Review of COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET: A Guide for the Reformed Mainframe Programmer (Paperback)

I bought "COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET" in order to learn VB.NET, but ended up receiving formal training through my employer before completing this 1,000 page book.Nevertheless, I constantly find myself referring to various chapters whenever my old COBOL brain has trouble understanding .NET and object oriented concepts.
Mr. Richardson's clear writing (despite his well-intentioned attempts at humor) and numerous examples make me very glad that I made the purchase.As long as COBOL and .NET exist, this book is a must-have for programmers like me. Speaking of existence, I bet that COBOL will be with us long after Mr. Gates pulls the plug on .NET.
If you are or have been a mainframe programmer and whether or not you know anything about .NET, you will be hard pressed to find a book as useful as this or one that is so well written.

Product Description
<p><i>COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET</i> is a comprehensive guide to help mainframe programmers successfully complete a .NET retraining effort. This book is intended for the COBOL/CICS mainframe community of programmers making the transition from the mainframe to .NET, and also for those who simply wish to broaden their .NET knowledge base.

<p>Starting with a complete set of .NET retraining prerequisites and a full chapter answering the question "What is .NET?" Richardson skillfully takes you through such essential topics as the .NET Framework, database access, Windows, the Web, and web services. Additional topics include printing with Crystal Reports, using XML and HTML, .NET configuration, and security for Web services.

<p>Richardson also includes information to help the mainframe programmer with infrastructure setup issues, often faced when deploying modules using Internet Information Server and COM+. He provides you with the tools to learn both COBOL.NET and Visual Basic .NET, illustrated by extensive code samples in the book.

<p>Drawing upon many legacy mainframe analogies, Richardson's conversational writing style makes this book both informative and an enjoyable read.<i>COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET: A Guide for the Reformed Mainframe Programmer</i> is a complete and definitive .NET guide for the mainframe programmer.

About the Author
Chris L. Richardson is a senior software engineer on a .NET web development project at a Fortune 500 company. Before making the transition to Windows and web programming, he held senior programmer/analyst positions on the mainframe platform. For the majority of his 20+ years in the information technology field, he has developed using COBOL, CICS, and DB2. Chris proudly reminds people of his mainframe background and jokingly refers to himself as a "reformed mainframe programmer." He divides his leisure time between entrepreneurial endeavors (such as his recent startup, California-based eClectic Software Solutions) and studying for his next Microsoft Certification exam.

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