Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET [Paperback]

Chris Ullman (Author), Rob Birdwell (Author), Neil Raybould (Author), Chris Goode (Author), John Kaufmann (Author)

Book Description

Series: Programmer to Programmer | Publication Date: May 2002

ASP.NET 1.0 is the final release of Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP). It is a powerful server-based technology designed to create dynamic, interactive, HTML pages for web sites and corporate intranets. ASP.NET is a core element of Microsoft's exciting .NET vision, building on the strengths of the .NET Framework to provide many new features not seen in previous versions of ASP.

This book, entirely revised and updated for the final release, will provide you with a step-by-step introduction to ASP.NET using VB.NET, with plenty of worked examples to help you to gain a deep understanding of what ASP.NET is all about, and how you can harness it to build powerful web applications.

This book covers:

* Creating basic ASP.NET pages with VB .NET
* Understanding the concepts of Object Oriented Programming
* Working with Data and XML
* Debugging and handling Errors in your Code
* Using ASP.NET Server Controls
* Creating User Controls and Components
* Exploring the world of Web Services
* Optimizing Performance
* Securing your Application

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Aimed at the programming novice or anyone approaching .NET for the first time, Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with Visual Basic .NET provides a patient guide to the new Microsoft platform used for Web development. Mixing a thorough tour of VB .NET and ASP.NET with background material on relevant Web standards, this title can put basic Web programming within reach for a wide range of readers.

While there are many books that look at .NET, this one starts from the basics and covers topics that are part of the landscape of Web development. For example, this text opens with a discussion of static versus dynamic Web pages, and a survey of earlier Web scripting languages, before turning to ASP.NET itself. Throughout this text there are patient explanations of basic Web and programming standards, like HTML forms, XML, and SQL, that underpin Web development today, whether in ASP.NET or not.

When it comes to ASP.NET, there's an admirably approachable tour of the VB .NET language itself, beginning with basic features and moving on to its more object-oriented features. The emphasis is on tapping the powers of ASP.NET rather than reinventing the proverbial wheel, when it comes to classes. Coverage of new conventions, like the new ASP.NET event-driven programming model, get ample attention. Throughout this text, the authors keep .NET internals (which can often sound esoteric to newcomers) to a healthy minimum.

Other essential APIs like ADO.NET for database programming show how to connect to databases and bind data to controls. Solid coverage of the new support for debugging and tracing in ASP.NET will show you how to get more productive. Several chapters look at how to build re-usable components, whether custom components or code-behind forms. A digestible tour of the basics of the much-touted Web services rounds out this book, which sets a high standard for approachability.

The new .NET can be daunting, but the tutorial in Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with Visual Basic .NET can put basic Web development on the new Microsoft platform within reach for most any reader, whether you have previous VB experience or not. --Richard Dragan

From the Publisher

This book is aimed at relatively inexperienced web builders who are looking to enrich their sites with dynamically-generated content, and want to learn how to start building web applications using ASP.NET. Developers who have a little experience with previous versions of ASP (and are looking to move over to ASP.NET), may also find this book helpful in getting a simple grasp on what ASP.NET is, what it does, and how it can be used. Experience of basic HTML is required, but previous experience of ASP or VBScript is not essential. We'll be teaching the basics of VB .NET in this book, so prior experience of the language is not required.

This is one of two editions of Beginning ASP.NET 1.0. This version presents all code examples in Visual Basic .NET. The C# version of the same title (Beginning ASP.NET using C#, ISBN: 1-861007-34-5) will be available from June 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press; 1st edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861007337
• ISBN-13: 978-1861007339
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,346,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beginner's Delight, November 22, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET (Paperback)

This is a great book for those new to creating web applications. It seems to me that the people that gave it a low rating are the ones that were experienced web developers. This book was not intended for them. On the back cover of the book, it clearly explains that it is for beginners who have no prior experience with ASP, VB, XML, OOP, or the .NET Framework.

This book fit my experience level very well. I had only developed one small web application in classic ASP prior to purchasing this book and I did that over a year ago. I have weak HTML skills and very little experience writing web pages period. However, I have done quite a lot of development in Access using VBA so I am not completely new to programming or databases. In fact, I would say my skills in these areas are at least average if not above.

After reading and working through the exercices in this book, I was able to develop a web-based time and billing application with a Jet (Access) database back-end. I was able to do all of the things that I imagined doing when I conceived this project and then some. It works and looks great! Of course, in addition to the book, I also used a lot of great online resources. But the knowledge and skills I gained from the book provided me with a solid foundation that I feel confident I can build upon.

The examples in the book all worked for me with very few exceptions. I found very few errors, which is important especially in a beginner's book. In addition, I love how this book is true to its title and sticks to VB.NET. My previous experience with VBA gives me a bias in this direction which was satisfied completely.

My only criticism of the book is that the examples are a little simplistic and unreal even for a beginner's book. I believe the authors could have been a little more creative and come up with some real-world scenarios that still would have been appropriate for this level. However, this is only a minor detractor and does not diminish the overall effectiveness of the book.

If you are a beginner, buy this book. It is a great deal especially considering the price. I would buy it again if I were starting over. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you use the book appropriately and are as determined to learn ASP.NET as I am. Hope this helps!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but shows the weaknesses of committee authorship, December 15, 2002

By 

John Harpur (Trim, Meath, IRELAND) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET (Paperback)

First of all, a good number of my undergraduates like this book as it introduces the bare bones required to get something up and running quite quickly. The downside of the book, from my persusal of it, is that it is less even than it could be, or perhaps should be. In many chapters (especially the crucial early ones) examples are often introduced and developed before their key constructs are properly explained. This is simply confusing to naive readers and highly irritating. For instance, the earliest ASP.net script uses "asp:label" without explaining the syntax or semantics for a another few dozen pages.

Unfortunately this is a bit of trend throughout the book and at the very least makes it frustrating. However, once you allow for this, (and it's a big allowance to make) the book is very handy.

It has bundles of scripts that anyone involved in web work will find interesting and useful. You can quibble with some of these (the login scripting for example) contra other books such as Professional ASP.NET, but I suspect this is a byproduct of committee authorship.

The book is clearly aimed at the learner so don't expect Enterprise quality insights into server management. Given the huge range of architectures and technologies available to the developer, producing any 'true' learner book is a considerable challenge. If you need a book for coursework alone, then this will probably meet most of your needs. If you earn your living with the .NET and its companions, then you need some supplementary texts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Beginners to ASP.NET, October 17, 2002

By 

VisualBasicBooks.com (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET (Paperback)

The book is for complete beginners who have no previous experience with ASP. Some experience with HTML is helpful but not required. This book will teach you everything you need to know in order to create dynamic ASP.NET web sites.

The first part of the book will familiarize you with the basic functionality of HTML, XML, ASP.NET, the .NET Framework, and Visual Basic .NET. You will learn how each of these technologies can be used together to create flexible web sites.

The second part of the book introduces the concepts of object-oriented programming. All concepts are explained in detail with the help of many real world programming examples.

After presenting the groundwork, the book then progresses to discussing the technologies and techniques that ASP.NET can draw upon to increase its functionality. These include ADO.NET for data source access, XML Web Services for inter-website communication, and Server Controls for facilitating code maintenance and reuse.

The final part of the book presents ways in which you can optimize your ASP.NET sites to increase their speed, security and robustness. It also offers some detailed advice on code debugging.

This book is highly recommended to beginners who want to learn how to start building web applications using ASP.NET.