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Wroxs SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Starter Kit Programmer to Programmer
Posted by aspnetnerd on 28 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Wroxs SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Starter Kit Programmer to Programmer
You’ll learn the basics of working with SSE databases, and see how the Visual Basic(r) 2005 Express Edition programming environment is tailored to work well with SSE. Step-by-step examples cover major scenarios that you’re likely to face, from installation and development to debugging and deployment. Plus, the CD-ROM features both VB Express and SSE so you can get started designing your databases right away.
What you will learn from this book
- How to create simple, single table applications without writing a single line of code
- Making the transition from SSE to a higher-level version of SQL Server
- The benefits of using XML in your database
- How to deploy your applications using Xcopy
- How to secure your database applications
- How to move your database to a multi-user scenario
Who this book is for
This book is for database or programming novices who want to create and deploy database applications. It is also useful for experienced developers and independent software vendors who intend to develop applications for SSE.
Wrox Starter Kits give you a CD-ROM with the software development tools you need to get started as well as structured tutorials that walk you through all the techniques you need to begin programming right away.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Good beginner book
I am used to Access, and this book was wonderful to get introduced to and work with SQL Server. Step by step instructions on using sql with Visual Basic helped me a lot. The user interface provided was similar to my usage of access for basic scenarios; ofcourse access ui is more powerful than visual basic’s. I would recommend it for a beginning user.
5 Stars SQL Server specific book
I use MSDE at work the last few years and has recently moved to SQL Server express. My biggest gripe about MSDE was that there was no book covering MSDE - all the books with MSDE in its title was covering other editions of SQL Server. I deployed MSDE with my application and the MSDE books were not very helpful.
I like this book because it focusses on SQL Server express. I like the sections specific to sql server express like setup and deployment and recommend this for those who use sql server express with VB.
1 Star No support!
All books and especially books with computer code will have errors. I am very disappointed in the support from the authors and from Wrox. Chapter 7 has some code that will not work. This is addressed in the Wrox p2p forum but solutions are never present. One of the participants e-mailed the authors and got no response. I must find another source to learn XML as it relates to SQL Server Express. I would not recommend this book. The authors should pay attention to the comments and questions of the users and there is not evidence that they do. It is like buying a new car, something goes wrong, but the dealer will not help you fix it.
1 Star The book was useless
I am an Access user and now use SQL. The book was useless. The title of the book is SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, not Visual Basic Manual. ONLY the first chapter covers SQL, the rest of the book is Visual Basic. I am very upset with the false and misleading title and back-cover description. Shame on WROX.
1 Star starts out decent
But for example they fail to mention a major concept too soon, like setting your first DB to be copied MANUALLY to your project, not to copy from source. If you take their advice, you will wind up with a project which wont allow you to update the database. And to resolve this, I had to use another book.
I emailed the author and tried the forums, several weeks ago, but have not gotten any response.
So, if you are looking for some support, don’t get this book.
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Dynamic Dreamweaver MX
Posted by aspnetnerd on 11 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
This book gets you up to speed on using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, the new version of Macromedia’s premier visual web site design tool, to produce dynamic, creative, visually stunning sites that comply with web standards and accessibility guidelines. It gets straight to the heart of the matter so you spend less time reading, and more time building your site.
Dreamweaver MX boasts some fantastic new features, including greatly improved support for XHTML and CSS standards, and tools that allow easy creation of accessible sites and effective use of Dreamweaver MX by people with disabilities. However, it doesn’t stop there - Dreamweaver MX also features support for a wide range of server-side scripting languages, allowing professional dynamic web applications to be created with ease, using built-in ready-to-use chunks of code called Server Behaviors.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Unrealized Potential
This should have been an excellent book. I bought it after carefully considering many other books with similar focus (including reading the Amazon reader reviews). I’ve been using DW since version 2 and certainly didn’t want a basic primer. This book promised to zero in on exactly what I wanted: using DWMX to create dynamic sites with ASP.
All 5 authors seem to be knowledgeable and competent writers; a single author wrote each chapter. But IMO this book sorely needed editing for overall consistency and comprehensiveness. The whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts.
I suppose I was expecting something structured along the lines of Wrox’s “Beginning ASP Databases”: an ongoing, easy-to-implement tutorial that illustrates all of the theory in a consistent manner.
But the tutorials in this book were fragmented and difficult to follow, each one using different conventions, and often omitting information (which was sometimes found in later chapters but would have been useful earlier).
I’d love to see a second edition of this book that takes all of this information but presents it in a more cohesive manner. As it is, in order to set up PWS and get any of the examples to work, I had to rely heavily on other books and online tutorials (notably the Webthang tutorials for DWMX). It’s been an exercise in frustration.
5 Stars Dynamic Dreamweaver MX
I went through this book and can now design dynamic data-driven ASP pages. Since Macromedia is focused on Cold-Fusion it is a relief to have a reference that explains using DreamweaverMX with ASP. There are more hosting providers available offering ASP hosting (at a reasonable price) than offer Cold Fusion (usually adds 20 or more US dollars a month to the base cost of hosting). So it is “cheaper” to work with ASP. I found this book to be very helpful and highly recommend this to anyone who wants to move from static pages to dynamic. It covers all the basics you would need to connect to a database and build recordsets and use the behaviors in DWMX. There is tons of info on the internet also. This book taught me a lot in a short amount of time and then I found all sorts of sites on the internet that had tutorials or free downloads. After reading this book I was able to understand the things on these various websites. I could then zero-in on a particular solution to something I was doing for a client’s site and get the answer either from the book or from an online source. The foundation I got from this book has enabled me to dive deeper into DWMX and take better advantage of its many tools. I had a design background (Quark, Illustrator etc) and needed to make the jump to the “dark side” - programming and handcoding. This book de-mystified those scary subjects and I am now seeing lines of code in my sleep.
