99, 600 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. This book provides fast paced coverage of most Visual Basic programming topics. It is well-suited to someone who knows how to program in another language. It has a particularly nice chapter on creating add-ins in VB5.
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Custom Controls Library, $39.99, 576 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. This book includes 101 custom controls that demonstrate a large number of advanced control programming techniques.
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Amazon.co.uk]
- Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API, $47.96, 1548 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. 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.
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- Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Basic & Sql Server, $39.99, 700 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. I have not read this one, but several people have told me it is very good.
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Ready-to-Run Visual Basic Algorithms, $35.99, 327 pages, paperback with diskette. This book explains the data structures and algorithms you need to understand to move from being a competent programmer to being an advanced developer. Every programmer should be required to own and read at least one algorithms book.
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Amazon.co.uk]
- Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Web Development, $34.99, 460 pages, paperback. Covers a large number of Web programming topics for Visual Basic programmers. Visual InterDev, HTTP, HTML, ActiveX components, VBScript, ActiveX controls, ActiveX documents, ASP, IDC, ADO, etc.
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Visual Basic Graphics Programming, $39.99, 677 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. Provides excellent coverage of graphics programming in VB. If you want to do advanced graphics (3-dimensional graphics, fractals, advanced printing, ray tracing, etc.), this book is essential.
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Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk]
Other popular books:
- Animation Magic with Visual Basic 5, $?, 451 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
Demonstrates some useful techniques and has great sample graphics. The examples are inspiring but implemented without proper care and attention to detail.
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- Professional Visual Basic 6.0 Business Objects, $41.99, 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.
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- 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.
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- Hands On Visual InterDev 6, $30.00, 383 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. 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.
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- VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language, $19.95, 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.
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- 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.
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- Visual Basic 5, No Experience Required, $29.99, 406 pages, paperback. Some of the topics are presented in a strange order and some information from earlier versions of VB show through, but overall a decent introduction.
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- Visual Basic Programmer's Guide To Serial Communications, $34.95, 304 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- 1001 Visual Basic Programmer's Tips, $43.96, 656 pages, paperback with CD-ROM. 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.
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- About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design, $23.99, 400 pages, paperback.
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- Advanced Microsoft Visual Basic 5, $39.99, 900 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- The Art of Programming With Visual Basic, $19.96, 250 pages, paperback.
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- Beginning Visual Basic 5, $23.96, 600 pages, paperback.
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- Dan Appleman's Developing ActiveX Components With Visual Basic 5.0, $39.99, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- Doing Objects in Microsoft Visual Basic 6, $39.99, paperback with CD-ROM. I have heard good things about this book.
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- Hardcore Visual Basic: Version 5.0, $31.96, paperback with CD-ROM. I liked the more advanced topics in this book, though it is not just advanced techniques.
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- Mastering Visual Basic 5, $39.99, 1104 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- Microsoft Access/Visual Basic: Step by Step, $23.96, 368 pages, paperback with disk.
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- Microsoft Visual Basic 5 Step by Step, $27.99, 384 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- Special Edition Using Visual Basic 6, $27.99, 860 pages, paperback.
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- VB Tips & Tricks, $24.95, 170 pages, paperback.
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- Visual Basic 5 Night School, $31.99, paperback with CD-ROM.
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- Web Development With Visual Basic 5, $39.99, 893 pages, paperback with CD-ROM.
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