Recommended Books

Books to help you learn Visual FoxPro and related technologies.

For further information about any of these titles, or to order on-line, just follow the link at the end of each item. This will also let you take advantage of any discounts available.

Unless otherwise stated, all prices are the publisher's net price and are in US dollars.


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(The Kindle is now available in over a hundred countries.)
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Visual FoxPro

What's New in Nine: Visual FoxPro's Latest Hits. Tamar E. Granor and others. (Hentzenwerke, 2005). ISBN: 1-930919-64-6. Publisher's price: $49.95 (240 pages).

A detailed exposition of all the essential new features in VFP 9.0, including the enhanced SQL commands, new XML features, client-server improvements, and three chapters on the enhancements to the reporting tools.

 

Hacker's Guide to Visual FoxPro 7.0. Tamar E. Granor and others. (Hentzenwerke, 2002) ISBN:1-9309192-2-0. Publisher's price: $69.95 (372 pages)

An absolute must-have for anyone wanting the inside story on the VFP language and environment. Crammed with useful information, it will be a constant source of enlightenment. If you only ever buy one Visual FoxPro book, this is the one to get.

 

Deploying Visual FoxPro Solutions. Rick Schummer, Rick Borup, Jacci Adams. (Hentzenwerke, 2004). ISBN: 1-930919-32-8. Publisher's price: $49.95 (465 pages).

An extremely valuable guide to the packaging and deployment of VFP applications. As well as a wealth of general advice, it also has specific information for users of InstallShield Express, Wise for Windows, InstaFox and Inno Setup. This is a welcome addition to the VFP bookshelf.

 

MegaFox: 1002 Things You Wanted to Know About Extending Visual FoxPro. Marcia Akins, Andy Kramek, Rick Schummer. (Hentzenwerke, 2003). ISBN: 1-9309192-7-1. Publisher's price: $49.95 (550 pages).

Highly recommended guide to integrating VFP with other technologies, including COM, ADO, XML and MSDE, plus loads of useful material on PDFs, charts and graphs, Intellisense and more. An essential purchase for the ambitious developer.

 


The SQL language

 

SQL Cookbook. Anthony Molinaro. (O'Reilly, 2005). ISBN: 0596009763. Publisher's price: $39.95 (628 pages).

An excellent reference for those who already know the basics of SQL, and now want to push their queries to the limit.

 

The Art of SQL. Stephane Faroult (O'Reilly, 2006) ISBN: 0596008945. Publisher's price: $44.99 (366 pages).

This advanced book describes best practices in SQL, with the focus on strategy rather than specifics.


Back-end databases

Professional SQL Server 2005 Programming. Robert Vieira (Wrox, 2006). ISBN: 0764584340. Publisher's price: $49.99 (512 pages).

Vieira's book are among the best available on SQL Server. This one is aimed squarely at programmers, and comprehensively covers all the issues involved in developing against a SQL Server back end.

 

Learning MySQL. Seyed M.M.Tahaghoghi, Hugh Williams (O'Reilly, 2006). ISBN: 0596008643. Publisher's price: $44.99 (618 pages).

A rapid introduction to this "free" database, which is becoming increasingly popular among VFP developers. The chapters on using MySQL with PHP and Perl will be of interest to people developing web-based systems.


Crystal Reports

 

Crystal Reports XI: The Complete Reference. George Peck (McGraw-Hill Osborne, 2005). ISBN: 007226246X. Publisher's price: $59.99 (1,000 pages).

This is the best all-round reference to Crystal Reports, covering every aspect of the product (but aimed at advanced end-users rather than programmers).

 

Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide. David McAmis (McGraw-Hill Osborne, 2001) ISBN: 0072193263. Publisher's price: $29.99 (486 pages).

Recommended for users wanting a basic introduction to the product.

 


Programming in general

 

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction. Steve McConnell (Microsoft Press, 2004). ISBN: 0735619670. Publisher's price: $49.99 (960 pages).

An updated edition of the classic work on good programming practices. Every serious programmer should read it.

 

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John M. Vlissides. (Addison-Wesley, 1994). ISBN: 0201633612. Publisher's price: $59.99 (416 pages).

The definitive text on design patterns in OOP.

 

Book page last updated: August 2011.