A First Look at ASP.NET v 2.0 (Paperback)

by Alex Homer (Author), Dave Sussman (Author), Rob Howard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Alex Homer is managing director of Stonebroom, Ltd., a software-development, consulting, and training organization. He was formerly lead technical author and reviewer for Wrox Press, specializing in Microsoft Web and database technologies Dave Sussman speaks frequently at Microsoft development conferences and has been writing about ASP since its earliest releases. Rob Howard founded Telligent Systems, a solutions company specializing in Microsoft enterprise technologies. As Program Manager at Microsoft, he helped design ASP.NET's Web services support, caching, session state, and other features. His books include A First Look at ASP.NET v. 2.0 (Addison-Wesley, 2003) and ASP.NET Developer's Cookbook (Sams, 2003).

From the Back Cover

"This book provides a first look at the new major release of ASP.NET. The authors have worked closely with the ASP.NET team at Microsoft to make sure that this book is authoritative, accurate, and informative. Anyone using ASP.NET will find a wealth of useful info on the next version."--Scott Guthrie, Product Unit Manager, Web Platforms and Tools Team, Microsoft CorporationA First Look at ASP.NET v. 2.0 systematically prepares you for Microsoft's ASP.NET 2.0 Web development platform, showing how to use it to reduce development time and costs, improve the performance of Web applications and services, simplify deployment and management, and extend your applications to mobile clients.

Drawing on extraordinary insider access to Microsoft's ASP.NET development team, three renowned ASP.NET experts cover every key platform enhancement, from Master Page templates for standardizing look and feel to improved security and data- access controls. They go far beyond already published white papers and previews, presenting detailed development techniques, best practices, and sample code that will give you a running start with ASP.NET 2.0.

This book's detailed coverage includes:

• Streamlining database integration with "code-free" data binding and ASP.NET 2.0's new data source controls
• Using Master Pages to improve your control over application look and feel
• Strengthening security with membership providers, security server controls, cookieless forms authentication, and the new Role Manager
• Simplifying personalization with ASP.NET 2.0 Themes
• Building fast, flexible portals with Web Parts and the new Portal Framework
• Delivering more effective mobile device support--with less complexity
• Previewing new ASP.NET 2.0 controls and changes in existing controls
• Using Microsoft's powerful new .NET and built-in administration tools

Whether you're already developing with ASP.NET, or preparing to migrate from ASP, A First Look at ASP.NET v. 2.0 gives you complete information for assessing ASP.NET 2.0--and making the most of it.

0321228960B10202003

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (October 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321228960
• ISBN-13: 978-0321228963
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,229,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful!, February 6, 2004

By A Customer

I ordered this book a few weeks after ordering my tech preview copy of Visual Studio.NET "Whidbey" and got them both in the mail on the same day. I've read the book and am just starting to work with the amazing new tools, technologies and techniques it describes, and I can't remember the last time I was this excited about an upcoming developer tools release. ASP.NET 2.0 resolves 99% of the issues I have with ASP.NET 1.x and introduces lots of new mind-boggling features that I never knew I needed, but now I wonder how I ever lived without.

If you're an ASP.NET developer and are planning to upgrade your skills to the new platform, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this book. I read it in about two weeks of bedtime reading and could have finished it in a few days if I'd invested any real time, so it's not a big investment of effort to get through. The authors do a great job of sticking to just the new features and assuming that their readers all know ASP.NET 1.x pretty thoroughly, so there was little wasted space. All code samples were in VB.NET, which was a little weird, but it was very refreshing not to see the same code repeated in VB anc C#, which so many books do to pad their page count.

If I have one complaint about the book, it's that there is no reference in it to the sample code and applications available online. The authors have a web site with working versions of all of the example applications used in the book, along with downloadable code so those of us with the tech preview of Whidbey can have a good starting point. Here's the URL:

http://www.ipona.com/samples/

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dated...already?, December 14, 2004

By	Charles Chen "Keyboard Jockey" (East Windsor, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First of all, anyone interested in this book should turn to the MSDN library for the latest info and samples. The problem with this book is that it's _already_ outdated in terms of the features that will be included (and not included) with .Net 2.0.

While it does "hold your hand" as you play with the shiny new toys in ASP.Net 2.0 like GridView and DetailsView, what will ultimately happen is that you will find yourself being confused by what's in the book and what's actually implemented since the framework hasn't even been finalized yet and is constantly being updated (i.e. ObjectDataSources and ObjectSpaces).

My personal recommendation is to skim this book in a bookstore (or pick it up used) to get an idea of some of the features that are in version 2 of the framwork.

Aside from the above, I find that the contents really focus more on UI and some of the additions to ASP.Net such as GridView, DetailsView, Membership, Personalization, WebParts, etc.; there is really no discussion about some of the other features of .Net 2.0 (framework as a whole) which are rather significant like Generics.

In the end, I think this book isn't going to occupy much of your time or interest or fill any particular need that can't be filled by visiting MSDN for the latest info on .Net 2.0

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cutting Edge, November 29, 2003

By	Philip Williams (Loganville, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unfortunately I don't have the ASP.NET 2.0 Alpha, but I do have this book, which is certainly the next best thing. I have to admit, I wasn't sure how much I would get out of a book like this without having access to the software being discussed, but the chapters actually manage to be interesting on their own merit.

If you're an early adopter or subscribe to the "knowledge is power" model, then this book makes an excellent read. Going through this book should give you an edge over developers that wait for the final release of ASP.NET 2.0.

The only downside to this book is the fact that I now can't wait for the next VS.NET to arrive. "Whidbey" looks to be a MAJOR upgrade for VB/C# web developers (unlike the 2003 upgrade).