Rating: 
Summary: Good but wordy
Review: Like most Wrox books I've read, this book contains lots of easily understandable information, but it is not as concise as it could be. Still, I learned to use ASP from this book and I recommend it.I have done a little Visual Basic and HTML coding, and to me this book seemed too basic in parts. The first part of the book is about how the server deals with HTML and about VBscript. The book doesn't really get into ASP until about page 170. The examples are usually short, which is good. Too bad the examples are not more self-contained. The authors too often illustrate a new point by saying "use the code in the previous example, but with the following changes..." That's just lazy. A complete new code listing for each new topic would have been more helpful. If you are a beginner and you don't mind wading through a lot of words (1000+ pages worth) and a somewhat boring book design, get this book. It will teach you a lot. If you are a very experienced developer, this book will be too basic - look elsewhere (the Wrox book Professional Active Server Pages 3.0 seems popular with reviewers on Amazon).
Rating: 
Summary: Kaufman and company are fine instructors.
Review: John Kaufman's et. al. greatest strength, apart from their technical knowledge, lies in their willingness to describe the most fundamental aspects of the subject at hand. They do not make assumptions about their reader's expertise: they explain everything in detail, from how to set up your PC to serve ASP pages locally (so that you can type in "real" URLs like http://YourComputerName/filename.asp)in order for the ASP to run, to how create basic HTML documents with sophisticated forms, text input fields and drop-down boxes. Their teaching method is simple and effective: Present a concept using clear language, cogent explanations, real-world uses, even analogies and metaphor! , then a sample program. The student types the example, runs it and compares his results to a screenshot in the book. After the program has run correctly the student is presented with several paragraphs of "How It Works" -- step-by-step explanations of what each line of code does. Each lesson builds on previous ones, although the authors interject the lessons with "this concept, which was presented in Chapter 4..." to reinforce key ideas and to help you find the original lessons should you want to refresh your memory. I found their style refreshing in a world of PC books that gloss over fundamentals; I very much prefer an author who explains everything as opposed to one who does not provide enough information. Because of this I am looking forward to buying "Beginning ASP Databases" and "Beginning SQL Programming". Keep up the great work.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best introductory books ever
Review: This text is so packed with information, it even goes beyond asp and introduces XML and COM+....so well written, so concise, publishers throughtout the country need to learn from wrox' writers on how to do technical books right! Every bit of code is explained in great detail, and while there are some errors, the website covers nearly all of them. Case in point: I won't be selling my copy back!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy For Anyone Just Starting Off In ASP 3.0!!!!!
Review: I found this book to be absolutely amazing!!!! It is so easy to learn from and the format is extremely easy to follow. And although it is a beginners book, you'll already be writing some very useful code about a quarter of the way through. The best part of it is that it gives the reader an exercise in every section of the book, to review and practice what's already been covered. After that, the authors go through the example step by step to explain exactly how it works. I already have some programming experience in C++, Java, JavaScript, Assembler, and Pascal. Now this book covers VBScript throughout the book and introduces the reader to it almost from the start. So already knowing other languages made it even easier for me to learn VBScript, but even if you've never touched programming, this book makes it easy to learn VBScript. The authors teach it in a way that anyone at any level can learn it quickly. The explanations are excellent, the terminology clear, and it just teaches you what you need to know to program ASP. Nothing more, nothing less. In other words, I'm sure that you'll be very well prepared to program ASP after using this learning tool. The next best thing about the book is that it teaches you to apply your new-found skills in VBScript to programming ASP, and that's part of every exercise in the book. The authors even went as far as explaining how to install and configure IIS (Internet Information Services) which comes with Windows 2000. IIS supports ASP 3.0, and since most people run ASP on an NT or Win2k server, this was a definite added bonus. In other words, this book doesn't skip a step when it comes to learning what you set off to learn in the first place, namely ASP3.0. If you're interested in learning ASP 3.0 and would like to program in it using VBScript, then this is a must buy. I give it 2 thumbs up!!!!
Rating:
Summary: GOOD PRICE
Review: Fairleigh Dickinson University | ASP Developer YOU WILL NEED IT
Rating:
Summary: An Essential For Beginners
Review: All programming books are both overwritten and underwritten. When you begin reading and learning the content is simply too much. As you progress you find yourself seeking other resources for "filler" information. I didn't realize until I grew frustrated with the book how effective it was. I had gone from a complete beginner to someone who could put together access driven web applications and I didn't even realize how far I had come. I now have over 30 programming and database books that is use as resource guides for particular problems etc. Each book helps me get past a certain problem/hurdle. Like a lawyers library I couldn't proceed without it. That is simply the nature of programming these days. We beginners often underestimate the amount of knowledge expert programmers have. The trick is to take what we can from each resource. In order to progress we must keep adding to the resource collection. This book is the staple of my collection. I refer to it almost daily and as my knowledge base expands I find myself making better use of it. So its a must for the beginner in my opinion. Whether you just want a foundation to take free script from ASP Programming sites, edit it, and add it to your projects or you are looking to chase a programming degree or career this book gets you rolling.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Introduction to ASP
Review: This book is a very good introduction to ASP. The codes are clearly explained step-by-step. The codes are also accompanied by screenshots of how they look on the browser. In addition, it covers almost all basic topics as well as a few advanced topics for more exeperienced programmer. Definitely a good buy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Start for ASP Coding
Review: In the beginning of Chapter 3, there is a paragraph that sums up the entire book: "When I first started to study Chinese my tutor ... gave me a Chinese-English dictionary, a Chinese grammar book and a primer. But he placed all of these books in a basket and said they were not to used until the next week. In the first week he instructed me just to listen and and memorize some phrases. That week, I had to accept on faith the content, sentence structure, pronunciation and grammar. But by Friday I could at least walk into a Chinese restaurant, order a bowl of rice and pay for it." That pretty well desribes how this book progresses. The authors start you off with some simple ASP and then build on that in the later chapters. I basically went chapter by chapter and did all of the "Try It Out" projects. By the end, I could understand ASP code and I was able to adapt it to the project I was working on. The book is rather wordy, but not in a boring way. The authors' target audience is people with almost no programming experience, and I think they do a good job explaining things to that audience. I had done some web coding before, so I usually skimmed the text to look for the techniques I was not familar with. As I worked on my real-world project, I would refer back to the book when I wasn't sure how to do something. I like the book because it has lots of hands on examples, right up to a full blown web application called "Wrox Classifieds". It's easy to look up a specific ASP technique and get right to the explanation of how it works and how to code it. An added benefit are the Appendices, which include a complete description of the ASP 3.0 and ADO 2.5 Object Models and a VBScript reference. If that's not enough information, they have a website with a messgae board on which you can ask specific questions and get answers from more experienced ASP coders. My only criticism of the book is the "support" provided by the publisher. Wrox was sold to Wiley a couple of years ago in a bankruptcy proceeding. You are supposed to be able to open a ticket with their technical support if you have problems getting something to work. I tried to open a ticket, and all I received was an e-mail from Wiley saying they weren't sure if they would support the book but they would get back to me. They never did. That experience, however, has not dampened my enthusiasm for this book or other books by Wrox.
Rating:
Summary: Best book i've read on ASP
Review: I was really looking for a book that gave me a good introduction to ASP and ADO and i just stumbled on this book. It was great from the very first chapter! They have a tremendous flow and do not assume stuff. Their explanations on Object oriented programming is very fresh. Throughout the book if you carefully test the code, you learn alot about creating flexible ASP web pages with full MSDE connectivity. Of course it helps if you already do some programming indeed on the cover they have the words 'programmer to programmer'. Too bad ASP 3.0 has now been superceeded but i think if you really want to understand the current you must visit the past!
Rating:
Summary: Good Deal Good Price
Review: If your going to Fairleigh Dickinson University and your taking up ASP Developer will need this book
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