If you wish to learn the core topics of ASP.NET 2.0, then Essential ASP.NET 2.0 was specially written for you. Authored by Fritz Onion and Keith Brown, the book delves deeply into the core aspects of ASP.NET 2.0 in less than 400 pages with supporting source code and screenshots.

The first chapter examines the architecture behind ASP.NET 2.0 with the help of a looping example including coverage about Code Behind files, the Page Life Cycle, Events, and Compilation related concepts. The author clearly provides the purpose behind the different directories such as App_Browsers, App_Code, App_Themes, etc. The second chapter provides concise coverage of user interface elements; Master Pages, Themes, Navigation controls, and Control adapters.

Chapters 3 and 4 explore Data Binding and State Management techniques. The author has explained the wizard and MultiView controls in Chapter 4. The next chapter covers all the aspects related to building secure web application, and it examines the new login controls, usage of Membership class, Configuration of Role Manager, Machine Keys, File Encryption, and other advanced concepts.

Chapter 6 explores completely how WebParts are used in a step-by-step manner and with the help of complete source code in C#. I hope that this chapter will be very useful for developers towards their quest to develop powerful ASP.NET applications. The final three chapters examine some of the advanced concepts such as Diagnostics, Performance, Caching, Client callbacks, and the aspect of Asynchronous web access. Each chapter ends with a short summary.

I would suggest the authors include a short chapter about various Toolbox controls so that beginners need not purchase another book. I believe that it could be somewhat difficult to understand the content included in this book without first understanding the fundamentals of ASP.NET. The author provides code samples in C#, but I feel that it would be great if the authors could provide code in Visual Basic 2005 as well as a separate code download.

Moreover, the authors should provide a project at the end of the book so that readers can utilize it to experience the rich features of ASP.NET 2.0. I would not recommend the book for novice programmers as they would find it difficult to grasp the content on the book since it has been written from the point of view of more advanced developers. I also feel that the book price is little higher than it should be, and I hope the publisher will take note of this point while publishing the next edition of the book.

That aside, the authors have done well in presenting some of the complicated aspects of ASP.NET 2.0 in less than 400 pages. I believe the book is an ideal addition to a collection of reference materials for those developers who are well versed with ASP.NET 2.0 and for those who are addicted to coding.