Beginning ASP.NET Using C#

Rating:
Summary: Great Transition Book
Review: As a classic ASP developer, this book provided exactly what I needed to transition to .net using c#. The c# part comes fairly easy since I have used java quite a bit. The thing I like the most is that the book teaches you to write code for .net without using the IDE. The IDE is great; however, if you don't really know what is going on behind the IDE... well - you get the picture. Overall - I like the book alot because it is teaching me what I need to know to write good production code.

Rating:
Summary: Missing critical sections and disorganized
Review: At first, this seemed like a good book. It introduced ASP.NET well and brought me quickly up to speed. As a reference, however, this book is sorely lacking. There is no definitive list of all the ASP.NET server controls and their properties for instance. There are only a couple examples of SQL Server connectivity, and the configuration chapter is almost dead last - long after many topics and examples which require knowledge of configuration are covered. I frequently felt left in the dust. I think it is a typical problem of Wrox books. With so many authors it is hard for there to be a consistent message and progressive flow. Different authors assume different levels of knowledge when it gets to their section of the book. The result is a jarring experience that often left me feeling left behind.

Rating:
Summary: Does exactly what it says on the cover
Review: Being a dyed in the wool Windows developer, I've spent the last few years in blissful ignorance of ASP, however with ASP.NET I thought I should take a look.

The book teaches in a very practical manner, with enough information to create some fairly sophisticated web sites. As I had never written an ASP page in my life, the overviews of what was available and where were useful.

In short, if you've no experience of traditional ASP, or are wanting a first leg up to ASP.NET, then this book is a great start.

Rating:
Summary: This book is good for a begineer,...code has mistakes
Review: First of all to "A reader from Nottingham, UK " this book is supposed to be exactly the same as its sister VB book. That was the intention! Second, They should have used codebehind in their examples instead of putting the code in script tags. Using script tags is not the best way to write asp.net. The book also covers more C# than asp. I learned quite a few things about asp but there should have been more content on creating asp pages.

Rating:
Summary: Not Sure How to Critique This Book Fairly
Review: I have not seen a book yet that addresses a large target audience that is missing for ASP.NET books -- and that is people like me who were ASP/VB/VBScript programmers moving to C#, who do know something about ASP and (separately) event-driven programming.

As such, I think it would be great if there were a book that said "Here's how you used to do things" and "Here's how you do them now" and why, and then focused on the newer concepts in ASP.NET (such as object orientation, something simulated in VB but not in ASP.)

My big problem with THIS book, is how the chapters are ordered and written. Chapter 1, how to set up ASP.NET, is indeed a good start and is something more books should contain. I tried to read this book in chapter order, and I think that was a mistake. For someone else with a similar background, I would suggest the following order:

(Basic overview of what's new)
Chapter 1 - skim
Chapter 2
Chapter 3 - skim
Chapter 14

(If not familiar with C++, or better yet, get a full-on C# book)
Chapter 6
Chapter 4

(events)
Chapter 7

(Database)
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 5

(Debugging)
Chapter 17

(Your own objects -- even classic ASP programmers know how to USE objects, so I'm not so sure some of the earlier material is terribly necessary)
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11

(As needed)
Chapters 15, 16, 18, 19

Rating:
Summary: Should have been titled Intro to programming using C#
Review: I purchased this book because I was looking for a leg up with creating data driven web pages with C#. (I found the C# books light on the ASP side.)

This book clearly has some value about ASP.Net using C#, but it should really have been titled Introduction to programming using ASP.Net and C#.

The author spends way too much time educating the reader about topics like how to declare a variable and that SQL means structured query language, and to retrieve data you use the SELECT command. There is actually a whole chapter on what a variable is, and how you declare them. (boring). The first 4 chapters are pretty much useless to anyone but a person learning how to program for the first time.

(note: too many Access database examples..)

That said, there are some valuable topics, and I did get something from the book. There is a pretty good review of Static Class Members and Class relationships. (for those of you moving to Object Oriented programming). Chapters 12 - 17 are really the meat of this book. Covering Database Driven web sites, Server Controls (very valuable), Component building and Debugging/Error Handling.

Bill

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: I'm a huge fan of Wrox Press books. I've also read books written by some of this book's authors but this book is absolutely disappointing.

Wonderful first two chapters followed by back to back to back disappointing chapters. Examples are terrible. They are just code samples that do not demonstrate a point.

Rating:
Summary: Wrox does it again
Review: I've always been a fan of Wrox and their big red books. The way the book approaches ASP.NET (and the more difficult challenge of C#) is easy for anyone with basic HTML knowledge to understand. One warning to those who already know ASP Classic: this book is designed for people who have no idea what ASP stands for, so the beginning is slow going if you already know ASP Classic like myself. However, as I haven't tried their Professional ASP.NET book yet I don't know which one's better for the experienced. For now I'll just say that if you want to learn ASP.NET and C#, this is the book, period.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book that is well worth buying.
Review: The best book currently out on the subject as of July, 2002.
has good database access examples.
is generaly very good.

Rating:
Summary: Too many mistakes misguided explanations.
Review: WROX pushed this out way to fast. They didn't even bother to run it through a spell checker, much less try to run the example code. Mistakes like, "It's spellt..." and "..you can miss it out.." just are unforgivable from a major publisher. Don't they have proofreaders?

Then, there are the technical mistakes. A lot of the examples won't run without modification. And, beginning programmers (who the book is supposedly aimed at) wouldn't be able to fix the errors. Also, many of the examples are poor attempts to convey a concept. The authors talk often about a topic, then show an example that almost shows counterpoint to what they said.

Next flaw... The book is not "Beginning ASP Using C#". It's "Beginning C# Using ASP." Crucial ASP topics are left undiscussed. Like the difference between Page_Load and Page_Init. They point out an 'anomaly' in one example concerning the two methods, but don't explain that it's not an anomaly at all! There's a very good reason behind it, and the explanation is not terribly difficult.

Finally, the books explanation of fundamental OOP concepts is so confused and misguided that it makes me wonder if the authors have more than a passing familiarity with the topic. My guess is that they are former VB/ASP programmers who haven't ever had any experience in a real OO language. They don't seem to grasp the key concepts behind Inheritance, Polymorphism and Encapsulation and the certainly don't have a clue how to explain them. Forget more subtle concepts, such as the difference between strong and weak aggregation.

As one reader pointed out, this is the only book, currently, on the market doing ASP with a pure C# emphasis. But, it just has too many flaws. Steer clear.