Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 [Paperback]

Dino Esposito (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0735625271 | ISBN-13: 978-0735625273 | Edition: 1

Get the practical, popular reference written by ASP.NET authority Dino Esposito—now updated for ASP.NET 3.5. An in-depth guide to the core features of Web development with ASP.NET, this book goes beyond the fundamentals. It expertly illustrates the intricacies and uses of ASP.NET 3.5—in a single volume. Part of Microsoft Visual Studio® 2008, ASP.NET 3.5 includes AJAX functionality, the Microsoft Silverlight™ cross-platform development tool, new controls, and new integration features. This pragmatic guide covers these new features, and also includes coverage of Windows® Communication Foundation, LINQ, and other key Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 capabilities. Complete with extensive code samples and code snippets in Microsoft Visual C# 2008, this is the ideal reference for developers who want to learn what’s new in ASP.NET 3.5, or for those building professional-level Web development skills.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dino Esposito is a well-known ASP.NET, AJAX, and Microsoft Silverlight&#

Product Details

• Paperback: 1128 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (February 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735625271
• ISBN-13: 978-0735625273
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Development > .NET

More About the Author

Dino Esposito is a well-known ASP.NET and ADO.NET expert at Solid Quality Learning, a global provider of advanced education and mentoring for Microsoft technologies. He speaks at industry events, including Win-Dev and Microsoft TechEd, contributes to MSDN Magazine and other publications, and is the author of several Microsoft Press books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A hasty retread, May 18, 2008

By 

M. Magner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 (Paperback)

From the opening and throughout this book, it seems obvious that this is a hasty retread of a previous ASP.NET 2.0 edition. Most tellingly, there are numerous explanations of the way that ASP.NET 2.0 improved on such-and-such a feature of ASP.NET 1.0 or 1.1, which seem of little relevance to those looking to upgrade themselves to the latest ASP.NET. Other material and examples also seem written for an earlier time.

The meat for upgrading programmers is not only somewhat obscured in the clutter of old stuff, but is very thinly sliced when found. For example, one of my principle objectives in buying the book was to understand LINQ better, but the chapter on LINQ offers little more than a summary of the LINQ notes freely available on Microsoft's web site.

On the plus side, as owner of other books by Dino Esposito I notice that his writing gets better with every book, and he is now among the most adept of authors at clearly explaining many topics. For someone new to ASP.NET, this book can be considered seriously, but a better book exists (see my reviews).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shine with insight, July 8, 2008

By 

Ying Jin "geektrick" (Gaithersburg,MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 (Paperback)

Sometimes just recover the earlier ground may not be a bad idea at all, if previous coverage was good and thorough. Dino's new treatment of ASP.NET falls into this category. His earlier books on ASP.NET 1.x and ASP.NET 2 did such good job that for ASP.NET 3.5 iteration, what he needs to do is to repeat those good coverage with new material for new stuff. And I think he achieved this task hands-down.

But for a book buyer, that can pose a delima. I already had Dino's Programming ASP.NET and to this date I am still referencing it again and again, and should I just pay $40 for just the LINQ and Ajax stuff? It is a hard call.

If you are not an owner of Dino's ASP.NET programming books before, buy it and enlighten yourself with Dino's insight. If you are an owner of Dino's previous ASP.NET book, pay close attention to Chapter 19, 20 and 21. Dino's insight on what direction ASP.NET as a web programming platform move forward worths the admission. Ajax is not just a repackaged JavaScript library, it requires rethinking how web programming model should evolve, and Dino seems to understand Microsoft's long term goal.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive source of information about ASP.NET, January 27, 2009

By 

M. Dikov (East Bay, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 (Paperback)

This book is an excellent source of information about ASP.NET 2.0 to 3.5, for developers new to ASP.NET and experienced ASP.NET 2.0 developers. I picked the book to prepare for the 70-562 exam. Even though the book does not contain verbatim texts and exercises to prepare you for the exam, it contains all the required material and teaches you how to use ASP.NET 3.5.

I found very useful the chapters about HTTP handlers and HTTP modules as well as the chapter on the ASP.NET page life cycle. The author uses accessible language to describe complex topics.

The AJAX programming part of this book is rather weak. It covers mostly UpdatePanel. This is good enough to get you going from ASP.NET 2.0 and to get you through the certification, but is not sufficient to write good AJAX applications in ASP.NET 3.5. For a deep dive in AJAX I recommend "Developing Service-Oriented AJAX Applications on the Microsoft Platform" by Daniel Larson.