On the scale of problem solving, this book is much closer to the microcosm type of book. Unlike most books in this mold, however, the samples are extremely well written. Whether you need a ping application sample, need to know more about using delegates or want some simple guidance through ADO.NET, this book has some info on what you are looking for.

Now, this book is not a deep well. Do not expect to learn everything you need to learn about .NET through the samples in this book. While it covers the basics of ADO.NET, for example, you will not find out how to code extremely complex data driven applications. The info in this book, however, should get you off in the right direction.

Overall, this is a book for the intermediate developer, with some experience in .NET. The beginner will be able to code the examples, but I would recommend getting a bit of grounding in general .NET coding, rather than relying on this book as a primer. As this is not the intent of the author, I do not see this as a major issue.