As the subtitle indicates, this is a book to help experienced AutoCAD programmers learn the skills needed to use the latest version of the product, and to interface with Microsoft’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It is a successor to the author’s earlier work on AutoCAD 2000 [1].

The book is almost 900 pages long. The 18 chapters, addressing a wide variety of relevant topics, from objects to layers to security to the Win32 application programming interface (API), take up 500 pages. The remaining 400 pages contain the book’s four complete appendices. It seems to me that these 400 pages, covering objects, constants, and systems variables, and an extremely useful cross-reference index to AutoCAD 2000, 2002, and 2004, would be more easily referenced, and less expensive, on a CD.

The chapters are well written and coherent bodies of work, but could have been enhanced with additional examples. The short examples provided are useful, but the manuscript is indeed a programmer’s reference guide, rather than an introduction to the content. I was discouraged by finding an early typographical error on page 3, but the book seemed to be well proofed, and no errors were found thereafter. Other errata may be found on the author’s Web site, which is indicated in the book

The author describes the book as a complete reference, and he indeed seems to accomplish this task to a remarkable degree. The book should help experienced AutoCAD developers, providing information on this newest version, but it would not be a place to start for beginners. As one might expect, there are no exercises or other leaning aids, but this in no way reflects on the quality of the book, given its goals and target audience.

In the promotional material, the importance of “security programming” is indicated. Although touched on to some degree, the eight-page chapter was the least effective or emphasized part of this fine book. The book is highly recommended for power users who are interested in the topics presented.