Rating: 
Summary: Worst book
Review: I bought this book thinking that the case study will help to learn more but at several place there are errors in the code. On top of that you can not down load the code from web www.aspnet-solutions.com to check and correct your code. Sent several emails to author but no reply. DO NOT BUY this book
Rating: 
Summary: Website Improved
Review: I just wanted to comment because I noticed this book being knocked for not having complete source code and for having missing links on the website. The problems seem to have been rectified. Thumbing through the book for over an hour at the bookstore gave me the strong impression that this is a very good book to aid any self taught programmer in improving their techniques, following better practices than they may have developed on their own and/or through clipping ideas off the internet. It also seems to include many/most of the types if things that a real-world web programmer would want to know how to accomplish.
Rating: 
Summary: Something for Everyone but a number of holes
Review: I was a 10+ year Windows programmer w/ fairly minimal Web development. This book suited me well in some ways and poorly in others.As the name implies, each chapter jumps right into a situation and most do a pretty good job of stepping through topical pieces of technology then tying it all together into a small application. There were a few chapters in particular that gave me an immediate jump into a real-world function I needed. For that reason alone, it was probably worth the purchase. The topics covered are fairly broad. I, personally, found myself not seeing much use for some chapters but think that many would feel differently. The language of choice alternates every other chapter between C# and VB, with the earlier sections discussing snippets in both, but the main application at the end is only covered in one. This makes it harder to follow if you're only focused on one. The biggest problem is that the source code is generally only snippets in the chapters and not available on the website in many cases. Having gone to print nearly a year ago, it is very frustrating to still find the same "source code coming soon" placeholders for roughly 1/3 of the chapters. This made many of the chapters all but unusable to me. Overall, the approach is more real world than most books, and the techniques can give interesting ideas or even be put into the site you're working on as you read, but without the source code, much of the book goes to waste. Check the book's site (www.aspnet-solutions.com) before you buy!
Rating:
Summary: Something for Everyone but a number of holes
Review: I was a 10+ year Windows programmer w/ fairly minimal Web development. This book suited me well in some ways and poorly in others. As the name implies, each chapter jumps right into a situation and most do a pretty good job of stepping through topical pieces of technology then tying it all together into a small application. There were a few chapters in particular that gave me an immediate jump into a real-world function I needed. For that reason alone, it was probably worth the purchase. The topics covered are fairly broad. I, personally, found myself not seeing much use for some chapters but think that many would feel differently. The language of choice alternates every other chapter between C# and VB, with the earlier sections discussing snippets in both, but the main application at the end is only covered in one. This makes it harder to follow if you're only focused on one. The biggest problem is that the source code is generally only snippets in the chapters and not available on the website in many cases. Having gone to print nearly a year ago, it is very frustrating to still find the same "source code coming soon" placeholders for roughly 1/3 of the chapters. This made many of the chapters all but unusable to me. Overall, the approach is more real world than most books, and the techniques can give interesting ideas or even be put into the site you're working on as you read, but without the source code, much of the book goes to waste. Check the book's site (www.aspnet-solutions.com) before you buy!
Rating:
Summary: Looking for a book with good examples? Not this one
Review: I'm about half way through this book and its poor. The idea is good but the examples are full of security holes and the companion website still has "coming soon" messages for some of the source code.Some examples are supposed to be written in C# but switch to VB half way through. These are not best practices. It appears the author cares more about getting the next version out than supporting this version. DONT BUY THIS BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for a book with good examples? Not this one
Review: I'm about half way through this book and its poor. The idea is good but the examples are full of security holes and the companion website still has "coming soon" messages for some of the source code.Some examples are supposed to be written in C# but switch to VB half way through. These are not best practices. It appears the author cares more about getting the next version out than supporting this version. DONT BUY THIS BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: Very good book!
Review: One thing I love about case study books is how they help you take your skills to the next level. Sometimes applying your skills in more advanced ways is a struggle. This book has helped me do just this in a few chapters. While not every case study will hit the "nail on the head" for your current need, I think that there is something here for everyone. It's certainly been beneficial to me. Justin B.
Rating:
Summary: Returned the book
Review: The examples that can be downloaded are a disaster.
The examples in each chapter have to be downloaded separately.
Most of the examples require a separate log in to run them and in some cases the log on is not accepted. When you finally get logged in you may end up with a "A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected..."
The code just does not exist for many of the examples, e.g. chapter 20 (dead link), chapter 15 (no code is available). The book was returned the next day!
Rating:
Summary: Returned the book
Review: The examples that can be downloaded are a disaster.
The examples in each chapter have to be downloaded separately.
Most of the examples require a separate log in to run them and in some cases the log on is not accepted. When you finally get logged in you may end up with a "A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected..."
The code just does not exist for many of the examples, e.g. chapter 20 (dead link), chapter 15 (no code is available). The book was returned the next day!
Rating:
Summary: Best for classic ASP developers
Review: This a great book for transitioning knowledge without a drastic paradigm shift, as it doesn't rely heavily on data binding. (not like EVERY other ASP.NET & ADO.NET book I've picked up.) Great alternatives presented (and performance-wise, they probably run more efficiently). Also a great learn-by-doing book, instead of a language reference. Made the connection for me.
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