Customer Reviews

Real World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First off, the source code that accompanies the book is very useful (I use it to run an intranet) and it can be extended to display the content in a manner very different than the original author envisioned.

That said, I think this book could be used as a classic example of how not to write extensible, maintainable code. Rather than demonstrate the power and ease of ASP.Net using datagrids and user controls, the content lists are constructed using loops and tables, and the form to edit content is repeated no fewer than 3 times. In order to filter the content before displaying it to the user we run a test on every row to determine if it meets the criteria rather than using a DataView and a filter. I am currently converting the code to a cleaner implementation and I find I am deleting an average of 2 pages of code per page, with no loss of functionality.

When talking about content management I would have expected some sort of elegant promotion system, instead we are offered a custom page complete with custom code for each promotion, in spite of the fact that the only thing that changes between pages is who is allowed to perform the promotion and which state it is being promoted from/to.

This book will not teach you to create flexible software that can be easily adapted to changing requirements. It will teach you to create brittle software that requires an inordinate amount of effort to make the simplest changes (replacing the editor textbox with a WYSIWYG control shouldn't require modifying 3 separate pages -- and I have the code to prove it).

Before you allow the other eternal pessimists who wrote reviews on this book to sway you away from the purchase, think twice.

Yes, this book steps you through the concepts and coding techniques to build a "smaller scaled" CMS with C#. The author comes right out and admits that. It would take a 4,000+ page book to outline the creation of a larger scaled $60,000 CMS with all of the bells and whistles. The author is well aware of that. What this book does give, is well rounded lessons on CMS concepts as well as the code and strategies behind building a C# CMS. It's meant to get you going and in almost all cases you're going to have to customize it to your needs.

Even though I found that the author repeated come concepts when I pretty much got the point, I would rather have him over explain things than under explain. I did favor his writing AND coding style.

In conclusion, I feel the knowledge I gained along with the code supplied with the book, will give me a nice kick-start to building my own custom CMS. I'm the Webmaster for a large college that just saved themselves $60,000 by investing in this book.

I have to laugh at the lazy critics of this book who wanted a full blown CMS application in C# done for them. This book makes it clear that it's the "start" of a CMS application explained in an educational style. It has a great foundation for expansion, so role up your sleeves and do it. You can join some of us who are doing exactly that at http://sourceforge.net/projects/cmsnet

In Real-World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System, Stephen R.G. Fraser presents an overview of the elements of a Content Management System, and builds a Content Management System in ASP.NET using C#. In short the book covers basic information about Content Management Systems, Workflows, Version Control and Personalization, but also introduces the reader with ASP.NET, Database Development, and XML.

The book is divided in fifteen chapters which consist of the following major subjects:

Definition of a Content Management System -- explains the elements of a Content Management System;
Basics of Web Architecture -- explains the basics of Web Architecture, the presentation, application and database layers;
ASP.NET, C#, and Visual Basic .NET -- introduction to the .NET framework and it's Web scripting languages;
ADO.NET -- explains the database basics and objects;
Authentication -- authorization, and encryption of content and the system;
Personalization -- defines Personalization and how to use it;
The book also has a website, at www.contentmgr.com, were you can see the Content Management System you will build live-in-action. Also you can download the companion source code of the Content Management System that will be built through out the book at the publisher's web-site: www.apress.com, go to Downloads and choose "Real-World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System" to download it.

Analysis
The first five chapters of the book start with explaining the elements of a Content Management System, so it's told that a Content Management System consists of a minimum of three elements: the content manager application (CMA), the metacontent management application (MCMA), and the content delivery application (CDA). After the writer explains the basis of a Content Management System and its terminology, the writer continues with explaining the aspects of version control and workflows.

The next chapter is about the basics of Web Architecture, it will explain the reader about the classic n-tier client/server architectures which consist of the following layers: Presentation Layer, Application Layer, and Database Layer. As mentioned in the book the only difference with the classic n-tier client/server and the Web architecture is the presentation layer which will be via a web browser instead of an operation system specific executable.

The next three chapters make space for an introduction to the .NET Framework , ASP.NET and the language C# but also Visual Studio .NET. In a tutorial kind of way you will build a Dynamic Content Viewer. Once you are done with this viewer you will step in the world of database development, in the chapter "Database Development and ADO.NET". In this chapter you will learn how to use the database functionality available in Visual Studio .NET and ADO.NET. You will also build some examples were you read data from a database and showing it in a Data Grid, and last you will be altering the Content Viewer you made in the previous chapter to work with ADO.NET.

