Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Core Reference (Paperback)

by Dino Esposito (Author) "ASP.NET is a Web development platform that provides services, a programming model, and software infrastructure necessary to build enterprise-class applications..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Delve into the core topics for ASP.NET 2.0 programming, mastering the essential skills and capabilities needed to build high-performance Web applications successfully. Well-known ASP.NET author Dino Esposito deftly builds your expertise with Web forms, Microsoft Visual Studio®, core controls, master pages, data access, data binding, state management, security services, and other must-know topics—combining definitive reference with practical, hands-on programming instruction. Packed with expert guidance and pragmatic examples, this CORE REFERENCE delivers the key resources you need to develop professional-level Web programming skills.

From the Publisher
Completely revised and updated for ASP.NET 2.0, this book expertly illustrates the intricacies and uses of the technology—in a single, pragmatic volume.

Key Book Benefits:

• Delves into the core, must-know topics for developers working with ASP.NET 2.0, and advances their mastery with essential skills

• Examines the new controls and infrastructure in ASP.NET 2.0 in depth, while also providing the latest information on classic ASP features such as controls

• Provides hands-on code examples to illustrate concepts and build skills mastery

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Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735621764
• ISBN-13: 978-0735621763
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #278,912 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly a reference, April 2, 2006

By	James de la Bastide (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is not quite what I had expected it to be. Many here are saying that it is not a book for beginners, but I think that is not true. The book tends to lean a little more to the fact that the reader is not an experienced programmer and had not used .NET in the past. It has the typical Anatomy of an ASP.NET Page and deployment discussions.

I would not call the book a 'Core Reference' if your definition of a reference is a book to refer back to when you have a specific question on how something works. There is a lot of useful data here, but it is interrupted with trivial examples and in my mind basic knowledge. If you are an experienced .NET developer, a cursory read in the bookstore will be more than enough to get to know the new controls in ASP.NET 2.0. The MSDN will fill in the blanks. This is probably a good book to use as a study guide for the new certification exams, but not a book that I will be using a reference for the ASP.NET 2.0 controls.

Of particular interest are the SQLDataAdapter class and changes in the 2.0 viewstate. The Web Controls are glanced over, but if you know ASP.NET 1.x it doesn't matter. There is a large discusssion on the new Bindable Grid Controls, but they once again are very limited compared to what is available via 3rd party controls (Not an issue with the book, but the controls themselves).

Overall the book is decent. I don't think it is a must have for your programming library, but good to be pick up if you are generally new to .NET and want to work with the latest version.

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, March 1, 2006

By	John Brunton (Roan Mountain, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been programming ASP.NET for 3 years and my knowledge was increased by Dino's book: Programming ASP.NET (ISBN 0-7356-1903-4). This new book, Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 has a lot of promise of learning what is going on "under the hood". While all this information is good/nice to know, it isn't what an experienced ASP.NET 1.1 developer needs to know day one toward learning what is new in ASP.NET 2.0. I would, rather, recommend Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 upgrader's guide (ISBN 1-890774-35-9) to get you up to speed very quickly to the new features in 2.0. It is like looking at the earth from 50 miles high whereas Dino's new book is at the 1 mile level. It is good, no, very good but when your making a living at laying code you don't have time to stop what you are doing and learn new versions (every year or two). That's why I recommend Murach's book for a first look into 2.0 and then Dino's book to fill-in the details.

By the way, excellent work Dino!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, November 10, 2006

By	James F. Houghton (Philippines) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Learning to program is a hands-on activity. The best teaching texts are those that provide example programs which the student can reproduce, tinker with, and observe, to learn the concepts illustrated thereby.

Unfortunately this book does not take that pedagogical approach. The textual descriptions are high-level, supplemented by abstract and simplified diagrams, as well as tables that list in exhaustive (and exhausting) detail the various classes, their methods, properties, &c. One looks in vain however for a good program to illustrate how an actual ASP.Net website might work (I gave up looking after Part I).

The author advises that this book should not be the first to be read on the subject of ASP.Net 2.0. Accordingly, I read a more basic text on the subject, which, through well-constructed sample programs, gave me a firm grasp of the basics and whetted my appetite to learn more advanced techniques I could use to build practical websites. I hoped this book would supply those techniques, but I was disappointed.

This book might be of use to a developer who already knows the essentials of ASP.Net 2.0, and needs a desk reference for use in day-to-day programming tasks. As a learning tool, it is about as useful as trying to learn a foreign language by reading a dictionary.