Please recommend a good book for me

[Alan Silver]

Hello,

I am a seasoned Classic ASP programmer who is interested in learning
ASP.NET. I
bought a book (Que's Special Edition Using ASP.NET) which is complete
rubbish, and would like a recommendation of something better.

I have a very basic idea of how ASP.NET works having spent a couple of
days playing with it, but it's still a large amount of fog with only a
little clarity. I would like something that explains what's going on
whilst doing examples, not just one that says "click here and type
this" without explanation.

I have Microsoft's ASP.NET Resource Kit CD, which is good as far as it
goes, but is lacking in explanation and (a lot of it) requires Visual
Studio.NET which I don't have. I completed a complex tutorial, but
then got stuck when trying to add a fairly simple feature. I realised
that I didn't really understand what I had done, and so couldn't
extend the tutorial. I also have the .NET SDK, but the sheer volume of
material is overwhelming, and I would like to concentrate on ASP.NET
for the moment. I also prefer books to reading on screen.

I would like a book that concentrates on C#, although I don't mind a
dual-language one with VB.NET as well.

Please feel free to make any recommendations.

 

[Karl Seguin]

Since you don't have VS.Net you might try the free Web Matrix which is
really really good.
http://www.asp.net/webmatrix/default.aspx?tabIndex=4&tabId=46

Following that theme you might want a ASP.Net Web Matrix book, I can't
recommend any, but there are plenty out there
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764543741.html for
example.

I learnt on ASP.Net Unleashed years ago....it's an average book....

Karl

 

[WJ]

Hello,

Nothing beats on-hand trainning regardless of how many good books you read.
If you are serious or your company is, I would recommend you to attend a
certified training course on this subject! Although I have seen some peoples
doing very well without going to formal classes.

John

 

[Guest]

I bought Professional ASP.NET 1.1 published by Wrox a couple of months ago
and which I have found very useful.

HMK

 

[Alan Silver]

I bought Professional ASP.NET 1.1 published by Wrox a couple of months

ago and which I have found very useful.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[Alan Silver]

Since you don't have VS.Net you might try the free Web Matrix which is

really really good.
http://www.asp.net/webmatrix/default.aspx?tabIndex=4&tabId=46

Got it already thanks. I have been through the tutorials, but they are
fairly basic (as are most of the tutorials I've seen). I was looking for
something to help me take the step to real world programming instead of
simple basic examples.

Following that theme you might want a ASP.Net Web Matrix book, I can't
recommend any, but there are plenty out there
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764543741.html for
example.

I learnt on ASP.Net Unleashed years ago....it's an average book....

Thanks, I already bought a lousy book, average is beating my first
attempt!!

 

[Alan Silver]

Hello,

Nothing beats on-hand trainning regardless of how many good books you read.
If you are serious or your company is, I would recommend you to attend a
certified training course on this subject! Although I have seen some peoples
doing very well without going to formal classes.

Ah, therin lies the rub (as I believe Will once said). I am a
self-employed developer, I don't work for a company. I can't afford the
time or money for training courses. That's why I'm looking for books.

I actually find that well-written books can often be better than
training courses as you can go at your own pace. The one thing you miss
is the peer-to-peer experience, but that's where Usenet comes in!!

Thanks for the reply

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

re:

I was looking for something to help me take the step to real world
programming instead of simple basic examples.

You might be interested in trying out Visual Web Developer.

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/vwd/default.aspx

ASP.NET 2.0 is not so far away, and right about now
is a great time to start familiarizing yourself with it,
so that when the product is released, later this year,
you'll be favorably positioned to work with it.

VWD is like a "Mini-Visual Studio" which focuses
exclusively on ASP.NET 2.0 Web Development.

I have a feeling you'll like it. ;-)

ASP.NET 1.0 and 1.1 won't be around for much longer
after 2.0 is released ( and even if they are, 2.0 brings
with it many improvements over them ).



Juan T. Llibre
ASP.NET MVP
===========

 

[Alan Silver]

re:

You might be interested in trying out Visual Web Developer.

