Where do i go from here

Raskolnikov

Here is my situation....

I am in the middle of learning (or should that be beginning?) VB and have the basics covered. I am familar with the basic terms and jargon etc and am able to design easy stuff like conversion programmes, calculators etc. Now i feel it is time for me to purchase a book to give me a bit more on theory, paticularily on programming convention and explanation of all those suffixes would be of paticular help. Can anyone here recommend me on some decent books that don't dumb things down too much but still won't leave me swamped? I have already gone through Microsoft Visual Basic 6 Step by Step incase anyone was going to suggest that.

Hope someone can help

bonkey

Learn how to interface with databases.
Learn how to interface with databases using more than just the "bound controls" (which are an slow performance-wise).

Then maybe play a bit with creating your own simple ActiveX controls, or COM DLLs.

Then maybe look at COM+, D/COM, or MTS (depending on your OS really, but most probably COM+) for client/server programming.

As to how to do this? Well, IMHO, O'Reilly and Associates are generally rather good at producing worthwhile books, although it tends to be more "reference" than "example" based, if you see what I mean.


jc

phobos

maybe play a bit with creating your own simple ActiveX controls, or COM DLLs.

I don't know would I be as quick to advise a n00b to set their sights on learning such technologies. I am assuming that the person is just starting their programming career, with VB. When they say they are writing conversion utilities, there code would probably be looking something like this

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Label1.Caption = Text1.Text & " Miles = " & (Text1.Text / 5) * 8 & "Km"

End Sub

I would advice another language to start with (namely C), but the decision has been made.

Anything on Sams publishing such as the Teach youself in 21 days series of books are always good for getting a solid foundation on a topic. They rarely go in to extreme detail, but they will get the facts right in your head. Some books you buy will leave you with a large jugsaw puzzle in your head with a few pieces missing. Sams take it slow, and get done properly.

But for VB, there are plenty of good sites out there that will teach you how to do things, such as
www.abstractvb.com
www.thescarms.com
www.freevbcode.com
www.vbcode.com
www.vbworld.com

Good luck
;-phobos-)

Raskolnikov

Originally posted by phobos


I would advice another language to start with (namely C), but the decision has been made.

You're not the first one to say that. It is part of my course so i kinda do need to know it.

Originally posted by phobos

Anything on Sams publishing such as the Teach youself in 21 days series of books

Ok i'll take a look at one of them, i remember picking up Cobol Unleashed by Sams in a garage sale for 50p one time, never got round to going through it though :P

I'm not that bothered if the book doesn't go into tremendous detail, i just want to have one up on the rest of the people in college next year. Besides if i can have something done it leaves more drinking time during the college year

This is totally off topic but i don't suppose anyone knows of any decent websites/books on cascading style sheets?

Thanks chaps

phobos

Besides if i can have something done it leaves more drinking time during the college year

I'd be careful saying that. When I was in 3rd year I did a R&D project on Enterprise scope software using Java, only because my lecturers were interested in it, and the amount of attention it was getting intrigued me. I ended up getting 100% for the project in the end, and for the degree an entire subject was setup on the matter, which was a key element of the entire final year of the B.Sc.

Anyway I thought I would be sorted because I found out early in the year that the indtended course content was not even going to go in to as much detail as I did the previous year. Also early on in the year I attended the classes, and the lecturer knew that the stuff was boring to me (without sound bigheaded, but I had just done it myself beforehand). So much so, I decided to give that class a skip, and only poped my head in for a look on the rare occasion. Soon the lecturer started to get pissed off that I wasn't showing up, and started to get narky, and stop me on the corridoor to ask me question based on the topics he was covering in class. The funny thing is, I was able to give him answers back that often, were more detailed than he expected. He often based future lectures on materials he discussed with me beforehand (I later heard).

Anyway in the end, this lecturer was the reason I only got a second class honours (grade 1) degree, instead of 1st class. He didn't give me any CA marks, even though I handed up all the assessments. Some of my class mates and closest friends are baffled as to how something like this could have happened. Because when it came to sitting the exam, I thought it was a piece of cake, and was actually worried over other subjects (which I ended up doing better in).

The moral of the story is, be careful when learning ahead. Sometimes lecturer don't like it when there's someone else in the room to prove them wrong

;-phobos-)

nahdoic

Originally posted by phobos
The moral of the story is, be careful when learning ahead. Sometimes lecturer don't like it when there's someone else in the room to prove them wrong

very good advice. If you want to get a 1.1 then the lecturer is always right - even when it is clear as day that he is completely wrong.

The Corinthian

COM is good to get into - there's a good tutorial on developing COM DLL's using VB somewhere on 15 Seconds. That should lead into other areas of ActiveX.

Database connectivity is very important, in particular without using any of the various data controls that come with VB. Get into ODBC and ADO.

Finally, one thing that's fun to get into is Winsock programming.

satchmo

Originally posted by nahdoic
If you want to get a 1.1 then the lecturer is always right - even when it is clear as day that he is completely wrong.

That's only true if they're crap lecturers. I know a few (very good) lecturers who like students questioning them and their presumptions, it shows the students are thinking and not just sitting there writing stuff down in a daze.

phobos

Originally posted by Jazz
That's only true if they're crap lecturers. I know a few (very good) lecturers who like students questioning them and their presumptions, it shows the students are thinking and not just sitting there writing stuff down in a daze.

I know good lecturers like that too, but then there are people like the one that buggered me. He made it quite clear he had only quickly looked over the stuff himself before trying to teach it. On the occasion that I did drop in, he would be saying one thing, then you would see him thinking about it, and the would say something different, because something just clicked with him.

;-phobos-)

nahdoic

Originally posted by Jazz
That's only true if they're crap lecturers. I know a few (very good) lecturers who like students questioning them and their presumptions

I completely agree. The best lecturerers are the ones who like, nay, encourage their students to question them. Students can't learn and get a proper understanding if they don't question what they are being thought.

Raskolnikov

Thanks for the tips guys, i'm sure i'll be back for some more help when i get stuck :P

Karoma

Originally posted by RASKOLNIKOV

This is totally off topic but i don't suppose anyone knows of any decent websites/books on cascading style sheets?

Thanks chaps

ummm....for beginenrs: probably www.webmonkey.com

books: O'Reilly