Product Description

"This book is by far the best computer programming book I have ever bought. You can go into my upstairs closet and find 20-30 books that I have purchased since the days of VB6. All of them have a few useful pages in them, but all together, they could not add up to as much information as you have given me in the first 11 chapters of this book."(A developer’s comment on this book in an email sent to Murach Books)

If you know how to code Windows forms using Visual Basic and want to move to the next level of professional development by mastering web programming, don’t miss out on the practical ASP.NET training that’s packed into this book.

As its title implies, it teaches all the features that are new in ASP.NET 2.0, including master pages, database access using both SQL and object data sources, the new code-behind model, site navigation features, authentication using the Web Site Administration tool and login controls, profiles, themes, and web parts. And of course, it teaches all the ASP.NET features that are unchanged in this release and that you’re going to use every day.

But a lot of ASP.NET 2.0 books say they do that. So here are just a few of the reasons why professional developers like this book so much:

#1: It gives you a 5-chapter section on database programming
Database handling is crucial in business programming, yet it’s glossed over in just a chapter or two in many books. In contrast, this 5-chapter section teaches you how to use SQL data sources and the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls…all new in ASP.NET 2.0…to develop database applications with little or no VB code. Then, it teaches how to use object data sources, also new in ASP.NET 2.0, to create 3-layer applications that let you separate the presentation code from the data access code in an application.

#2: It teaches you ASP.NET 2.0 development the way it should be done, using Visual Studio 2005
Today, no developer should miss out on the productivity features of Visual Studio 2005 by using limited tools like text editors. So section 1 in this book teaches you how to use Visual Studio 2005 to design, code, and test multi-page web applications that get database data and manage session state. Then, later chapters cover time-saving VS tools like the Query Builder and the Web Site Administration Tool.

#3: Complete applications show you how all the pieces interact
The key to mastering ASP.NET 2.0 is to have plenty of real-world applications that guide you in using the new features you’re learning…and that help you avoid the problems that you can run into as you build complex web sites. That’s why this book gives you complete applications, including the web forms, the aspx code, and the VB code.

#4: The distinctive "paired-pages" format* makes learning…and reference…a breeze
A few years ago, a customer used the term "paired pages" to describe our presentation style, and the name has stuck. It means that this book presents each topic in a two-page spread. The right page gives screen shots, code, syntax, bulleted details—whatever is needed to illustrate and summarize the topic; the left page provides extra explanation and perspective as needed. That makes it easy for developers at any level to skim through material they already know and focus on what’s new to them. It means less reading for everyone. And it makes the book a quick and easy-to-use reference guide once you’re done training.

(*To see how paired pages work, you can download free chapters from the Murach web site.)

So if you need to learn ASP.NET 2.0, we hope you'll try this book first. We're convinced that it will deliver the training you need better and faster than any competing book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78349 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 841 pages

Review
If you're a Web application novice who wants to learn ASP.NET 2.0 using Visual Basic, this is the perfect book. -- Guy Barrette, levelextreme.net, 2006

From the Publisher
During the last 30 years, many customers have asked me how it is that a small publisher in Fresno can make the best programming books. The short answer is that no other publisher works the way we do.

Instead of using freelance writers who get no training, we use a small staff of programmers who are trained in our proven writing and teaching methods. Instead of publishing 40+ books each year, we focus on just a few. Instead of showing pieces of code, we provide complete applications that have been checked and re-checked for accuracy. And instead of rushing books to market, we refuse to let schedule or budget interfere with quality. As I see it, that’s the only way to make sure that every book we publish is the best one on its subject.

That’s why I say that no other ASP.NET 2.0 book will teach you so much, so fast, or so thoroughly as ours will. Try it and see for yourself!

From the Inside Flap
To be more specific about what this book presents, here is a brief description of each of its five sections:
• Section 1 is designed to get you off to a fast start. So the first three chapters show you how to use Visual Studio and ASP.NET to design and code both one-page and multi-page web applications that get data from a database. Then, chapter 4 shows you how to test and debug your web applications. At that point, you’re ready to write some serious web applications of your own, and you’re ready for rapid progress in the sections that follow.

