PRObooks
ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview
As the days count down toward the release of Microsoft s Visual Studio 2005 and the technology payload it will deliver including ASP.NET 2.0 leading edge .NET developers who haven t spent much time with the MSDN or PDC beta previews of the product can spend roughly US$40 and a couple of uninterrupted hours reading the latest Wrox release on the subject.
Written by veteran Wrox author Bill Evjen, the book delivers on its promise to educate readers already familiar with ASP.NET 1.x about the new features and changes in the 2.0 release. 15 Chapters reveal the hot new capabilities embedded into the next version of ASP.NET so hot, in fact, that many readers may have the same reaction I did, namely, wanting the final release in my hands now!
However, a majority of the book s content seems to be a repackaging of what Microsoft and other technical writers have already posted on the Web about ASP.NET 2.0. The author has distilled these discussions and white papers into a centralized, structured text for concentrated reading on the subject. In fact, certain portions of the book seem to be inherently presented as marketecture for Microsoft technology, since there is nary a hint of any negative aspects or reservations about using the new features. At the very least, a chapter should have been dedicated to the migration of 1.x projects being upsized to the 2.0 environments. For example, how much code could potentially be revised in most ASP.NET projects to take advantage of the new features? What criteria should be analyzed to consider upsizing versus a complete re-write? How do the ASP.NET 2.0 Web Parts compare with those created for Microsoft SharePoint Server, and how soon after the new release will other Microsoft products such as SharePoint Server be capable of consuming 2.0 components? What other migration pains are associated with the new release? Unfortunately, none of these questions are adequately addressed. Perhaps this explains why 11 blank pages are bound into the back of the book.
Thus, for proactive developers already on top of the enhancements coming to ASP.NET, this book does little to expand the audience s horizon beyond the C# and VB.NET code snippets that can be downloaded from the book s Web site. Conversely, for those developers who have either been too busy to dedicate time to exploring an unfinished beta, or don t have access to the preview release, but would like to know what s coming in the final release, ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview will quickly orient readers to the exciting new features the next version has in store.
Like previous Wrox technology preview titles, disclaimers are posted in the Introduction as to the accuracy of the content compared to the final release of the technology being discussed. As such, Wiley, the company that now owns the Wrox imprint, mitigates this concern of obsolescence with a $5 rebate toward the purchase of the revised version that will coincide with the final release of ASP.NET 2.0. That may encourage some readers to consider purchasing the book now, but others may wish to hold out until the release of the final edition.
Mike Riley
Rating:
Title: ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview
Author: Bill Evjen
Publisher: Wrox Publishing
ISBN: 0-7645-7286-5
Book Web Site: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764572865.html
Price: US$39.99
Page Count: 443 pages
