Rating: 
Summary: if I could give less than one star...
Review: One weekend to read the book, two weeks to find out the code on the CD is too buggy to even execute. I am amazed that such a horrible error could have even made it to press!
Knowing of this mistake now, and knowing the publisher (Wiley) is still selling it for full price even after they are aware of this error, lets me know who I am dealing with. In good faith, shouldn't they have a note on their book site?
I will never waste money on their books again.
Be smart, read the Amazon reviews before buying a book for its marketing!
Rating:
Summary: Looks good on surface..but nothing works
Review: The idea was great. Lots of code and explanations. Ideal format to learn ASP .NET.Unfortunately, code does not work starting from first example. Lots of typos. Grammar unclear too. First 8 chapters wasted on explanations instead of tutorials. Too bad that I wasted my money as I really needed some ASP.NET practice. Better to buy a WROX book like ASP.NET for Professionals.
Rating:
Summary: This book is [not good]
Review: This book is already miserably, and painfully, out of date upon purchase. Be prepared to read half of the book before the author addresses the topic of "Building Your First ASP.NET Page". At that point, I had so many questions while reading the first 145 pages that I was completely confused. All of this could have been avoided with simple examples at the very beginning of the book. Furthermore, typos are in abundance, the grammar was unclear, look for repetitive source code, missing code or completely wrong code through out the entire book. For instance, the listings on the CD were also incorrect or missing (Session 20 did not have a complete listing, instead referring the student to the CD where Session 20 was non-existent). Don't waste your money on this poorly written book, instead go to the ASP.net website and use their free tutorials to learn about ASP .NET.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly Written ¿ Not Worth the Purchase
Review: This book is already miserably, and painfully, out of date upon purchase. Be prepared to read half of the book before the author addresses the topic of "Building Your First ASP.NET Page". At that point, I had so many questions while reading the first 145 pages that I was completely confused. All of this could have been avoided with simple examples at the very beginning of the book. Furthermore, typos are in abundance, the grammar was unclear, look for repetitive source code, missing code or completely wrong code through out the entire book. For instance, the listings on the CD were also incorrect or missing (Session 20 did not have a complete listing, instead referring the student to the CD where Session 20 was non-existent). Don't waste your money on this poorly written book, instead go to the ASP.net website and use their free tutorials to learn about ASP .NET.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly Written ¿ Not Worth the Purchase
Review: This book is already miserably, and painfully, out of date upon purchase. Be prepared to read half of the book before the author addresses the topic of "Building Your First ASP.NET Page". At that point, I had so many questions while reading the first 145 pages that I was completely confused. All of this could have been avoided with simple examples at the very beginning of the book. Furthermore, typos are in abundance, the grammar was unclear, look for repetitive source code, missing code or completely wrong code through out the entire book. For instance, the listings on the CD were also incorrect or missing (Session 20 did not have a complete listing, instead referring the student to the CD where Session 20 was non-existent). Don't waste your money on this poorly written book, instead go to the ASP.net website and use their free tutorials to learn about ASP .NET.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T but this book
Review: This book is terrible. The code in the book and on the CD doesn't work and the publisher knows that and has yet to correct it.
Rating:
Summary: Crash and Burn!
Review: This book is truly a rare find. Technical books are often daunting to the beginner; occasionally frightful to the Intermediate. But this book takes instructional incompetence to a whole new level I've read enough technical and programming books to know that a few errors are inevitable. I guess I have to cut Rob (the author) some slack. He wrote the book while ASP.NET was in Beta. ASP.NET is now in its first release and most of his more meaty examples, if they ever did work, do not work now. As of this review date, the author has posted no *important* errata on his book's Web site. I have no doubt he knows how to program well, but writing may not be his bag. Stick to the day job, Rob. Hungry Minds (the publisher) could have saved a few trees by making Mr. Standefer condense his re-caps to the important parts of code. Instead he will spend anywhere from 2-4 pages showing you the entire code listing from the previous chapter(s) (a quick way to get through a chapter). On the other hand, one nice feature about this book is that if you can't get the example to work in one chapter, you have the same example-with different errors-in the next chapter. It's nice that the errors differ from chapter to chapter, so you can find which lines are different and take your best stab at correcting them. I have a bookshelf at home that holds all of the tech books I've completed. I feel I've wasted money if I buy a book and don't read it cover to cover. Before "ASP.NET Weekend Crash Course" there was only one book I EVER started that I just couldn't finish-now there are two. ...If you are a beginner, take a guide with you. If you are intermediate or advanced, you *may* be able to muddle through the errors, but why? Aside from any errors not working, this book serves as a sort of technical specification. Far too much real estate is given to "How it was done in ASP", which leaves too little room for indoctrinating one on "How it is done in ASP.NET" Granted, part of the complexity for a beginner will also lay in the fact that multiple languages, concepts and technologies are being presented at once. This is not the author's fault. That is the nature of .NET (and specifically ASP.NET). The author never gives full attention (or enough working examples) to the technologies new to ASP.NET (such as Web Forms, Classes, Data Binding, XML, etc). I have to agree, yet disagree with the customer below. While the book seems to be a re-write of the documentation (with additional fluff), I'd have to say that the documentation is a lot easier to follow (that may not be saying much for this book...
Rating: 
Summary: Quick learning, yet too many code errors
Review: This book starts out right, because it did keep me captivated for a few chapters, until you start to write the code. The code is all wrong, it doesn't compile due to errors. Another drawback is that the book is full of the same code, repeated again and again. The only good use of this book is learning the basics in pseudo code, without actually writing real ASP.NET code.
Rating:
Summary: Steer Clear
Review: What a waste of paper. The run up to acutall coding is somewhat usefull, but once you start in, you just fall flat. The code from the first "application" doesn't work at all. Use the money you would have spent here and get the Wrox book instead. At least they publish working code and maintain eratta.
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