ASP.NET by Example [Paperback]

Steven A. Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0789725622 | ISBN-13: 978-0789725622 | Publication Date: December 31, 2001 | Edition: 1

ASP developers need to understand how ASP.NET can help them solve business problems better than any prior product. ASP.NET by Example is designed to provide a "crash course" on ASP.NET and quickly help the reader start using this new technology. As part of the By Example series, this book approaches ASP.NET in an easy-to-use tutorial way, giving the reader a much faster and more interactive learning experience than the traditional reference book. By building the sample applications taught in the book, readers will learn how to create custom ASP.NET controls, how to use ADO+ objects in ASP, and how to deploy and manage applications. ASP.NET by Example also provides tools and information needed to migrate old ASP files to the new platform, saving developers significant time and money. As an added feature Steven A. Smith has included multiple case studies on how ASP.NET is used in e-commerce applications.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

ASP developers need to understand how ASP.NET can help them solve business problems better than any prior product. ASP.NET by Example is designed to provide a "crash course" on ASP.NET and quickly help the reader start using this new technology. As part of the By Example series, this book approaches ASP.NET in an easy-to-use tutorial way, giving the reader a much faster and more interactive learning experience than the traditional reference book. By building the sample applications taught in the book, readers will learn how to create custom ASP.NET controls, how to use ADO+ objects in ASP, and how to deploy and manage applications. ASP.NET by Example also provides tools and information needed to migrate old ASP files to the new platform, saving developers significant time and money. As an added feature Steven A. Smith has included multiple case studies on how ASP.NET is used in e-commerce applications.

About the Author

Steven A. Smith is a Managing Consultant and Internet Specialist for Software Architects, Inc., a Chicago-based consulting firm with offices in more than a dozen U.S. cities. Steve has been a "SARK" for more than four years and is currently working in the Cleveland office, focusing on highly scalable component-based architectures. In his spare time, Steve runs the #1 ASP.NET community site, ASPAlliance.com, and maintains a column there with dozens of articles on ASP and ASP.NET. He has also written a number of articles for ASPToday.com and continues to work as a technical reviewer for WROX, Prentice Hall, and QUE. Steve has an MCSE+Internet (4.0) certification and previously completed the MCSD. He is also a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in Computer Science Engineering. His development experience prior to .NET was mainly focused on ASP, Visual Basic, SQL Server, and COM+. When he isn't bonding with his laptop computer, Steve enjoys biking, swimming, foosball, and spending time with his wife, Michelle, and their two dogs, Jaegerin and Mojo. Steve can be reached at [e-mail].

Nicholas Chase has been involved in Web site development for companies such as Lucent Technologies, Sun Microsystems, Oracle Corporation, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nick has been a high school physics teacher, a low-level radioactive waste facility manager, an online science fiction magazine editor, a multimedia engineer, and an Oracle instructor. More recently, he was the Chief Technology Officer of Site Dynamics Interactive Communications in Clearwater, Florida, and is the author of three books on Web development, including Java and XML From Scratch (Que). He loves to hear from readers and can be reached at [e-mail].

Glenn Cook has been programming and teaching ASP since 1997. His tutorials and award-winning source code continue to make his column at the AspAlliance, the #1 ASP.NET Community, one of the most popular in its history. He is the founder of simpleCsharp.com and is a Senior Consultant with Fahrenheit Technology in Richmond, VA. He has lead projects for clients such as Land Rover, Charles Schwab, The Yellow Pages, Marriot, and most recently for CapitalOne. When he's not playing with code, he is spending time with his family in the D.C./VA area.

Nathen Grass is a consultant with RDA Corporation (http://www.rdacustomsoftware.com) in Atlanta, Georgia. RDA builds custom software and Web-based applications to solve complex business problems for mid-market and large-scale companies. Nathen specializes in DNA architecture development using various Microsoft technologies and lately has been heavily involved in learning and developing on the .NET platform. Nathen can be reached at [e-mail].

