Introduction
Murach has been regularly publishing updated new editions of
their existing programming oriented books as and when a new version of the
software is released by the relevant companies. This fact is indeed true for
their Microsoft centric books. Murach's
ASP.NET 3.5 Web Programming with VB 2008 is an update to Murach's ASP.NET 2.0
Web Programming with VB 2005 edition. First, I would like to point out that the
new edition is a massive book with 29 chapters divided into 5 sections.
Inside the Book
Section 1 provides a solid introduction to ASP.NET 3.5 with
special reference to the development of single and multiple page web application
and also the steps required to test and debug them. The chapters in section 2
help you to work with standard controls including validation and also provide a
detailed coverage of state management, master pages, site navigation and
themes.
Section 3 examines the usage of data oriented controls such
as GridView, DetailsView, FormView, ListView, DataPager and various data
sources such as SQL, Object and LINQ. The author has examined the new controls
included with ASP.NET 3.5, such as DataPager, which I feel is a big bonus for
beginners. This section also examines the usage of LinqDataSourceControl with
the help of a sample application.
The chapters in Section 4 provide a detailed overview of the
procedure involved with securing a website. It examines the concept of
authentication, authorization, usage of profiles, advanced controls, such as
MultiView, Wizard and a concise overview of WebParts. This section also helps
you send email using ASP.NET 3.5 and also the usage of custom error pages, back
button control and also the steps required to configure and deploy an ASP.NET
application.
The author has devoted a separate chapter which examines the
usage of AJAX and its server controls including a demonstration of the steps
involved with the development and deployment of a sample AJAX project. I hope
this chapter will be highly useful for intermediate level developers.
The final section examines the development of user and
custom server controls including an introduction to Web Services. I would like
to see a case study which examines the development of either a shopping cart or
web based invoicing application by utilizing all the discussed concepts in the
next edition of the book. It would be great if the author examines the
development of ASP.NET 3.5 application for Mobile and Pocket PC's. I feel that
readers especially those who purchased the previous edition of the book expect
some new content to boost their learning skills.
The author has examined the concepts in each chapter in a
uniform style beginning with an introduction followed by relevant screenshots
and description of important information in tabular format. I hope the
description in bulleted format will help a beginner to grasp the concepts
quickly. I feel that the author has provided a long explanation to discuss some
of the concepts and developers tend to skip them. Some readers, especially
beginners, opt to learn the concepts quickly rather than spending too much time
in reading the content. I hope the author will keep this point in mind while authoring
future editions of the book.
The book also includes Appendixes which provide a short
overview of the installation procedure involved with Visual Studio Express
Edition and also about the usage of source
code available for download from the website of the publisher. The author
has also provided the steps required to work with ASP.NET applications using
IIS under both Windows XP and Vista. These appendixes will help beginners a lot,
but advanced developers tend to skip them as they might be already aware of the
topics covered in it. I would prefer to see a short coverage of the development
of ASP.NET application using Mono under Linux Operating System in the next
edition of the book.
I feel that the book is bit difficult to carry from one
place to another due to its size. I also found it difficult to place it on both
my system and study table. However, the coverage of the content is extremely
good and I would recommend it for any developer who would like to master
ASP.NET 3.5 over a span of 3-6 months time. Experienced developers who are well
versed with ASP.NET 2.0 can directly jump to the content relevant to ASP.NET
3.5. Computer training centers can use the book to impart training for its
students for a course spanning 6-8 months. The publisher has released an Instructor
CD for the book which will be available upon request. It contains
PowerPoint presentations which they can use during classroom training including
Student projects and solutions, Testbanks and other supporting materials.
It would have been better if the author had provided a ready
reference sheet on the back of the book with a list of new features included
with ASP.NET 3.5 along with the relevant chapter numbers. I would also suggest
the author to provide multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter so
that students can access their knowledge immediately after learning the content
provided in each chapter.
The complete extract of the first two chapters is available
for download
from the website of the publisher. If you are unsure or confused about the
content of the book you can download the PDF files of the chapters and examine
them before purchasing the book. As of this writing, the publisher has released
a C#
version of the book for the benefit of C# developers. The content is
similar to that of the reviewed book except that code listings are provided in
C#.
Conclusion
The author examines the concepts with the help of a demo
application and I feel that by the time you finish the book you will be in a
position not only to develop an application from scratch, but also will master
the essential aspects of ASP.NET 3.5 effectively. The author has written the
book in a lucid style with plenty of illustrations and I recommend the book for
all developers who want to effectively master ASP.NET 3.5 with Visual Basic
2008 without any hesitation.
About the Book
