Customer Reviews

Beginning DotNetNuke 4.0 Website Creation in C# 2005 with Visual Web Developer 2005 Express: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: From Novice to Professional)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well. If someone is going to buy a book on DotNetNuke in C#, probably that person is very unlikely to need a basic intro on the language.
So, the topic actually starts at page 143 (which on a ~370 pages book it almost means half of it).
Regretfully, I bought it since it has a chapter on modules programming in C# (DotNetNuke uses VB, so I liked the possibility of using another language). Wrong, the initial instructions corrupted my configuration files and the chapter got confusing. I basically ended up closing the book, got the official DotNetNuke documentation and figure things out on my own. I could have saved 40 dollars.

This book advertises that it is first and foremost about DotNetNuke 4.0, and it is the first book out on 4.0. That should have told me something. The book focuses on teaching you how to use and install, Dot Net 2.0, Visual Web Developer Express, and it has a chapter teaching you how to use C#. The first two should already be understood by a person trying to setup and use DotNetNuke.

C# is introduced and described, as I said earlier, in one chapter. However you can't teach C# in one chapter. What results is a mishmash of advanced and beginning topics with nothing covered in depth.

With so much devoted to C#, VWD, Dot Net 2.0, DotNetNuke gets short shift and no 4.0 topic is covered in enough depth. Simply put he doesn't do enough with DotNet Nuke and too much with peripheral topics.

The big issues, Module Development, Skinning and site administration are just not adequately covered.

Wait for other books on DotNetNuke. Hopefully they'll do a better job as most are written by members of the development team.

This is a book for very beginners. The title deceives saying that it is from novice to professionals. Don't waste your money.

Maybe have been too generous evaluating it with two stars.

This is supposed to be a book on developing a web site. He promises that you do not need to know programming or useless information about .NET. Then he devotes half the book to doing a Windows form for entering hours work, explaining basic HTML tags, reviewing the history of ASP - ASP.Net and uses some complex C# examples in object oriented techniques which have nothing to do with DotNetNuke and are never implemented again. This is what someone does who is paid by the publisher per word! This is supposed to be a Web form book! This book does not take you from "Novice to Professional". Read the DotNetNuke documentation instead. I'm sorry I spent the money.

Average book. Had tons of trouble with understanding this book, especially when trying to download and install. Found some errors. Average. Might be so better books on Dot Net Nuke. If not it is decent.

Basically the book is a collection of the most common information already provided on the DotNetNuke site. Module development was basically non-existent.

Not being terribly familiar with the Microsoft family of development technologies, I was completely unaware of what DotNetNuke was. My first guess would have been the latest virus du jour to hit Microsoft. But the book Beginning DotNetNuke 4.0 Website Creation in C# 2005 with Visual Web Developer 2005 Express: From Novice to Professional by Nick Symmonds does an OK job of introducing the reader to the basics of what you're dealing with... an open-source portal framework for .Net development...

Contents: The Basics; The Express and DotNetNuke Combination; Installation; Basic C#; Visual Web Developer; DotNetNuke Basics; Creating a DNN Module; Finishing the DotNetNuke Module; DNN Permissions and Portals; DNN Hosting; Creating a DNN Skin; JavaScript and Ajax; Next Steps and Suggestions; Index

Symmonds tries to cover quite a bit of material in this book, any one of which could take an entire book on its own. You would best be served to have an understanding of C# before you begin, as this is really not a C# tutorial. He does create a "time card" application in C#, which then becomes the basis for a DNN module in the later chapters. There's material on how to install the express versions of the Microsoft development environments for web and C# coding, but again it's not a definitive reference. It's enough to get you up and running, and then you can launch off from there once you follow the directions for this particular exercise. The main thrust of the book is to show how DNN can help you development portal-like web sites using the open-source framework, and how a program written in a language such as C# can easily be ported over to run as a web-enabled module. I don't think I'd want this to be my first exposure to web development, nor is it a book that an expert would use on a daily basis. But for someone like me who had no previous reference to DNN, it served a purpose... good introduction to understand the capabilities, and enough material to take me through the basics. If I were to decide that this was an option I wanted to pursue, I'd "know what I don't know" and could find additional material that would take me deeper into the subject...

Given the right mindset, the book is good for what it sets out to do. But if you've already done things with DNN, you might find it a bit too basic for your tastes... I personally liked it because I came away with knowledge I didn't know existed prior to this...

This book is a brief introduction into the world of DotNetNuke. It will get you started, but it will not lead you into advanced topics. This book is geared towards people curious and interested into DNN. This book is not for developers, unless DNN is completely new to you. The author is good about making steady progress throughout the book, not losing his audience. I must say, this book is for Novice to Competent User, not proffesional. Good Luck.