I am very happy with my purchase. This book is just what it is though, a language reference. It does show simple snippets of code for illustration of most functionality. This book used in conjunction with MSDN should be very helpfull. Having already done a good amount of .NET training with other materials in both vb.NET & C# I found this a good book to spend a few days reading through. No it won't teach you to code, but that's for beginner books. It does however, give an intermediate programmer from other technologies a quick way of getting familiar with common vb.NET functions and syntax. You'll still need to use MSDN or other resources for advanced application, but you can get very a good starting point from this book. For many, that's all you need. Overall I'm very happy with my purchase. If your new to .NET, this should not be your first buy, but definetally a good 3rd - 4th reference or so. Start with beginner book, then maybe coding techniques, Try this for when you think your ready to start developing and need a quick syntax boost. Happy coding.

The VB6 Language Reference included all items of interest to VB6 with "Applies to" references which was very valuable. This is missing in VB.net reference. Also, procedures and event handlers were included in VB6 reference, but are not in vb.net reference. Compared to the wealth of information about VB6 in the VB6 reference and the lack of information about vb.net in the VB.net reference, I consider it a waste of money. A reference should include all the necessary information on procedures, event handlers, etc., much like a condensed version of what is included in the "Super Bible" series of VB books.

As usual with Microsoft's references, this is the same information that you can expect to find online and in the VB.Net help. That is a good thing for those that like to have a book to refer to while coding.

The information in this book is essential to experienced VB programmers because of the many language changes from prior VB versions.