You may recall that the publisher of my first book
Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6
Wrox Publishing, went bankrupt and my book has been in 'limbo' since.
I'm pleased to announce that the rights to the book have been purchased by Apress Publishing and will now be printed and distributed through them.
The ISBN is changed from 1902-745-00 to 1590-591-518.
The book can be purchased online at Amazon via the following link...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590591518/ref=nosim/professorsmileys
Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Friday, November 1, 2002
My Java book to appear on the Sopranos!
I received word from my publisher that my Java book will be used in the context of the plot of HBO's Sopranos.
If you're familiar with the characters in the show, Svetlana, who will be taking care of Uncle Junior this year, will be using my book to teach herself Java and set up some kind of Web based business.
I'll let you know when I have a firm air date
If you're familiar with the characters in the show, Svetlana, who will be taking care of Uncle Junior this year, will be using my book to teach herself Java and set up some kind of Web based business.
I'll let you know when I have a firm air date
Monday, April 1, 2002
My Java book to appear on the Sopranos!
I received word from my publisher that my Java book will be used in the context of the plot of HBO's Sopranos.
If you're familiar with the characters in the show, Svetlana, who will be taking care of Uncle Junior this year, will be using my book to teach herself Java and set up some kind of Web based business.
I'll let you know when I have a firm air date.
If you're familiar with the characters in the show, Svetlana, who will be taking care of Uncle Junior this year, will be using my book to teach herself Java and set up some kind of Web based business.
I'll let you know when I have a firm air date.
Tuesday, January 1, 2002
Visual Basic Student Projects
Just a reminder that you can view my students' VB projects on my Web site:
You can check out Fran's Flowers project at
http://www.johnsmiley.com/flowers.htm
and Sneaker Projects at
http://www.johnsmiley.com/sneakers.htmA
s always, my thanks to the students for graciously sharing these projects with everyone.
They're beautiful works of art--I hope you enjoy them.
You can check out Fran's Flowers project at
http://www.johnsmiley.com/flowers.htm
and Sneaker Projects at
http://www.johnsmiley.com/sneakers.htmA
s always, my thanks to the students for graciously sharing these projects with everyone.
They're beautiful works of art--I hope you enjoy them.
Need help with Visual Basic? Check out my VB Experts Page
Need help with Visual Basic?
Check out my VB Experts page.
Some of you have heard about this, but to many of you it's a new idea.
I get tons of email questions (100+ a day) about VB. I also gets lots of emails from people asking me how they can become better VB programmers.
Most times I ask the people asking the questions to post them to my Yahoo helpwithvb group.
Recently I decided we could kill two birds with one stone by creating a web page with identified experts in certain areas of VB, that people could access to either read an article on click on an email link to an expert.
That's where you come in.
You may be thinking "I'm hardly an expert, how can I help?"
The answer is I want to narrow the expert focus so that everyone---even a beginner new to Visual Basic---can chip in and help out.
For instance, you may not be a VB expert, but could you be my identified expert for the Listbox Control?
If not the Listbox Control, how about the Text property of the Listbox control?
If you check VB Help, you'll see that there are only 3 paragraphs or so written about the Text property--could you be the expert just on that portion of VB?
Here's the link to my new VB Experts page
http://www.johnsmiley.com/vbexperts.htm
You'll notice that the page is entirely blank--for now anyway.
That means there's a spot for you to help out and be the recognized expert. The benefits can be tremendous---not only will you be a recognized expert at something, you'll gain confidence and experience (and learn something) in the process.
Teaching and helping others is a great way to get really good at something--are you willing to try?
How will this work?
Based on the feedback you give me, I'll create a topic tree, along with your name and a link to your email address. Someone who needs help will be directed to the Experts page, and if they see a topic with an expert, they'll click on it to send you an email. The help you provide them will then be up to you.
You can choose to give them help for free or name a price for your services (Keen.com is a great way to do this)If you are willing to try, please send an email to
becomeanexpert@johnsmiley.com
Include your name, your email address, and the topic for which you wish to be the identified expert.
