ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview

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ASP.NET2.0 Beta Preview

As thedays count down toward the release of Microsoft s Visual Studio 2005 and thetechnology payload it will deliver including ASP.NET 2.0 leading edge .NETdevelopers who haven t spent much time with the MSDN or PDC beta previews ofthe product can spend roughly US$40 and a couple of uninterrupted hours readingthe latest Wrox release on the subject.

Writtenby veteran Wrox author Bill Evjen, the book delivers on its promise to educatereaders already familiar with ASP.NET 1.x about the new features and changes inthe 2.0 release. 15 Chapters reveal the hot new capabilities embedded into thenext version of ASP.NET so hot, in fact, that many readers may have the samereaction 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 Microsoftand 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, certainportions of the book seem to be inherently presented as marketecture forMicrosoft technology, since there is nary a hint of any negative aspects orreservations about using the new features. At the very least, a chapter shouldhave been dedicated to the migration of 1.x projects being upsized to the 2.0environments. For example, how much code could potentially be revised in mostASP.NET projects to take advantage of the new features? What criteria should beanalyzed to consider upsizing versus a complete re-write? How do the ASP.NET2.0 Web Parts compare with those created for Microsoft SharePoint Server, andhow soon after the new release will other Microsoft products such as SharePointServer be capable of consuming 2.0 components? What other migration pains areassociated with the new release? Unfortunately, none of these questions areadequately addressed. Perhaps this explains why 11 blank pages are bound intothe 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.NETcode snippets that can be downloaded from the book s Web site. Conversely, forthose developers who have either been too busy to dedicate time to exploring anunfinished beta, or don t have access to the preview release, but would like toknow what s coming in the final release, ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview willquickly orient readers to the exciting new features the next version has instore.

Likeprevious Wrox technology preview titles, disclaimers are posted in theIntroduction as to the accuracy of the content compared to the final release ofthe technology being discussed. As such, Wiley, the company that now owns theWrox imprint, mitigates this concern of obsolescence with a $5 rebate towardthe purchase of the revised version that will coincide with the final releaseof ASP.NET 2.0. That may encourage some readers to consider purchasing the booknow, but others may wish to hold out until the release of the final edition.

Mike Riley

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Title: ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Preview

Author: Bill Evjen

Publisher: Wrox Publishing

ISBN: 0-7645-7286-5

BookWeb Site: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764572865.html

Price: US$39.99

PageCount: 443 pages