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/vwd/default.aspx

Thanks, looks interesting. I'll have to spend some time reading that
large amount of material first!!

Do you know if I need SQL Express, or can I use the existing
installation of SQL Server 2000 that's on my development machine?
There's no point in installing more stuff that I don't need if SQL
Server 2000 will do fine.

ASP.NET 2.0 is not so far away, and right about now
is a great time to start familiarizing yourself with it,
so that when the product is released, later this year,
you'll be favorably positioned to work with it.

How different is it? I'm just wondering if I'm wasting my time looking
at current ASP.NET stuff is 2.0 is going to make it all out of date. Are
there any books on ASP.NET 2.0?

Thanks for the reply.

VWD is like a "Mini-Visual Studio" which focuses
exclusively on ASP.NET 2.0 Web Development.

I have a feeling you'll like it. ;-)

ASP.NET 1.0 and 1.1 won't be around for much longer
after 2.0 is released ( and even if they are, 2.0 brings
with it many improvements over them ).



Juan T. Llibre
ASP.NET MVP
===========

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

re:

Do you know if I need SQL Express

VWD's database explorer works
fine with SQL Server 2000.

re:

How different is it? I'm just wondering if I'm wasting my time looking at
current ASP.NET stuff is 2.0 is going to make it all out of date.

It's not all going to go away overnight, but soon enough,
anyway. Nothing is a waste of time, but there's a lot of
little things which can trip you going from 1.1 to 2.0.

The current thread on the user account is a perfect example.

In 1.1, it's ASPNET. In 2.0 it's the Network Service account.

And there's many class changes. Classes which are gone;
other classes which have been modified; and totally new
classes which don't exist in 1.1.

re:

Are there any books on ASP.NET 2.0?

There's several.

Dino Esposito's "Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0",
Microsoft Press, ISBN 0735620245
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735620245/103-6455790-8738201?v=glance

Homer, Sussman and Howard wrote
"A First Look at ASP.NET v 2.0"

You can download sample chapters at
http://www.asp.net/whidbey/ , where you'll also have
access to another boatload of ASP.NET 2.0 info

Patrick Lorenz wrote "ASP.NET 2.0 Revealed"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1590593375/

There's a few more at
http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=ASP.NET+2.0+books

Good luck!



Juan T. Llibre
ASP.NET MVP
===========

re:

You might be interested in trying out Visual Web Developer.

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/vwd/default.aspx

Thanks, looks interesting. I'll have to spend some time reading that large
amount of material first!!

Do you know if I need SQL Express, or can I use the existing installation
of SQL Server 2000 that's on my development machine? There's no point in
installing more stuff that I don't need if SQL Server 2000 will do fine.

ASP.NET 2.0 is not so far away, and right about now
is a great time to start familiarizing yourself with it,
so that when the product is released, later this year,
you'll be favorably positioned to work with it.

How different is it? I'm just wondering if I'm wasting my time looking at
current ASP.NET stuff is 2.0 is going to make it all out of date. Are
there any books on ASP.NET 2.0?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Alan Silver]

How different is it? I'm just wondering if I'm wasting my time looking at

It's not all going to go away overnight, but soon enough,
anyway. Nothing is a waste of time, but there's a lot of
little things which can trip you going from 1.1 to 2.0.

<snip>

Phew, looks like I have some serious reading ahead of me!!

Do you have any experience of these books? What worries me a little is
that they are all (logically) aimed at people who know 1.1 well. I'm a
rank beginner at ASP.NET, so these books might be beyond me. I could do
with something that will teach me the basics as well. Not sure if I'm
going to find anything like that yet.

Any suggestions?

Good luck!

Thanks, looks like I'm going to need it ;-)

 

[WJ]

No dispute!

John

Ah, therin lies the rub (as I believe Will once said). I am a
self-employed developer, I don't work for a company. I can't afford the
time or money for training courses. That's why I'm looking for books.

I actually find that well-written books can often be better than training
courses as you can go at your own pace. The one thing you miss is the
peer-to-peer experience, but that's where Usenet comes in!!

Thanks for the reply