Customer Reviews

Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 (Pro Developer)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book must have been written to ASP.NET beta 2 because a large portion is out right wrong and the companion content online is just as bad. Even worse most of the things that broke are the cool new stuff like themes & the new data view control. I could go on but you get the point. I contacted Microsoft press and got just an auto response. I also went to Wintellect's web site and there is no mention of the book at all. I'm sure Dino could fix up without to much trouble but I don't event know if he is aware of the situation and I haven't found any contact info for him. That was over a month ago a still no contact.

Samples don't compile. There are a significant number of errors. I tried to contact MS Press but didn't receive a response. I then tried to contact the author using his "Contact Me" section on his web site. I also received no response (waited 3 weeks).

I have the Dino Exposito book, Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0, and I recommend everyone to stay away from it. The company I work for received 2 of these books from a Microsoft rep and I understand why they are giving them away, it sucks. I do have experience with ASP.NET. I have been working with ASP.NET since the release of Beta 2 of ASP.NET 1.0. I started reading this book today and have realized that the content is based on the Beta. After readng the first chapter I have decided to find another book on ASP.NET 2.0. Based on Amazon's and Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/6962.asp) this book was published in August of 2004.

Forget it.

The five star review is clearly written by Dino himself.

Incomprehensible. Doesn't follow any rational order to explain things. Maybe it covers all the new features but you'll never figure out how to use them from this book

This book is written for the BETA version; thus, some of the information in this book cannot be applied to the latest version. Also all the examples are in C# and for SQL Server 2000 not 2005, and if you don't know C# very much or want to use ASP.NET with new SQL server 2005 which is more appropriate to each other, you shouldn't buy this book. Instead there are some newly written books about ASP.NET 2 - look into them.

Folks, Use some common sense.

Beta code=Beta book. P.T. Barnum would be proud.

There isn't anything in here that you cannot get in more detail and more up-to-date informationally on gotdotnet.com. I commend the author for trying to make sense out of a product that (at the time of this printing) did not have a lock-down feature set, had clear compatibility problems, and an incomplete functional UI and features list, and was no where near code complete. He (and others) have taken a subject that will have reams of paper dedicated to it (and hundreds of websites and thousands of KB's and articles) and have compressed it into a book that you will toss as soon as the code IS complete, and everyone and their brother starts creating books with the final specifications and documentation. All that has been accomplished is that they (sic.) managed to get you to buy the book before the software is even complete. Kudos. I have an unfinished bridge that needs funding also.

That being said, don't be an idiot and think that using this as a reference material will make you .NET 2.0 code guru. Half the stuff in here is non-working because IT IS BETA CODE. Therefore the book has about as much value as the code.

Next victim please.

First let me say this book does give an O.K. introduction to the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 and even some contrast to the previous versions 1.0 and 1.1 to highlight the enhancements with v2.0. Also to counter some other reviews that relate to the readability. The books english is fine, even an easy read.

Unfortunately programming books, like this one, that are not properly reviewed are useless. In this book there are a number of errors in the actual sample code (and updated Beta 2.0 code from Dino's website) as well as code that appears written in the book. For example, on page 169 there is code that references firstname,lastname from a SQL Select and then ProductName and Price in the repeater template item. This type of error should not be found in a code book. Had the publisher sent the book to a half-dozen programmers, like myself, for a quick review these errors as well as the problems with the Sample Code not working would have been caught and fixed before publishing.

By the way I have also visited Dino's website and left, now two, messages about issues I'm having with the downloaded Sample Code to which Dino has not replied. This is very frustrating and I'm considering calling Amazon to return this book if that is possible.

I think these errors are because the writer, editor, and publisher are lazy and on a mission to get something out, rather than get something out that is correct and usable.

I would give this book a single star but it is somewhat useful if you need a crash course about v2.0 and therefore not a complete waste of money or time. If the sample code within the book as well as the downloadable code worked as expected I would give it 3 stars.

This book isn't for someone who does not know anything about c# and asp.net. Initial knowledge is required.

Good:
Goes over and mentions many events and methods and properties of new asp.net features

Bad:
Hard to read. You are better off going to asp.net beta website and getting free tutorial before reading this book.

Ugly:
Many of the sample codes do not work.

The author doesn't introduce ASP.NET altogether. It's more about the differences and changes from ASP.NET 1.x to 2.0.
The author doesn't follow a reasonable sequence and shows incomplete examples which do not compile.
If you understand ASP.NET already, then MAYBE this book can help you. Otherwise expect to waste a lot of time trying to make things work like described in the book.

I was surprised when I first heard Dino talk, because he clearly is not a native English speaker. However, unlike one other reviewer who may not have even looked at this book and is basing the opinion on some previous book, not only do I find the written English in this book adequate, I find it quite good. I actually enjoy his written style (as edited, I imagine). In addition, I find this book to be a great source of information about ASP.NET 2.0. I toyed with the thought of giving the book 4 stars rather than 5, since in some respects it is a little outdated (there have been changes announced that will be in Beta 2), but that is cleraly not the fault of the author. If you need to write code in Beta 1, this is a perfectly fine way to learn.