Do you know your ASP from your ATL? (Visual Systems Journal)

Member Name: pan

Product:	Visual Systems Journal
Date:	14/03/02 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free

Disadvantages: Only for programmers

Visual Systems Journal is a glossy, colourful, monthly magazine for software developers. Like Application Development Advisor, this is a free subscription to those who qualify. Check out the website for details.

So, what do you get for no money? Firstly, this is an extremely techy journal. Forget about high-level discussions on industry trends, development best practices or where things are headedcin the future. This is almost entirely about cutting code in the here and now. Every issue includes articles on Java, Visual Basic, C++ and whatever else is popular (Python, Eiffel whatever). Be prepared to admit defeat, if you’re a Java programmer then most of the other stuff is unlikely to be of interest.

Aside from the tutorial-type articles, there are also book reviews, industry news (which is always out of date – use the web for this stuff) and the occasional software review. And of course the adverts, this is the place you’ll find software components and tools advertised, stuff you don’t see in PCPro, for example.

It’s targeted to a very specific audience, and if you fit the profile then get it. It lacks the higher level thinking you get from Application Development Advisor, but there’s more code here. As a freebie it’s worth having for those times when an article happens to fit whatever it is you’re currently working on.

Summary: