Recommended Books And Products

Programming - .Net

Applied Microsoft .Net Framework Programming In Microsoft Visual Basic .Net
Jeffrey Richter and Francesco Balena

Not an easy book to read, but a well written book nonetheless about the internals of the .Net Framework. Richter has worked along with the CLR (Common Language Runtime) development team and the depth of information within this book is simply excellent. This is by no means a '.Net For Dummies' book, but a in-depth report and discussion on how the language works. Essential reading for any serious VB.Net developer.

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Programming- ASP

Teach Yourself Active Server Pages 3.0 in 21 Days
Scott Mitchell

The only book, so far, in the 21 Days series which we reckon is worth buying. Gives a wonderfully clear account on how to write ASP and what happens and why. This book covers more than enough to get one up and running from a blank set of folders on an IIS to fully fledged ASP project. The only section which could be better in this book is the chapter on Objects, but this is a minor quibble in an otherwise perfect book. Nothing comes close to this.

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Programming - CDO & MAPI

CDO & MAPI Programming with Visual Basic
Dave Grundgeiger

Our favourite book on the subject and explains MAPI programming brilliantly. It has been described on the Amazon site by someone as "a developer's dream" and we can't argue with that at all. Great reading without the all too-frequent padding.

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Professional CDO Programming
Siegfried Weber

An excellent book on client-side CDO and Outlook programming.

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Programming - General

Code Complete
Steve McConnell

Has to be one of the modern day classic programming books without a shadow of doubt. The aim isn't to teach someone how to program in a certain language it discusses how to write good solid code and, for those new to programming, how to think like a developer. Essential reading for anyone who wishes to take themselves clearly. At one of our clients' sites this became the core document for the in-house coding standard.

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Programming - Visual Basic

Visual Basic In Your Face
Mark Hurst

A brilliant reference book on Visual Basic from someone whom is reputed to be one of the better VB programmers. This book is a collection of well-written discussion articles on how to write Visual Basic and why. An essential read for anyone who is wanting to further their VB skills. The first chapter alone is worth the money and we can now just point to this rather than explain, for the umpteenth, time why one shouldn't use 'Magic Forms'. Must read.

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Software - Web Page

Homesite

Our preferred HTML and ASP editor. Has the added ability to run VBScript and/or JavaScript against its internal objects. HomeSite is not a WYSIWYG editor but for those who know their HTML and are prepared to write their own code this product is unbeatable and there is nothing else on the market like it. Unsurprisingly it has a very passionate following.

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Films - DVD

Lord Of The Rings

Small blokes, rings, things with big pointy teeth, tree huggers and Liv Tyler.

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