Rating: 
Summary: Only partially updated for IIS 5.0..
Review: I'm not sure I can add much to the other reviews here, other than to state that the book is only partially updated for IIS 5.0 (Windows 2000) in my opinion. Nearly 30 pages are devoted to coverage of CDONTS, none of which will operate on any out-of-the-box Windows 2000-based web server I know of.There is zero coverage of CDO for Windows 2000 (a/k/a CDOSYS), which is considerably more powerful and flexible than CDONTS, and in my opinion, represents the "right" way to do things for any new code (even if CDONTS is available on *your* Windows 2000 Server). Otherwise, this book is rapidly becoming my favorite ASP reference -- one that's a lot handier than pulling-up the MSDN Library web site every time I forget a property name or method syntax (which is a lot more often than I care to admit in public).
Rating:
Summary: Very concise reference
Review: I was first introduced to this book by a fellow employee at my work. I'm 15-years old and I had minimal knowledge of ASP about 2 months ago. After learning the basic syntax of ASP and the conditionals, function declarations, etc., I really needed a good reference for ASP development. I use this book to look up built-in-functions and objects on the fly. It provides a very good tabbed layout which makes it easy for me to find the functions. The only thing I'm disappointed with this book is the explanation of some of the functions. It has very good examples for some functions, but only single line definitions for others. Aside this fact, I think this is a great reference to use, especially when you don't want to search through the MSDN Library collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book to brush up ASP concepts before moving to ASP.NET
Review: I was an ASP programmer several years ago after which I moved to a different technology. Now, I need to come to speed on .NET, but unfortunately all the ASP.NET books make innumerous references to the old ASP which I have almost forgotten. The book helped me *VERY* quickly go through ASP 3.0 and now I feel very comfortable reading the .NET books and can now truly appreciate ASP.NET. A GREAT reference book!
Rating:
Summary: The best ASP book for an experienced VB programmer
Review: I recently made a successful transition from client server to web applications. I credit part of the success to this book. As a VB programmer, I wasn't interested in a long book on all aspects of the VBScript language and COM objects. What I needed was a book that explained the HTTP protocol and ASP object models. This book filled that function exactly. This is not a good book for programming novices, and will be no more helpful than a reference manual would be to them. However, experienced VB programmers will see it as fulfilling both instructional and reference roles. It is a book you will read on repeated occasions and always keep close at hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to use Reference
Review: I'm a bit disappointed by this book. To use it as a reference, it is too incomplete, some methods just aren't explained. A reference of VBScript is also missing and overall there is little information to get the big picture of how asp works. So as a beginner you will miss basic informations about ASP, as advanced programmer you will get angry when you find out that exactly the function you want to look up isn't there.
Rating:
Summary: Good reference and code samples, but...
Review: Somewhat in a rush and while trying to learn ASP I purchased this book. I thought it was aweful and it collected dust for nearly 6 months while I searched elsehwere to boot myself up on ASP. However, now that I'm fairly proficient at ASP, this book has been helpful as a reference. No so much for the actual reference value but becasue the sample code helps put things in perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Needs a VBScript/JScript book to complement it...
Review: Be warned, if like I did, you think that this is the only book you'll need to be able to build ASP scripts; you're very much mistaken. Whenever I recommend this book, I always recommend it alongside VBScript in a Nutshell as you really need knowledge of an ASP supported scripting language before you can use ASP in a Nutshell to it's full potential! This is yet another reference book that I've owned both editions of because I thought it was useful enough to update; but then, my site is developed using ASP, so I'm probably biased in this respect. Ok, so I got the 1st Edition late on in the game and was a little reluctant to part with cash for the new edition - but as IIS 5 started to become standard for Windows hosting, and I had access to it after getting Windows XP Pro... I thought it was about time I updated it. ASP in a Nutshell is my first point of reference when I'm looking up the properties of a particular ASP object. I've also found it an invaluable guide for connecting and manipulating ASP scripts that used ADO for data storage and manipulation. For a while it was the only book I owned that covered the issue of connecting ASP scripts to databases. Most of the installable components I'd never heard of before getting the book, just as well really because few are of much use - even if they aren't available on your system, a lot can be easily reproduced. The areas I find myself most frequently refering to are the main set of ASP objects, the FileSystem Object and the ActiveX Data Objects. These go into enough detail to keep all but the experienced programmers happy. For those new to the Windows scene, there is a brief but detailed guide to setting up ASP to work with your IIS server; but it's hardly rocket science since a clean install of IIS will set up most (if not all) of what you need anyway! If you use ASP regularly, or you intend to, then ASP in a Nutshell should be on your desktop... but please remember it won't fulfill all your ASP development needs without another book to fill in the language gaps. What book you choose to accompany it depends on your language and experience... I personally like VBScript in a Nutshell.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: This is a wonderful reference. It is not for the beginner, but it is easy to understand and very straightforward with great, consise examples. Truely a find, it replaced multiple other ASP books that I had. It has good descriptions of every ASP object, server side includes, global.asa ActiveX objects and more. Buy this book now.
Rating:
Summary: Good lightweight reference
Review: This book is good for what it's suppose to be: a light reference for intermediate or better programmers. It covers every important topic like ADO and FileSystemObject. It doesn't go into detail on every property or method, but it tries to cover all the major ones clearly with good examples. Don't look to this book as a tutorial or a comprehensive reference; it's more like a quick lookup for topics you're at least partly familiar with.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is terrible! Don't waste your money!
Review: I am a longtime ASP developer, and I do this for a living. I've read any number of ASP books written by people who don't know what they're talking about, but this one is definitely the very worst. The book is poorly formatted, poorly written, riddled with technical errors, and is a total waste of your time if you a serious developer. I wouldn't waste my money on this turkey.
| 
