Wrox Press Beginning Visual Basic 6 First Impressions Karl Moore
Call me observant, but I'm starting to notice a general similarity between all the Wrox titles. Apart from all working together to provide an idealistic VB solution, throughout this review I'll be highlighting a few pointers, starting with:
1. All Wrox authors look like geeks. Please ignore the cover photographs
Starting with the usual VB introduction, this book shows the reader how to launch VB and explains the individual toolbar components, quickly progressing onto more advanced topics.
The book is actually divided into two halves, entitled "Beginning Visual Basic 6" and "Visual Basic Applications". I'll deal with these in consecutive order.
The first half, which occupies the bulk of this publication, starts with a user -- friendly introduction to Visual Basic covering most basic operations, from how to launch VB to using the Application Wizard.
However, don't be fooled by this simple start -- Wright tutors the reader step by step, gradually building on existing knowledge. For example, during the first chapter he familiarises you with the entire VB interface, encouraging you to explore. In the second chapter, he experiments with a bit of code. By the third and fourth "coding" chapters, the user already has some experience with the topics and is merely adding to that mine of information. Each section is also followed by a selection of "Why Not Try..." challenges to expand your programming capabilities.
And it's admittedly a neat way of teaching, backed up with dozens of screenshots. Which leads me to my second and third points:
2. All Wrox chapters (and indeed books) are independent of one another, allowing page -- skippers to easily locate items of interest, but they also work arm -- in -- arm
3. All Wrox books contain zillions of screenshots, ideal for geeks who don't live in front of their computer
