Many books on Visual Basic (VB) .NET tend to be a bit thick, covering many topics that may not be relevant, with long pieces of example code. This is not one of those books. The author has created a compact and tight book on the subject, by providing brief examples, limiting the topic to just VB .NET, and excluding information on Windows. The author is obviously knowledgeable on the subject, since he is one of the lead architects of VB. NET.

The book starts with an overview chapter, very briefly covering what the remaining chapters cover in greater detail. The second chapter is a short introduction to the .NET Framework, which helps the reader understand the environment in which VB .NET runs. The remaining chapters cover the various aspects of VB .NET, such as operators, inheritance, and exceptions. Each of these in-depth chapters has brief explanations of the different components, with short code examples. Sprinkled throughout the chapters are shaded boxes, each highlighting an important point on style, compatibility, advanced information, or design. The author uses the boxes to emphasize ideas the reader should be aware of. At the end of each chapter is a good summary of the information covered in the chapter. The book wraps up with two appendices, on runtime functions, and converting from component object model (COM) to common language runtime (CLR).

This is a great book for the beginning programmer; it offers thorough coverage of VB. NET, without straying from the subject. Most VB 6 programmers will skim the chapters, looking for the differences in VB .NET, and use the book as an excellent reference. The author also continues to share his knowledge of VB .NET through his weblog: http://www.panopticoncentral.net/.