| Author: |
Joel Murach and Anne Boehm |
| Paperback: |
841 pages |
| Level: |
Beginner to intermediate
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Readability:  |
Layout:  |
Examples: |
This is an excellent book for entry to mid level ASP.NET developers. It is a well written book with good examples including the development of an online store. I was extremely impressed by the previous Murach book I had read, "Murach’s Beginning Visual Basic.NET", so I was slightly disappointed when I read this one. Note that my disappointment was based on my extremely high expectations and not because the book was bad. Quite the contrary, it was a good book to get someone up to speed quickly on ASP.NET. I just wish they had included the objectives and exercises which I found so useful in the other book. I guess I can't be too harsh about this because very few books include these.
This book is strong on showing how to develop ASP.NET applications with Visual Studio 2005. If you are looking for a book which is strong on the how-to then this may be the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book on theory such as object oriented programming and database design, then this would not be the best book for you.
The 841 page book is broken into 5 sections.
1. The essence of ASP.NET web programming
The first 150 pages is the basics of using ASP.NET in VS2005 including testing and debugging. It includes a lot of information related to getting around in Visual Studio 2005.
2. Basic ASP.NET skills
This section starts off with some basic information on HTML and builds into using server controls, managing state, and using validation controls, master pages, and site navigation.
3. ASP.NET database programming
This section is 5 chapters. It gives you step by step instructions on using SQL Server for your web application. While short on database theory, it provides just the right amount of information to get you productive quickly.
4. Professional ASP.NET skills
This section delves into more advanced concepts such as securing your website, authenticating and authorizing users, as well as using email and web parts. It even goes into deploying the application.
5. Developing reusable code
The final section covers user controls and developing custom server controls. It ends with a chapter on web services.
This book is one of the best there is for getting you up to speed quickly on a real world ASP.NET 2.0 application.
Order Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with C# 2005