.NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide (Paperback)

by Steve Milroy (Author), Steve Milroy (Author), DotThatCom.com (Author), Amit Kalani (Author), Ken Cox (Author) "The past century has brought about many changes in information and communications technology, from the invention of the telephone and broadcast technologies to the invention..." (more)
Key Phrases: mobile information server, questions about this chapter, mobile controls, Visual Studio, Data Table, Outlook Mobile Manager (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide provides a solid foundation for developing mobile applications using Microsoft technologies. With a focus on using ASP.NET and the .NET Mobile Internet Toolkit, .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide will give you the insight to use Microsoft technologies for developing mobile applications. This book will also show how to avoid having to customize the output of your application.

About the Author
Wei Meng Lee is Series Editor for Syngress Publishing's .NET Developer Series. He is currently lecturing at The Center for Computer Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore. Wei Meng is actively involved in Web development work and conducts training for Web developers and Visual Basic programmers. He has co-authored two books on WAP. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. Several books in the .NET series, VB.NET Developer’s Guide (ISBN: 1-928994-48-2), and ASP.NET Developer’s Guide (ISBN: 1-928994-51-2) and C# .NET Developer’s Guide (1-928994-50-4) are currently available from Syngress Publishing.

Steve Milroy is a Mobile/Wireless Technologist and is currently with a nationwide e-solutions company, Immedient. He is working on a number of WAP, VoiceXML, and wireless middleware projects. Steve has presented at developer conferences, user groups, and business associations on various wireless development and infrastructure topics. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Steve now resides in the United States. This experience in the Australasian and US markets gives him a broad and unique view of wireless around the world.

DotThatCom.com David Jorgensen (MCP) is an Instructor at North Seattle Community College, University of Washington Extension campus, and Puget Sound Centers. He is also developing courses for Seattle Vocational Institute, which teach .NET and Web development to the underprivileged in the Seattle area. David also provides internship opportunities through his company DotThatCom.com, which does online sample classes and chapters of books. David holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from St. Martin’s College and resides in Puyallup, WA with his wife Lisa and their two sons Scott and Jacob. David is a contributor to Syngress Publishing’s C# .NET Web Developer’s Guide (1-928994-50-4).

Patrick Coelho (MCP) is an Instructor at The University of Washington Extension, North Seattle Community College, Puget Sound Center, and Seattle Vocational Institute, where he teaches courses in Web Development (DHTML, ASP, XML, XSLT, C#, and ASP.NET). Patrick is a Co-Founder of DotThatCom.com, a company that provides consulting, online development resources, and internships for students. He is currently working on a .NET solution with contributing author David Jorgensen and nLogix. Patrick holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Washington, Bothell. He lives in Puyallup, WA with his wife Angela. Patrick is a contributor to Syngress Publishing’s C# .NET Web Developer’s Guide (1-928994-50-4).

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928994563
• ISBN-13: 978-1928994565
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #792,454 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Couple of gems, the rest are rocks!, April 4, 2002

By	Anil John (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book.

Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in a book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about a particular book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions:

* The book title. What specific technology does it focus on?
* Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point?
* Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit

This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered.

The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls.

All code samples are in VB.Net

Grade: Pass

Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework

A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them.

Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls.

Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant.
I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators

A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc.
A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices.

Grade: Pass

Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT
This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point.

But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET

One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications.

I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions

This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product.

At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application

I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code.

It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices.

Grade: Pass

Conclusion:

Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind.