After purchasing many books on .NET, and several on ADO.NET, I had reached the conclusion that there weren't any books that covered ADO.NET well. The code samples from Microsoft and most of the examples/sample code in the books all demonstrated rotten techniques for accessing data (Mostly with SELECT * FROM), were overly complex or were so vague to be useless. I had finally despaired of ever finding a good book on the topic and was openly whining about it in a class I recently attended. The guy sitting next to me smugly replied that I hadn't bought the right book yet. He then had the audacity to recommend his own book! The "guy" was Steven Borg, who happened to be attending the class with me. It was such an audacious statement that I figured I would take him up on it...I figured if it was bad I could at least get a free beer out of it. No such luck. It was the book I had been searching for. I read all but the reference chapters the next day and spent a great deal of time reading the reference chapters in the following days. Steve and Rich hit the bull's-eye. This is the most comprehensive book on ADO.NET I have ever seen. Be cautioned however, this book is not for beginner programmers or those looking for a step by step introduction to building database applications. It is mostly a REFERENCE manual (over 700 pages). It does include three excellent tutorial chapters and three introductory chapters. It is NOT regurgitated MSDN! Wow! The book is easy to read and even funny in places (I loved the red pill/blue pill analogy) and the sample code is actually useful. It still contains a few too many SELECT * statements, but other than that it rocks. A previous review criticizes the lack of sample code and I almost agreed until I spent more time in the reference chapters. The sample code is there at the start of each object description. If you are looking for a thorough reference book on ADO.NET written in plain English without the techno-babble and withou all the technical class module errata jargon, this is the book.

Title is Misleading

Rating: 3/5

I am a veteran MDAC ADO developer. Eventually I will be a veteran ADO.NET developer. When I reach that stage, this book will be an excellent reference. However, there is very little in this book which explains how to actually program against the new ADO.NET object model. In this context, the title of the book 'Programming ADO.NET' is somewhat misleading. 'ADO - The Definitive Reference' would be a better title for this book.

If you are looking for a tutorial with sample code in order to get started, this is not the book you are looking for.

Do NOT pass this book up!

Rating: 5/5

I'm a veteran developer who uses COM/ADO for most of his development. With 3 solid years of ADO experience (coming out of DAO beforehand and dBase before that) I couldn't suggest a better book. This is my 3rd ADO.NET book this year and I can assure you that if you buy ANY book on ADO.NET then this will be it, this will be the icing to any other book you own or the first and only book you will ever need.

If you have a total lack of programming experience you should probably stick with a language + data combo book, then come back here later one when you have a better understanding of your language as this book will top off what you learn. I am positive there are better books for beginners out there, people who need more hand-holding and less code or people who may not be able to derive concepts without an explanation.

If you are an intermediate, professional or veteran developer who knows a decent amount of ADO then this book, and specifically chapters 10 and 11, are what you really want. You want a book that will answer all the questions you would have about ADO.NET as if you sat down for the first time to write a Rolodex sample without the slightest clue about ADO.NET, but knowing exactly what you'd want to do if you were to veresed with 'traditional' ADO.

The bulk of this book is a re-organized, regurgitated ADO.NET reference, with the first glance this bothered me but I've come to find it indispensable over the last few hours and it makes an excellent companion to the Framework documentation. Since there were no other reviews to this book I almost didn't make the purchase and as a matter of fact I bought yet another ADO.NET book from at the same time. I probably won't even read that book except as a boredom killer now (it arrives Monday, tomorrow).

Hopefully this review saves someone else from passing this book by, If you're a pro and you're looking for the perfect book, this will be it. Trust me.