Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide: C# Edition (Paperback)

by Doug Lowe (Author), Joel Murach (Author) "In the fall of 2005, Microsoft released the final versions of its long-awaited update to Visual Studio and the .NET Framework for developers..." (more)
Key Phrases: Visual Studio, Category Maintenance, Web Forms Designer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
What's new and how to use it! That's what this book delivers if you're a C# developer who wants to upgrade from ASP.NET 1.x to ASP.NET 2.0. In contrast to other books that present the what's new but ignore the how to, this book uses complete business applications to show you exactly how to take advantage of all the new, work-saving 2.0 features.

That means you'll get hands-on training in using: the new code-behind model that untangles aspx pages from their code-behind files; master pages, themes, and skins to standardize the look and feel of a site; data access features like the Access, SQL, and XML data sources and new bound data controls like GridView, DetailsView, and FormView; and object data sources that let you bind to custom business objects so you can create true 3-layer applications without sacrificing the convenience of data binding; site navigation features; login controls; profiles; web parts; the MultiView and Wizard; and more.

Beyond that, this book shows you how...and when...to convert 1.x applications to 2.0 and warns you about the problems you're most likely to encounter when converting. It shows you how to deploy your 2.0 applications to the production server. And it shows you how to use the new configuration tools to tame the ever-sprawling web.config file.

From the Publisher
If you’re a C# developer who’s going to be upgrading to ASP.NET 2.0 from ASP.NET 1.0 or 1.1, this book can save you many of hours of research. It can do that because we’ve already done that research for you. Then, we put that information into this single book that will help you upgrade to ASP.NET 2.0 as quickly and easily as possible.

Unlike most competing books, this one doesn’t just tell you what the new features are and how great they are and then let you figure out how to use them on your own. Instead, our book also shows you exactly how to use all of the new features so you get the most from them. That’s why we say that the purpose of this book is to show you: "What’s new and how to use it."

Like all our books, this one has features that you won’t find in competing books. That’s why we believe you’ll learn faster and better with our book than with any other.

Here are just three of those features.
• To make sure that you learn the new ASP.NET 2.0 features as quickly and easily as possible, all of the features are presented in the context of complete applications. These applications include the web forms, the aspx code, and the C# code. As we see it, the best way to learn is to study applications like these, even though you won’t find them in most competing books.

• Unlike many ASP.NET books, this one shows you how to get the most from Visual Studio 2005 as you develop your applications. Because we’ve found that this IDE is one of the keys to development productivity, we’re still surprised that most books ignore or neglect it.

• If you page through this book, you’ll see that all of the information is presented in "paired pages," with the essential syntax, guidelines, and examples on the right page and the perspective and extra explanation on the left page. This not only helps you learn faster by reading less, but it is also the best reference format that you’ll find anywhere. That’s why this book works so well for both training and reference.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates; C# ed edition (July 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890774359
• ISBN-13: 978-1890774356
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #828,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, September 7, 2005

By	publicjoe - See all my reviews

I returned home from a long day at the office a few days ago, to find a shiny new copy of Murach's latest offering on my doorstep. I've got to say it, I like their books, and this one does not disappoint the reader.

The same great layout of "paired pages" has been used, where the left hand page has an explanation of how to achieve certain goals, and the right hand side has guidelines, syntax and examples. These right hand pages make a great reference guide after you have initially read through the book.

At 500+ pages, this book is aimed at the C# developer who wants to upgrade from ASP.NET 1.x to ASP.NET 2.0. This book is based on Microsoft's Beta 2 release of ASP.NET 2.0, and should be compatible with Visual Studio 2005 when it is released.

What's Inside
The book is split into four sections, each comprising of several chapters. One of the most helpful chapters, often missed out in other books, is the appendix, which walks you through installing the software you need to get you creating asp web pages.