If you have a support web site, include that also.As time goes on, you can grow your expertise in any way you desire---you'll be able to write articles about your expertise, or get paid for it if you desire by setting up a paid link to Keen.com.
You may even be able to host your own minicamp!
Check out my VB Experts page.
Some of you have heard about this, but to many of you it's a new idea.
I get tons of email questions (100+ a day) about VB. I also gets lots of emails from people asking me how they can become better VB programmers.
Most times I ask the people asking the questions to post them to my Yahoo helpwithvb group.
Recently I decided we could kill two birds with one stone by creating a web page with identified experts in certain areas of VB, that people could access to either read an article on click on an email link to an expert.
That's where you come in.
You may be thinking "I'm hardly an expert, how can I help?"
The answer is I want to narrow the expert focus so that everyone---even a beginner new to Visual Basic---can chip in and help out.
For instance, you may not be a VB expert, but could you be my identified expert for the Listbox Control?
If not the Listbox Control, how about the Text property of the Listbox control?
If you check VB Help, you'll see that there are only 3 paragraphs or so written about the Text property--could you be the expert just on that portion of VB?
Here's the link to my new VB Experts page
http://www.johnsmiley.com/vbexperts.htm
You'll notice that the page is entirely blank--for now anyway.
That means there's a spot for you to help out and be the recognized expert. The benefits can be tremendous---not only will you be a recognized expert at something, you'll gain confidence and experience (and learn something) in the process.
Teaching and helping others is a great way to get really good at something--are you willing to try?
How will this work?
Based on the feedback you give me, I'll create a topic tree, along with your name and a link to your email address. Someone who needs help will be directed to the Experts page, and if they see a topic with an expert, they'll click on it to send you an email. The help you provide them will then be up to you.
You can choose to give them help for free or name a price for your services (Keen.com is a great way to do this)If you are willing to try, please send an email to
becomeanexpert@johnsmiley.com
Include your name, your email address, and the topic for which you wish to be the identified expert.
If you have a support web site, include that also.As time goes on, you can grow your expertise in any way you desire---you'll be able to write articles about your expertise, or get paid for it if you desire by setting up a paid link to Keen.com.
You may even be able to host your own minicamp!
Monday, April 23, 2001
Developer Career Tip #0041---Update on VB.Net
Developer Career Tips #0041
Update on VB.Net
As I mentioned in my last article, I'm seeing more and more attention focused on VB.Net. Conferences are teaching courses on it--despite the fact that Beta1 of the product is just a few months old, and Beta2 isn't due out until May. Several books have been published on the Beta itself (I've been tempted and ASKED to write one myself). Personally, I just don't get it.
I understand the need to be 'up' on a product more than most people---I make my living as a consultant and author, and the need to stay current is crucial---but I can't ever recall this much pre-hype over a software development product.
I receive at least ten emails each week from readers asking me if they should begin learning VB.Net right now (presumably from the Beta), how much worth I think the VB6 Certification exam will carry (I can't even guess), and whether there will be Learning Edition, Professional and Enterprise editions of the product.
And now the picture is even more complicated. It's no secret that Microsoft intends to 'retrofit' Beta2 of VB.NET to be more compatible with Visual Basic 6. As far as I'm concerned, the waters are now more muddied than ever.
The bottom line is to stay the course: if your goal this year was to learn Visual Basic 6, or become certified in the product, then that's exactly what you should do. Timelines indicate that VB.Net--when it appears---will probably be available in early 2002. You'll have plenty of time to learn it at that point--hopefully with books and courses that are at least based on Beta2.
Update on VB.Net
As I mentioned in my last article, I'm seeing more and more attention focused on VB.Net. Conferences are teaching courses on it--despite the fact that Beta1 of the product is just a few months old, and Beta2 isn't due out until May. Several books have been published on the Beta itself (I've been tempted and ASKED to write one myself). Personally, I just don't get it.
