First of all, the title is a bit pretentious.
Going through this book, you won't find much about as much as connecting to an Oracle, Sybase or db2 database. I guess, they are minor players in the eyes of the authors/publisher.Secondly, coverage of development for the "Windows Forms" environment is very limited, compared to development for the browser and, generally, Net. You might not find out, how to map and bind fields in an Access database to a textbox on a "Windows Forms" form, but you will be able to create a shopping cart application.
Thirdly, a lot of space is dedicated to general notions, database theory and normalization (which, by the way, is much better covered in books dedicated to relational database theory), while a lot of info dedicated to XML was squeezed out of the book, to the CD only, or just completely missing (like hardcore info on working with Access).
If your database is SQL Server, and your playground is the Net, buy the book. Otherwise, check it out in the bookstore, and JUDGE FOR YOURSELF ...
The book itself, in material and workmanship, is somewhat flimsy, has a cheap feel to it, and is falling apart after about a month of casual use on a programmer's desk.
This is not the book for a light superficial reader. This is a book for a serious learner. I have been dancing around the idea of database programming in VB.net for several months now. But this is the book that has really got me started. I admit I threw away this book after reading 6 pages in the first chapter. It has got me confused and overwhelmed by all the new glossary and high detail level. But a couple of weeks later I have decided to give it another try. And I thank God I did so.
Skipping the first two (basic science) chapters you can start rightaway by the third (visual database tools) chapter and still keep up. Beleive me if I said that each single word from there on is an essential piece of information.
Although I haven't finished reading it but I thought it's quite fair to clarify the above points about this great and serious book.
I am really enjoying reading it, I take it with me everywhere. And I have started already practically verifying examples to help me through the course of learning which is by the way "Amazing"...
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