3 Stars Good information, but inconsistent behaviors confuse users
Being a beginner to the world of database driven web applications I found this book somewhat useful. My only major beef with the book is that in my experience using the tutorials and exercises and trying to apply them to ASP.NET, the screens and server behaviors didn’t match up correctly leaving me scratching my head and randomly searching Dreamweaver’s pull-down menus for the correct item to match my current tutorial step? Now I’m not sure if this book was just too early for the .NET world and I am trying to apply the latest and greatest technology to a inappropriate book or if the marketing for this book was just too ambitious? Overall a decent book, but don’t bank on this being your “bible” if you are working in ASP.NET.
1 Star Rubbish
This book is not for beginners. So if your new to data driven web sites, This book is not for you. Its starts of with just a few pages telling you about the new advances made within dreamweaver and just dives straight in at the deep end about the dynamic stuff. WHY CAN’T THESE AUTHORS WRITE IN A SIMPLE MANNER? They seem to assume that evrybody knows as much as them. Anyhow can I have my money back, please?
1 Star Very Poor Book. Buy something written by better authors
This book was a total let down.
I had great hopes when I scanned the contents of the book, but the whole book is badly written, and gives an overall impression of being rushed through.
There are far better books for creating dynamic sites with Macromedia products, and I strongy urge anyone to seek alternative reading.
Very disappointing.
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Microsoft SQL Server TM 2005 Integration Services Step by Step
Posted by aspnetnerd on 24 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Microsoft SQL Server TM 2005 Integration Services Step by Step
Integration Services is a powerful tool for business intelligence, so understanding the essentialshow to develop and deploy SSIS packages, as well as how to apply these skills to data warehousing solutionsis critical to harnessing the full benefits of SQL Server. This step-by-step tutorial teaches you all the essentials for getting started, including data transformation, scripting, security, and best practices for developing enterprise-class data integration applications. With Step By Step, you work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises. Whether youre a beginning programmer or new to this version of the technology, youll understand the fundamental techniques for using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services. A companion CD includes data sets and sample code.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A great SQL Server Integration Services book for beginners
I have a project to create a data warehouse, ETL the data and report from the new data warehouse. I have no SQL server 2005 experience at all. But after I read this book and follow the book step by step. I was able to create my DW ETL data to corresponding DIM and Fact tables and created my reports from my DW correctly without any problem. This book has very clear concepts and very practical steps. If you like to learn-by-doing on SSIS. This is the book does it all.
1 Star Terrible CD companion
Terrible CD companion. Most samples have errors, don’t run as installed due to incorrect paths and missing connection strings and database auth’s. Very frustrating book to learn from if used as a STEP by STEP as the title indicates. Seek a different learning source.
4 Stars It was not that bad at all
if you are a first time visitor to SSIS, I think its a good book. It could definitely have been better but if you need to really practice on real life scenarious, it covers them well. There might be some instructions here and there which do not exactly mirror to the latest version and not sure if those were typos vs beta version but since the SSIS interface is so intuitive it’s not as bad and this book really gets you upto speed in very short time.
If you are a totally new to the SSIS world, I would recommend it.
4 Stars Review of Step By Step
I found this book to be quite informative. Given that I am a first timer to SSIS, there were some useful examples. There could have been more substance around the Datawarehousing part of the book. The examples provided on the CD were shockingly packaged. There were files missing and incorrect CD’s. This is disappointing given that I bought this book because it was a Microsoft Press publishing.
1 Star Book not thoroughly reviewed!
I agree witht the previous readers that the book was hastely done without any thought for quality! A lot of examples from the book differ drastically with the examples in the cd.(and even with the electronic copy of the book that came w/ the cd!)
I tried to salvage the situation by visiting MS Press for some errata announcements, but i was even more confused in the web-maze that they hyperlinked me to…. to no avail (surprise, surprise!)
If you have a limited budget on reference books… dont buy this one.
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Sams Teach Yourself Active Server Pages
Posted by aspnetnerd on 10 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Programming ASP NET 3 5
Posted by aspnetnerd on 18 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
With the new edition of this bestselling tutorial for Microsoft’s ASP.NET web development platform, you learn how to create state-of-the art web applications using .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008. Programming ASP.NET 3.5 offers comprehensive and easy-to-understand information on Web Forms, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax, application building blocks, custom controls, security, and more.
Written by bestselling authors Jesse Liberty and Dan Hurwitz, this book teaches you all the ins and outs of ASP.NET 3.5, using plenty of examples and sample code. You learn how to use new .NET technologies for faster development and better web application performance, such as ASP.NET AJAX for interactive user interfaces, LINQ for data access, and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) for web services.
Programming ASP.NET 3.5 also previews and describes how newer technologies, such as Microsoft Silverlight and the model-view-controller (MVC) framework can enhance the traditional ASP.NET programming model. The book uses code examples written in both C# and Visual Basic, and developers learn how JavaScript can inject greater functionality into client-side pages.
For dynamic, interactive web applications using Microsoft’s latest technologies, Programming ASP.NET 3.5 is ideal for ASP.NET developers at any level.
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