The SAMS "21 Days" books are popular because they fit right there in the "golden middle" of technical books. Not too light. Not too heavy. They're like walking into a chain restaurant. You know exactly what's on the menu anywhere in America. Solid. Dependable. Predictable. There's something very comforting about that. If you're looking for an all around introduction at a good price, either of these is a top choice.

They do have full chapters on some of the most popular VB.NET companion technologies, however, such as ADO.NET, ASP.NET and XML. And their explanations of how these technologies work are clear and easy to read.

If you have ever attended a Microsoft conference, such as the Microsoft Professional Developer's Conference, this book reads just like those conferences sound. This is the vision of VB.NET as presented by Microsoft. It's a positive, upbeat vision and the book presents it well.

The second book does present "More." For example, we get to Forms by Day 3 instead of Day 9. Two of the extra 'days' are used for a much more complete treatment of databases and another is used to cover Crystal Reports. An introduction to HTML Help is another addition. Interestingly, both books finish up with a chapter on Web Services. I've said it before. Web Services is hot, hot, hot.

The complete source code for the books is available at the publishers web site.

Applications: XML, Web Services, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, Crystal Reports

About the Authors

Have you ever wondered who writes those certification exams? The authors of book number 1. Both authors are the people you see at Microsoft conferences who can somehow whip together an application that seems like it should take weeks right in front of your eyes with, of course, the latest product that was just announced a few days ago. I always feel like I've just seen a David Copperfield magic show.

On his personal profile page at the Microsoft sponsored GotDotNet site, Duncan Mackenzie simply describes himself as a "writer for MSDN Online." In his biography for an early book Kent Sharkey gives this thumbnail description of his career, "After many years grubbing in the dirt as an independent consultant and trainer, Kent Sharkey evolved into a Technical Business Development Manager with Microsoft."

Lowell Mauer is not a Microsoft insider. He's an east coast developer, author, consultant, and teacher who has been writing books like this for many years with about a dozen to his credit so far.