Section 1 - Introduction to ASP.NET 2.0

The book starts out by describing what is new in ASP.NET 2.0 both in the language and in Visual Studio 2005. Quickly you move on to develop a shopping cart application, which gives you hands-on experience with the new code-behind model, data sources, and cross-page posting. Finally this section covers the new master pages which make it easy for you to create web pages that have common elements. You can download chapter 3 - master pages for free from Murach's web site.

Section 2 - ASP.NET 2.0 Data Access


This section begins by covering SQL and XML. It then moves on to the new GridView control, that lets you display the data in rows and columns of a table, while making it easy to manipulate and maintain that data. Next, two new Views are introduced, the DetailsView and FormView controls. These are ideal for any application that displays bound data one record at a time. Finally this section shows you how to use object data sources to implement 3-layer applications in which the data access code is kept in data access classes and separates out the presentation code.

Section 3 - New ASP.NET features

This section begins by covering the new features that make it easy for users to navigate to the various pages in your site. It then moves on to the new Web Site Administration Tool and login controls. These control user access to a site without you having to write a single line of code. Next, you create user accounts with preferences in the shopping cart application. Next the new MultiView and Wizard controls are introduced, these let you divide a page into multiple views or steps that can handle data changes, and you can navigate between the views or steps without writing any C# code.

The next chapter shows you how to use themes to give a consistent look and feel to a web site. Then Portals (web pages that display modular content that can be customized by the user) are discussed. Finally the last chapter in this sections discusses some of the minor features and controls that you should be aware of but that you probably won't use every day.

Section 4 - ASP.NET 2.0 in practice

This section begins by showing you what is involved in converting your old ASP.NET applications to ASP.NET 2.0, including whether it is worth the trouble of converting them or whether you want to maintain them as 1.x applications. It ends by explaining how to use ASP.NET 2.0's configuration tools to control the ever-expanding web.config file.

Source Code
The accompanying source code can be found on Murach's web site. As ever, the source code is a great boon when learning, as it clarifies what the author has written.

Summary
This is a clear and concise book that will give you a good understanding of the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 using C#. A fine addition to any programmers bookshelf!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Upgrader's Guide, October 16, 2005

By	K. Starnes (Battle Ground, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's always a challenge to publish a meaningful upgrade guide. The reader needs to know the version differences in a quick, but meaningful manner. This book does exactly that. It continues the "paired pages" format: how-to on the left page and examples on the right. The new 2.0 code-behind-model, master pages, data access features, site navigation, login controls, profiles, themes, web parts, and other new 2.0 changes are covered. In addition, the new features of Visual Studio 2005 and new C# languages features are discussed.

As a professional developer, I need information that is accurate and easy to understand. This book qualifies on both counts.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for developers moving to ASP.NET 2.0, September 28, 2005

By	Ace Raccoon (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 upgraders guide C# is a must have for developers moving to ASP.NET 2.0. The book covers all the important new features of ASP.NET 2.0. The chapters do an excellent job at explaining exactly what has changed, and what this means for the developer. For example, the chapter about the GridView explains how this will replace the DataGrid. Although the DataGrid will still be available, the GridView is preferred and offers much more functionality.

The book was very easy to understand especially since the material was broken down into very clear sections. After explaining a point such as Master Pages, the authors reinforced the ideas by including a summary of what they talked about. This was helpful because sometimes it made it much clearer seeing the concept in another manner. The code samples were easy to follow and will be helpful for any future code I write.

The best feature of the book is the coverage of the new data sources. The authors cover XML, SQL, object, and Access data sources. In the object data source chapter the authors clearly illustrate how this new data source fits into a 3-tier design. This could be very helpful to developers looking to follow best practices.

I would recommend this book for all developers, not just developers migrating to 2.0. After reading this book I can't think of any topics that the authors left out that I would like to see. I have seen a couple of books that have already come out for ASP.NET 2.0, and this one is by far the best one I have seen. After reading the book, I think this will be the only book I will need for ASP.NET 2.0 reference. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars!