Rating: 
Summary: The best "Dummies" book I've ever read
Review: This book is an EXCELLENT reference book for someone who wants to expand their knowledge of ASP.NET. I am an experienced IT developer who had just taken a course on ASP.NET at my local community college. The last book that I thought I would be recommending is a "Dummies" series book.
Although Mr. Hatfield does an excellent job of covering the basics, what really makes this book priceless are the tips and examples. I've used many of Mr. Hatfield's tips to not only supplement my knowledge of ASP.NET but to also answer questions on the ASP.NET forum. This book will help you understand ASP.NET. It does not show you how to use MS Visual Studio .NET.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book... but no C#
Review: This book taught me quite a bit, with 2+ years of C++, and some Javascript knowledge, I really had no clue about ASP.NET or working with the .Net class libraries(granted this book does not go in depth into those libraries, but the MSDN library does;-)). This was the very firt programming related book I have ever read 100%(the rest kinda got too boring). I followed the book with all the examples and now I am making ASP.NET pages very easily. The book also provided me with a good introducton to VB.NET, but my company is using C#, so now I am converting the VB.Net to C#, but alot of the concepts in the book helped me in doing that. I still use the book as a reference, though I can't give five stars cause it didnt cover C#. I highly recommend this book to people who have never touched ASP or .NET stuff, its a great introduction.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing, poor examples
Review: This book was a major disappointment for me. I have found the Microsoft Press Series like Microsoft Asp.net Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic.net Step by Step to be both easier to understand and more comprehensive. I just found the book to be utterly confusing. The examples are childish and have no real world bearing.
Rating:
Summary: Laying a Solid Foundation
Review: To be quite honest I have not been a big fan of the "Dummies" series, but author Bill Hatfield has written a real gem. He seems to have a clear understanding of the skill set of his target audience - novice programmer. Yet he treats his audience with respect with intelligent dialog delivered at an even pace. This combines to create a solid foundation of learning. I was particularly impressed with Part III of Chapter 6 'Classy Objects and Methodical Properties.' In this section he introduces the reader to programming objects, a sometimes-intimidating concept. By using a "real-world" example - his car, he clearly constructs and then breaks down the components that constitute an object. Outstanding through and through. If you are new to programming and interested in learning the basics of ASP.net I highly recommend this book.
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