Vincent W. Mayfield is a Senior Software Engineer, Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer, and Vice President/Co-Founder of Bit-Wizards IT Solutions, Inc., of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He has more than 12 years of experience developing software, and over 8 years developing applications for the Microsoft Windows Family of Operating Systems with C and C++. He has served in the U.S. Army Reserves and the U.S. Air Force, and is an FAA Commercial Instrument rated pilot. Vincent has authored/co-authored several programming books to include: Waite Group's COM/DCOM Primer Plus, ActiveX Programming Unleashed, and Visual C++ 5.0 Developer's Guide. Vincent holds a BS in Mathematics with Minors in Computer Science and Aerospace Science as well as a MS in International Relations. Bit-Wizards IT Solutions is a cutting-edge technology company that provides professional software engineering, e-commerce, wireless, Web, consulting, and information technology solutions.

Wynn Netherland is President of Houston, Texas-based Praexis, Inc., a software consulting firm specializing in developing hosted applications using .NET. Wynn has worked in Web development since 1995 and is currently working on his second .NET title. When he's not churning out code or chapters, he enjoys traveling and attending Astros games with his wife, Paula. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Scott Swigart is living proof that being a geek at age 12 pays off. He is currently a senior principal at 3 Leaf Solutions, where he spends the bulk of his time providing training and consulting services for .NET early adopters. Scott started working with .NET as soon as the first bits would complete an install. In addition to working with .NET early adopters, Scott is actively involved in various .NET projects for Microsoft.

William Wise holds a Master's degree in Software Engineering from Brandeis University, a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies, and has done a fair amount of graduate work at the University of Virginia studying Christianity and Judaism in antiquity. Professionally, he has worked as a developer, trainer, network administrator, and database administrator and has developed a number of two-tier and three-tier applications to meet the business objectives of a variety of employers, primarily in the biotech business sector. His interests include playing guitar, reading Tolkien's fiction over and over, and learning the ins and outs of Linux. William currently resides in the historic community of Williamsburg, VA, along with his fiancé and several old, close friends.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Que; 1 edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789725622
• ISBN-13: 978-0789725622
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,309,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll want this one in your .net library., January 6, 2002

By 

"vmarmazoa" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ASP.NET by Example (Paperback)

Finally! This is actually the first .NET book I've read that does not have the same vague "cookie-cutter" descriptions and examples that I've seen in every other .NET book so far. The authors have a good sense of humor making it easy and fun to read, but they get back to the content just before it becomes annoying. Every example in the book is written in C# as well as VB.NET, which is very cool if you're a VB programmer still thinking about moving to C#. I wish the book had included a CD with all the code, but they've got a website where you can download all of the code. The website is pretty ugly and it was kind of a pain downloading all the examples, but hopefully the authors will read this review, and give the rest of you all a .zip file. Then again this might be the first book I've bought where ALL the code examples have actually worked!

It's a great starting point for anyone interested in .NET, but it won't be the only .NET book you'll need to buy. You'll definitely want another good VB.NET or C# book as well (My favorite so far is "Introduction to C# Using .NET" published by Prentice Hall.)

I took the time to write this review because this was a great book FOR ME. I pre-ordered it... , and I have to say it was worth every penny. It definitely won't be the right choice for everyone, but the following bullets might help you make your decision.

* If you've had some experience with C++, VB or Java, and don't consider yourself an expert, you'll definitely want this book on your bookshelf.
* If the title on your business card reads Web Developer" and you're wondering where your future is going, save yourself some headaches and start it with this book!
* If you've already been experimenting with .NET and consider yourself a more advanced programmer, don't waste your time with this one unless you are looking for something to recommend to less experienced coders.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for ASP.NET Developers, February 19, 2002

By 

"mammoi" (Dayton, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ASP.NET by Example (Paperback)

As the title says "ASP.NET by Example", this book is full of examples that we can use in a day to day ASP.NET web development environment. This book has everything that a ASP.NET Web developer should know.

Simple Statistics
Steven A.Smith, Nicholas Chase, Glenn Cook, Nathen Grass, Vincent W.Mayfield, Wynn Netherland, Scott Swigart and William Wise.