• Section 2 presents the other skills that you’re likely to use in every ASP.NET application that you develop. That includes the essential HTML skills, how to use all of the server and validation controls, and more about managing the state of an application than what’s covered in section 1. Then, the last three chapters in this section show you how to use three powerful new ASP.NET 2.0 features: master pages, site navigation, and themes.

• In section 3, you’ll learn how to use the data access features of ASP.NET 2.0. That includes a new feature called data sources, which can dramatically reduce the amount of data access code that you need for an application. It includes some new bound controls that are designed to work with data sources. And it includes object data sources, which make it easier for you to separate presentation code from data access code. This is powerful stuff, so you’re going to want to read this section from start to finish.

• Section 4 completes the set of skills that you need for developing professional e-commerce web applications. Here, you’ll learn how to secure data transmissions between client and server, authenticate and authorize users, use profiles to personalize your applications, use email within your applications, and much more. Then, the last chapter in this section shows you the best ways to configure and deploy your applications.

• Last, section 5 shows you how to develop user controls, custom server controls, and web services. Those are three different ways that you can write code once and reuse it in more than one web application. And these techniques are commonly used in large development shops.

Customer Reviews

Good book, but not for beginners
I purchased this book after reading the excellent reviews. I have decent html knowledge, and some limited asp 3.0 skills. I wanted to start using asp.net 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005. I found myself quite confused with the first one page project in the book. This was because the project is presented as if the reader already has VB 2005 experience. I found similar reviews to Murach's ASP.net 1.1 web programming book. If you are looking for entry level use of VS 2005 with ASP.net this unfortunately is not it. I was hoping to see explanations of different controls in the toolboxes, etc. I will keep this for future reference and keep searching for a good beginner's book.

Not for Training, Barely for Reference
This book is not sure who it is intended for. It states it is for Training and Reference. It is not a training book and as a refence book it leaves much to be desired. If you know anything about ASP.NET the first 300 pages will bore you (so will most of the rest of the book). Whether you know ASP.NET or not parts of the last 200 pages assume you are an expert and even states topics the author raises won't be covered since it is assumed you are already familar. Leaves you wondering who the book is really for.

I feel that most of the content in this book is covered better in Scott Mitchell's ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 hours from Sams, even in one of the two ASP.NET 2.0 Dummies books if you are a beginer. If you are experienced with ASP.NET you will be better served looking at O'Reilly's ASP.NET 2.0 A Developer's Handbook by Wei-Meng Lee. IMHO

The paired pages are not well done. The left hand page supposedly has the description; the right hand page, always referred to as a 'figure' even if it is all text, has: (a.) a summary of the description; (b.) a table; (c.) a very few lines of code, often out of context; (d.) a screen shot; or some combination of these. The description invariably immediately refers to the figure but then lists what you should get out of the 'figure'. On more than half the paired pages there is no need to read the the right-hand page.

An additional complaint with the book is that the granularity required to produce the paired pages is often to granular to convey a complete idea in context, often when this happened the balance of the idea is not presented in the next paired page but later in the chapter as is continually stated by the author, making the book seem disjointed on many occassions.

There is good information in the book but 800+ pages is a lot to wade through to find those nuggets; it works better as a reference than as a training book but even as a refernce it falls down due to the disjointed, incomplete idea presentation. A couple of things in this book not yet found in the others I've read is the new ability to have accelerator keys (Alt+'key'), User & Server Controls.

Before you commit your money and your time tothis book you should evaluate where you are on the ASP.NET learning curve, what you want out of an ASP.NET 2.0 book and whether this book will fit your needs. I think there are better books availble to learn ASP.NET from, regardless of your experience.

Great Book..
At the moment this book is my absolute favorites about Web Programming with VB 2005. If you are interested in this topic, I can only recommend this book. Great Book. Easy to Read.