After all this information has been thrown at you it's time to really start building the Content Management System ("CMS"). The first thirty pages of the second half of the book are spent explaining how to install the included source code. The next chapters in the book will guide you how to make the several parts of the CMS. From implementing Authentication or a control panel where you can add or remove your stories. Of course there is information how to display dynamic content and how to implement support for Workflows in your CMS.

Verdict
When you have finished reading Real-World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System, you have all the information you need to build your own CMS successfully. If you build a CMS for the first time this is the book you want. Very well explained it implements the theory you learned in the first chapters into a nice ASP.NET based CMS that you can use a kick-start for your own CMS. The book is really meant for the Web developer. After the first five chapters the content of the book will get too technical for your editor or designer. In short it's a great book, together with a book like Content Management Bible which you in my opinion you already should have on your desk, you have perfect combination to start building your own CMS.

When I bought this book, I was expecting pages upon pages of code with little explaining. I thought it would simply be a cheap way of getting a CMS for my site. Boy as I wrong! This book provided me with much of the theory about CMSs that I sadly lacked, and provided details about CMSs that I could not find anywhere else, like what makes up the core of a CMS. I liked the book's detailed explanations about Version control and Workflow, but the coverage of personalization was especially insightful, such as when he showed how the law of diminishing returns applies to it. With a firm backing in theory, the book continued by actually applying it. I wasn't let down: there was a lot of code. But there were plenty of detailed explanations along with it. This is truly Real World ASP.NET

Outstanding resource. I rarely encounter technical books such as this that clearly articulate concepts with sufficient detail and substance.

I really appreciate the fact that the author provides content updates and more on his website, where you can get downloads, fixes, etc. to the content in this book. He's been extremely helpful to me in answering questions. The combination of the book and that has been a boon for our CMS efforts.

"I was looking forward to reading this book, and thankfully, author Stephen Fraser didn't let me down. He starts off with a bang in his introduction, commenting that the one feature all Content Management Systems (CMSs) have in common is that they are all overpriced. I couldn't agree more. With this book, Fraser attempts to prove this claim by providing readers with the knowledge of building a CMS from the ground up using the Microsoft .NET Framework. So not only do readers finish the book with a fully functional CMS, they also benefit from the experience with a real-world working knowledge of .NET in action.

Fraser covers everything from CMS workflow to content conversion and personalization. Although anyone can download and use the complete CMS from Apress' Web site, only those who have spent the time and money to read this book will fully appreciate the author's work. The final CMS certainly doesn't match the capabilities of commercial systems - for example, there were no chapters dedicated to interoperating content workflow with rich client applications such as Microsoft Word - but the system does provide users with a platform to build additional .NET richness into the system. Perhaps Fraser can continue to evolve the system into the PHPNuke of the .NET world." - Mike Riley, ASP.NET Pro Magazine

I'm amazed by the book, really. it's so user friendly and easy to grasp that it's beyond the good, hence excellent. i didn't find one useless sentence. all of it is just cash. the first chapters explain what the content managment is and afterwords it's just real code examples of content mangagment system and you really need these first chapters to understand:' hey what are we really talking about here?'.
I must say again, i'm amazed, but that's probably because i'm the target gruop and i fit in Stephens way of geting things explained. so i was so exited about this author that i checked others books of his, and belive it or not i found one which i think is the one of the best computer book i have ever red, i think it's not one of the best,it is the best..but that's another subject.
Really in this content managment system book you get only cash and you have so much fun. and you find yourself thinking 'why is this so perfect, can this complicated subject get a little complicated so you don't get all things served on the plate?'
With this book,It's extremely easy to comprehand this complicated subject(CMS).
The conclusion is that you get CMS for price of a book, it means you get all the code which you kan download from Internet.
again, amazing..
my background: 4 years in programming world, java,c++, asp.net

sincerely
anonymous

Some other reviewers have stated that the code in this book is very weak for any type of large-scale system. I couldn't agree more. While the first several chapters of the book do a good job of explaining the complexity of content management, the second half of the book intends to actually create such a system. The system created is fine for VERY basic sites, but my hunch is that anyone exploring the realm of CMS has a complex enough site to warrant a complex, robust solution. This book creates a basic system, but that's about it. Anyone looking to books for "real-world" solutions should find a different book.