This title falls neatly into two parts. About half of the book is taken up by a language reference, which gives the syntax, description, and an example for each language element. Many entries have an interesting section headed "Programming Tips & Gotchas", with comments that you will not find in the official documentation. The other chapters deal with how to use VBScript both generally and in four specific contexts. These are Active Server Pages, Outlook forms, the Windows Scripting Host, and in Internet Explorer. VBScript is almost infinitely extensible, since it has the ability to program objects presented by its host or by other applications, so in each case the main focus is on what objects are available in each different environment. Two objects are considered so important that they are fully documented in the reference section, and these are the Dictionary object and the File System Object.

VBScript is an easy language to learn, so readers may wonder if they need this book. Also, this Nutshell title does not come close to detailed documentation for topics like Active Server Pages. However, it is subtitled "A Desktop Quick Reference", and this is where it comes into its own. Developers working with VBScript will find this a handy guide, and pick up some useful tips along the way. --Tim Anderson