Publisher: QUE Pages: 527 Chapters: 18 (Including Appendix)

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Overview .NET
Chapter 2: An Introduction to ASP.NET
Chapter 3: Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET
Chapter 4: The New ADO--ADO.NET
Chapter 5: HTML/Web Controls
Chapter 6: Using ASP.NET List Controls
Chapter 7: Using ASP.NET Rick Controls
Chapter 8: Using ASP.NET Validation Controls
Chapter 9: Using ASP.NET User Controls
Chapter 10: ASP.NET Applications
Chapter 11: ASP.NET and Web Services
Chapter 12: Custom ASP.NET Controls
Chapter 13: Debugging ASP.NET Overview
Chapter 14: Case Study in Ecommerce with ASP.NET
Appendix A The ASP.NET Syntax
Appendix B The ADO.NET Object Model
Appendix C VB.NET Programming Reference
Appendix D C# Programming Reference

Who is this Book for?

ASP.NET by Example is intended for people with some prior knowledge of Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) technology who are familiar with programming and dynamic data-driven Internet applications. However, you do not need to be an expert with VBScript, JScript or any other scripting language because they play a limited part in the future of ASP that is ASP.NET.

An insight into some of the Chapters

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET is discussed very well in Chapter 3. This chapter gives you an over all idea about the major difference between classic ASP and ASP.NET. This mainly include the new file extensions that we have in ASP.NET, how to maintain state between ASP and ASP.NET, Language differences, how to declare the new Server controls in ASP.NET and so on. This chapter will be very helpful, if we need to convert a Classic ASP website into an ASP.NET website.

Chapter 4 gives us an overall idea about the major differences between ADO and ADO.NET. This has some good examples such as retrieving data from a table, calling stored procedures, inserting records into a table etc. This chapter also has some cool examples that deals with DataReader Object, SqlDataAdapter Object, DataSet Object, DataGrid Control, Repeater Control and DataList Control. Oh Man! You should keep this chapter always open while you are developing a web application using ASP.NET.

Another very interesting chapter in this book is the Chapter 8, "Using ASP.NET Validation Controls". Validating the user input is very simple with ASP.NET. This chapter has several examples that we use everyday. This chapter goes through all validation controls that is available in ASP.NET. RegularExpression is also discussed very well in this chapter. Now, you can use regular expressions to validate any input format that you may have in your web pages.

A vital concept in ASP.NET is the code behind concept. Chapter 9 takes you a tour about "User controls" in ASP.NET. If you wanna learn about creating user controls in ASP.NET, then you should read this chapter. The examples discusses in this chapter can be used in a real time environment. This chapter has a very good example on how to create a "Login user control". This example is a very useful one and is a must for every web site that has secure information that needs to be shared among different users.

Debugging ASP.NET applications is a must for every web developer. Chater 13 has all information regarding how to debug a ASP.NET application. This chapter has a cool example that can be used to "read the contents from event logs". Another interesting aspect of this chapter is the discussion on "Frequently encountered bugs" in ASP.NET.

If you are a ASP.NET developer, then you should have this book. I would rather like to call this book as "ASP.NET MSDN". Grab a copy of this today itself!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great beginner book at good price, December 30, 2002

By 

Victor H. Aparicio (Missouri City, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ASP.NET by Example (Paperback)

I am a Classic ASP developer. The company that I work for has recently decided to pursue .NET for future web development. This was the first book that I read in order to get a grasp of the changes from Classic ASP to ASP.NET. I have to say that this book was a GREAT introduction to a lot of the new features of ASP.NET.

There are a few things I would like to point out when considering buying this book:
1.This is a beginner book. No advanced topics.
2.Good coverage of the different types of controls available in .NET.
3.Quick and easy read.
4.Only basic coverage of ADO.NET.
5.Source code available as a download.
6.Assumes that you have VS.NET although I used ASP.NET Web Matrix.

There were some typos but nothing ridiculous.
Overall I like this book. Good price for a good book.