Building ASP.NET Server Controls (Paperback)

by Rob Cameron (Author), Dale Michalk (Author)
Key Phrases: web form, class file, text box, Visual Studio, Event-Based Programming, Integrating Client-Side Script (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The authors start out with very basic 'write' statements, but they progress into a sophisticated control -- one that includes templates, CSS styling and data binding.</a></p> </blockquote> <p id="quoteAuthor">&#8212; Paul Schaeflein, schaeflein. This book is great for learning how pages and controls work in ASP.NET.</a></p> </blockquote> <p id="quoteAuthor">&#8212; Aaron Weiker Weblog</p></div>

<p>This tutorial and reference will benefit you, the dedicated ASP.NET developer. If you understand the gains of object-oriented development, and want to apply those principles to ASP.NET and server control development, then this book will be your guide! <p>

In fact, this book is the most up-to-date text available on the market. Hot, new topics of discussion include mobile server control development (for supporting mobile phone web application development), and how to utilize the latest versions of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the .NET Framework 1.1.

About the Author
Rob Cameron is employed with Microsoft Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been with Microsoft since 2000, working in premier support where he provides issue escalation management and developer advisory services to Fortune 500 enterprise development teams. Prior to his employment at Microsoft, Rob worked as an independent consultant developing software on the Microsoft platform for over 5 years. He has a master’s degree in Information technology management and a bachelor’s degree in computer science. A former Naval officer and Naval Academy graduate, Rob enjoys spending his free time with his wife and two daughters.

Dale Michalk is employed with Microsoft Corporation in Dallas, Texas. He has been with Microsoft since 2001. He helps promote .NET as a development platform and assists companies interested in migrating to new technologies like ASP.NET. A former Army officer and West Point graduate, he spends his free time chasing after his 2-year-old daughter, who keeps him extremely busy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 880 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (October 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590591402
• ISBN-13: 978-1590591406
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #939,244 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop here...Buy This Book!, December 23, 2003

By	E. Engelstein "glsac" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

OK, first off I am not sure what the other reviewer was ralking about...he gave the book 5 stars, but take note that this is not an ASP book (see the title), and this is not from Microsoft Press..it is from Apress. Now that I have said that, I want to go on with my review.

First of all there are only a few books out there like this now, and none of them come close to this one. This one will really teach you how to write your own server controls, and will show you how to do it for ASP.NET using C#...oh yeah, they use Visual Studio.NET (thankfully) and they also do it code behind (there is no other way for server controls, but in general they use VS.NET like it should be). The code which can be downloaded from Apress also works, and is updated for VS.NET 2003.

In regards to the book, the author(s) make this book a fairly easy read. The first few chapters go through a bit of ASP.NET and then explains about HtmlControls and WebControls. The author explains the differences between the two, and when and why to use each one in a specific scenario. The book goes on to talk about OOP in general and how it fits in (they don't expalin OOP, but they show it and make passing references, not a lot...throughout the book, I have seen less than a total page worth, but they put it in the right spots). The chapter on Viewstate is excellent, and the chapter on binding and creating your own repeater server control inheriting from the DataRepeater was an eye-opener.

The last 5 chapters in the book deal with more complicated server controls. The author dedicates time to speak about mobile controls...I read it quickly since I don't really do that, but it seemed good. Then there is a chapter which puts a lot of things together (everything you have read in the book so far) and shows how to make an image gallery (well sort of..it's more than just a gallery of course). The last chapter deals with how to use the Google API and create your own search engine...which was very cool.

The author dedicates time explaining attributes and how they are used for server controls. He also spends time showing how to create a server control that can be easily put into VS Designer, which is good for someone selling a custom control. There is so much more to say, but Amamzon limits my words to 1000, and I have not slept in 36 hours...deadlines, and this book helped a ton!

Just to end off, this book is C# (not VB.NET), and it is for advanced programmers working with ASP.NET...this book did not give a primer on C# or ASP.NET (thanks Dale/Rob). The authors know what they are talking about, and the book is easy to read.

Enjoy!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to creating custom ASP.NET server controls, February 25, 2004

By	MCSD for Microsoft .Net (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

I really like this book. Chapters 1-3 are rudimentary in that they explain the different types of server controls (html controls vs. web controls, and user controls vs. custom controls). Towards the end of chapter 3, however, you get into the real work that pays dividends. You create a custom web control that inherits from System.Web.UI.WebControls.TextBox. Great stuff! Then the authors provide a quick overview of design-time attributes since these are found in the automatically generated code when creating a new web control library.

The remaining chapters, 4-14, are progressively more advanced and discuss custom control state management, adding events to your controls, data binding, mobile controls, validation, and design-time support (among other topics). You gradually learn how to create very sophisticated custom controls that reduce your need for any 3rd party components. This book is simply a must for anyone serious about leveraging the power of inheritance to implement very useful - and ultimately time-saving - custom controls.

The authors also explain concepts in a clear, straightforward manner and assume little regarding the reader's knowledge of controls. Rob told me in person that he put a lot of effort into this book, and his hard work is evident by the quality of what's written in Building ASP.NET Server Controls. Buy it today and watch your code benefit from it.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to write server controls the right way, March 7, 2005

By	Mark Mason "upstreamm" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent spiral approach to custom controls. This book hits
the ground pushing best OO practices and use of the helper
classes and methods from the API. Examples build toward
very professional code. Prose is lucid, clear and friendly.
Flow is fluid and well paced. What more can you ask for?