Rating: 
Summary: A "Must-Have" for any Web Application Developer
Review: As an ASP developer trying to make the leap to .NET, I have purchased several books on the subject. This is the first one I've found that approaches the subject with clarity, precision, and lucidity rarely found in books of this type.The code examples are excellent. They are simple enough to be easily accessible to those who are new to .NET, yet all are grounded in the real world, and have relevance to the types of applications one might often write. The chapters are laid out in a way that the reader can progress logically through the typical web application development process. The chapter on XML Web Services was as good an explanation of the topic as I've seen anywhere. Kudos to the authors (obviously no-nonsense, real-world developers) for a job well done.
Rating:
Summary: Learn ASP.NET the Right Way with Code Behind & Visual Studio
Review: I can't believe the recent two less-than-stellar reviews of this book, because I found this book to be absolutely top-notch. I moved from VB6 to VB.NET (Windows programming) not too long ago, but I had never done any Web programming. Someone had recommended ASP.NET Unleashed. It has lots of little code examples, but they're chock full of response.write's (yuck!). It also assumes you'll be using notepad as your code editor (double-yuck!). In contrast, Programming the Web with Visual Basic .NET is a complete tutorial that explains how to develop Web applications and services the right way. It uses Code Behind exclusively, gives great tips for designing usable Web pages, and takes you through the Visual Studio way of developing ASP.NET applications. The sample code is useful and interesting. I especially appreciated the chapter that shows how to use the .NET trace features to understand exactly how the Web page processing sequence and control tree works. I also loved the examples on using resource files to localize pages for international users and on developing a "breadcrumb" custom control (and why you need breadcrumb links). The database chapter on ADO.NET was exactly what I needed to understand the Visual Studio tools for handling the disconnected datasets used in scalable Web applications. The examples tied together well and were fun too. What with Lizzy the milk cow running off with the bull next door, Daisy and MooMoo joining them, Bossy getting depressed... Along with learning to do database deletes and updates, I was treated to a regular dairy farm soap opera. :-) Each chapter added greatly to my knowledge, and the final chapter cemented it with a surprisingly thorough start-to-finish Web site development project. I say "surprisingly" because most books' single-chapter, "start to finish" projects don't cover nearly as much ground as this one did. Although this book seems to be written mainly for experienced VB programmers, I would also highly recommend it for experienced ASP programmers who want to learn ASP.NET (as long as they learn some VB.NET first -- this book doesn't try to teach that too -- it expects that you'll start with a basic understanding of VB.NET). The reason I recommend it for ASP programmers is that this book will teach them the Code Behind way of coding, rather than perpetrating the response.write way they had to code in previous versions of ASP.
Rating:
Summary: Book with Excellent ASP.NET/VB.NET Coverage
Review: I have found this book to be an excellent resource for filling in many of the gaps I had in programming ASP.NET pages using VB.NET. I also found new ways of handling various code modules than what I had originally had been doing in my programs. I am the kind of person that needs to hold an item before I purchase it, so I would spend hours thumbing through many of the books in my local bookstore only to find that many of them did not cover what I needed, said exactly what the Microsoft help told me, or just touched on a subject I needed but did not elaborate on it enough to make any use of the information. I found this book not to do that. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a knowledge of programming ASP.NET pages using VB.NET as the code-behind and is looking to expand upon their knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: Book with Excellent ASP.NET/VB.NET Coverage
Review: I have found this book to be an excellent resource for filling in many of the gaps I had in programming ASP.NET pages using VB.NET. I also found new ways of handling various code modules than what I had originally had been doing in my programs. I am the kind of person that needs to hold an item before I purchase it, so I would spend hours thumbing through many of the books in my local bookstore only to find that many of them did not cover what I needed, said exactly what the Microsoft help told me, or just touched on a subject I needed but did not elaborate on it enough to make any use of the information. I found this book not to do that. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a knowledge of programming ASP.NET pages using VB.NET as the code-behind and is looking to expand upon their knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the one!
Review: I have written a few SQL based websites using ASP, and wanted to try out the new .NET technology that had gained such laurels from people whom I respected, so I purchased Visual Studio.Net. I followed the provided walk-throughs, and was impressed by the flexibility and speed of all that I saw. Dot Net is definitely the direction of the future. Now I had to try and master the technologies that I would use. I went to a large bookstore and spent hours looking through DotNet books. I came home with a few. They were helpful, but not what I was looking for, I then came here to Amazon.com, and saw this book, Programming the Web with Visual Basic .NET by Lynn Torkelson, et al, so I (got someone to get it for me :) ). What a pleasant surprise! It was exactly what I needed. The book covers all that I needed for Microsoft Framework driven websites, to a good foundation on OOP, to real world examples, to an excellent treatment of XML (which will be the foundation of the next generation of OSes and SQL technology).
This book is a worth-while investment in both money and time.
Rating:
Summary: In-Depth Treatment of Dot Net Technology for the Web
Review: I have written a few SQL based websites using ASP, and wanted to try out the new .NET technology that had gained such laurels from people whom I respected, so I purchased Visual Studio.Net. I followed the provided walk-throughs, and was impressed by the flexibility and speed of all that I saw. Dot Net is definitely the direction of the future. Now I had to try and master the technologies that I would use. I went to a large bookstore and spent hours looking through DotNet books. I came home with a few. They were helpful, but not what I was looking for, I then came here to Amazon.com, and saw this book, Programming the Web with Visual Basic .NET by Lynn Torkelson, et al, so I (got someone to get it for me :) ). What a pleasant surprise! It was exactly what I needed. The book covers all that I needed for Microsoft Framework driven websites, to a good foundation on OOP, to real world examples, to an excellent treatment of XML (which will be the foundation of the next generation of OSes and SQL technology).
This book is a worth-while investment in both money and time.
Rating:
Summary: Jumpstart You Web Development
Review: I'm a long-time VB developer with experience in COM and GUI applications. I recently got a project using VB.NET to construct a Web application. Having no experience or idea how to even start, I flipped through a copy of this book at the local book store. After just a few minutes, there was no doubt I needed to bring this one home. This book does an excellent job of bringing one "up to speed" quickly on the fundamentals. It also touches on several more advanced subjects, allowing your Web applications to have that professional look and feel. If you need a solid and thorough reference on VB.NET Web development, look no further. Kudos to Zac, Constance, Lynn, and the folks at apress!
Rating:
Summary: Jumpstart You Web Development
Review: I'm a long-time VB developer with experience in COM and GUI applications. I recently got a project using VB.NET to construct a Web application. Having no experience or idea how to even start, I flipped through a copy of this book at the local book store. After just a few minutes, there was no doubt I needed to bring this one home. This book does an excellent job of bringing one "up to speed" quickly on the fundamentals. It also touches on several more advanced subjects, allowing your Web applications to have that professional look and feel. If you need a solid and thorough reference on VB.NET Web development, look no further. Kudos to Zac, Constance, Lynn, and the folks at apress!
Rating:
Summary: Not the one!
Review: I'm very disappointed with this title, so much talk where not necessary, examples that not directly related to the subject in hand, chapters introductions as if author is writing an article in a newspaper not for a professional developers, Authors seem to know their stuff very well but there is a difference between knowing the material and authoring a book, clearly they doesn't have that talent. I can't dare to compare this book to Jeff Prosise masterpiece "Programming Microsoft .NET", but I found O'Reilly's Programming ASP.NET book a much organized and useful book, don't waste your time and money on this one!
Rating:
Summary: Best in show - VB exploits the Web
Review: Our developers are always hungry for ways to exploit web technology and keep our technical momentum on full afterburner.
I was very happy to see a book like this that helps us focus the power of multiple technologies and integrate them right away. We were able to use this book's references immediately to gain traction with a potential customer. The special effects were eye-popping. The examples are practical and give enough peripheral references to help readers dive deeper on their own. Developers using VB will find this a valuable resource to extend their technical scope into internet-based technologies. It's well-written and organized, and most any subject area you care to focus on is easy to find and dive into. This is the first book of its kind - melding VB and the Web - that can be used by the widest number of technologists. The most difficult part about assimilating .NET into the mainstream has been a lack of documentation and clear examples of where things intersect and how they best interact. This book clarifies much of that - so rather than slog through the rough spots, get a copy of this one and keep it handy.
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