I understand the need to be 'up' on a product more than most people---I make my living as a consultant and author, and the need to stay current is crucial---but I can't ever recall this much pre-hype over a software development product.
I receive at least ten emails each week from readers asking me if they should begin learning VB.Net right now (presumably from the Beta), how much worth I think the VB6 Certification exam will carry (I can't even guess), and whether there will be Learning Edition, Professional and Enterprise editions of the product.
And now the picture is even more complicated. It's no secret that Microsoft intends to 'retrofit' Beta2 of VB.NET to be more compatible with Visual Basic 6. As far as I'm concerned, the waters are now more muddied than ever.
The bottom line is to stay the course: if your goal this year was to learn Visual Basic 6, or become certified in the product, then that's exactly what you should do. Timelines indicate that VB.Net--when it appears---will probably be available in early 2002. You'll have plenty of time to learn it at that point--hopefully with books and courses that are at least based on Beta2.
Monday, March 12, 2001
Developer Career Tip #0040---Should you turn your attention to VB.Net?
Developer Career Tips #0040
Should you turn your attention to VB.Net?
I'm seeing quite a bit of attention to VB.Net recently. More than one book has already been published on it already, plus I've received several email solicitations to attend classes on VB.NET, and the product hasn't even been released yet--in fact, it's in Beta1. Beta2 is schedule for release sometime this quarter. If all goes well for Microsoft, the production version will be ready before the end of the year. This is an awful lot of hype for a new version.
I've been using Beta1 now for the last four months as I write the update of my Visual Basic 6 book for VB.Net. I signed a non-disclosure statement to work with the Beta, so I can't speak about the details of the language, but I can tell you that in my opinion, it's much too early to start working with it, but let me give you some information which may help you make up your own mind.
First, don’t consider VB.Net a new version of Visual Basic. Although a knowledge of previous versions of Visual Basic will serve you well while learning it, there are enough dissimilarities to make you believe you are dealing with a new language altogether. This may well be a reason to be the first kid on the block to know the language---that knowledge could make you very valuable to employers--provided they adopt the language.
Secondly, if you believe that it's a foregone conclusion that you're going to be forced to learn VB.Net, and you may as well learn it sooner than later, you may want to rethink that position. In the latest edition of the Visual Basic Programmer's Journal, the editor indicates that Microsoft has informed him they intend to 'support' both VB6 and VB.Net. The key question---what does 'support' mean.
The bottom line is that at this point there's no rush to learn VB.Net.
Should you turn your attention to VB.Net?
I'm seeing quite a bit of attention to VB.Net recently. More than one book has already been published on it already, plus I've received several email solicitations to attend classes on VB.NET, and the product hasn't even been released yet--in fact, it's in Beta1. Beta2 is schedule for release sometime this quarter. If all goes well for Microsoft, the production version will be ready before the end of the year. This is an awful lot of hype for a new version.
I've been using Beta1 now for the last four months as I write the update of my Visual Basic 6 book for VB.Net. I signed a non-disclosure statement to work with the Beta, so I can't speak about the details of the language, but I can tell you that in my opinion, it's much too early to start working with it, but let me give you some information which may help you make up your own mind.
First, don’t consider VB.Net a new version of Visual Basic. Although a knowledge of previous versions of Visual Basic will serve you well while learning it, there are enough dissimilarities to make you believe you are dealing with a new language altogether. This may well be a reason to be the first kid on the block to know the language---that knowledge could make you very valuable to employers--provided they adopt the language.
Secondly, if you believe that it's a foregone conclusion that you're going to be forced to learn VB.Net, and you may as well learn it sooner than later, you may want to rethink that position. In the latest edition of the Visual Basic Programmer's Journal, the editor indicates that Microsoft has informed him they intend to 'support' both VB6 and VB.Net. The key question---what does 'support' mean.
The bottom line is that at this point there's no rush to learn VB.Net.
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