SAMS Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit

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SAMS Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit

ASP.NET 2.0 is an exciting technology. Many publishershave released books on the topic, but SAMSTeach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is one bookwith which learners can master the skills very rapidly. Written by the award-winningauthor Scott Mitchell, this book is divided into five parts and is very handyfor all levels of programmers.

Each part has been divided into several hours. The firstpart consists of eight hours. The first two hours examine the fundamentals ofASP.NET 2.0 and the ASP.NET programming model. The next two hours deal with theusage of Visual Web Developer Express Edition, as well as designing and testingASP.NET Web pages. The fifth and sixth hours help the reader understand thevarious variables and operators included with Visual Basic 2005, as well as thecontrol structures, such as If-End If, Do-Loop, and For-Next constructs. Whilehour seven examines the working of objects, hour eight demonstrates some of theWeb controls for displaying text, such as Literal and Label controls.

Part 2 contains four hours. The first hour examines thebasics of WebForms with the help of a BMI calculator example. The next hourdemonstrates textboxes; hour 11 deals with dropdownlists, radio buttons, and checkboxes;and hour 12 examines the validation controls that ship with ASP.NET 2.0.

The next part consists of six hours. This section is veryimportant because it thoroughly examines the development of data-orientedASP.NET Web applications. It covers in great depth how to insert, edit, anddelete data with the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls. Mitchellalso provides coverage about data-bound dropdownlists, radio buttons, and checkboxesin this part.

Part 4 of the book contains three hours, and providesadequate coverage about SiteMaps, User Management, and the use of Master Pages.

The final part demonstrates the creation of a photo album Webapplication. This is a great idea to include a real project, so that readerscan learn how to effectively apply the concepts they have learned.

The writing style is very lucid,and even developers who don t have any previous knowledge about ASP.NET will beable to learn the concepts very easily and in a short span of time. Each hourteaches the concepts with the help of related source code and screenshots. Eachhour ends with a short summary, set of Questions and Answers, and a workshopwith a series of questions and practical exercises. The book includes a CD-ROM,which contains Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition. This will surely helpreaders work with the book straight away, without any need to download anysoftware. However, readers must download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition towork with Part 3 of the book. It would be great if the publisher had providedthat software on the CD, as well. I also would have appreciated if the publisherhad included the required project files for each project on the CD.

I had only one criticism: Even though a majority of topicsare covered in the book, I think Mitchell missed a great opportunity by not devotingan hour to sending e-mails from an ASP.NET page. That one minor shortcomingaside, I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn ASP.NET 2.0 ina hurry.

Anand Narayanaswamy

Rating:

Title: SAMS Teach YourselfASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit

Author: ScottMitchell

Publisher: SAMSPublishing

ISBN:0-672-32738-4

Web Site: http://www.samspublishing.com/title/0672327384

Price: US$34.99

Page Count: 696