In this book the authors try to take a step by step approach to explaining ASP.NET AJAX. The book is filled with "Try It Out" sections. In these the reader may follow along with a step by step process which will leave the reader with a little sample. Once the sample has been completed there will be a step by step explanation of what has just been created. This method lets someone dive right into creating some code which is not too difficult, and then each part of what was created will be individually explained.

The authors try to stay on topic during the chapters, and achieve this by only explaining small portions of what is needed at a time. They will then have a not informing you of which later chapter contains more information on a specific topic. This allows them to give the reader some necessary information while not steering too far from the current section. This is great because if something was not explained very well one can skip ahead to learn a little bit more.

This is a beginners' guide to ASP.NET AJAX, and the book tends to stick with this. The topics become generally more complicated as the book proceeds. Keep in mind one could read merely the first few chapters of this book and then run off to write some ASP.NET AJAX. As the book progresses the reader will learn more advanced knowledge. I believe this will help someone get a leg up if the next book he or she reads will be Professional ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX.