ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed

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ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed

Long-time asp.netPROreaders may recall my review more than four years ago of the first edition ofthis book (see ASP.NETUnleashed). Author and Microsoft-named Software Legend Stephen Waltherhas been busy writing a sequel of sorts; however, ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed is not simply a re-editing of the first title,but is nearly a full rewrite on the subject. Topics like GDI+ and deprecatedASP.NET 1.x topics were dropped in favor of the slew of new features in the 2.xrelease. And stale topics like Web services are given minimal space (in a bookof nearly 2,000 pages, only four pages barely reference the technology). A nicecorrection in this version is that, unlike the first edition, references to theaccompanying CD-ROM are indeed correct. In fact, the CD bound into the backcover thankfully contains all the code from the book in both VB and C# syntax,even though, like the original Unleashedtitle, the code listings in the book are exclusively in VB-only syntax.

SAMS has tagged the book at an Intermediate-Advanced levelbecause the author assumes readers already know how to code and consume HTML,XML, CSS, SQL, and Visual Basic 2005 syntax. This is remarkable, consideringhow many pages are contained in the book. However, if the copious amount ofcode listings were extracted from the title and instead only the most criticalsnippets for learning were printed, the weight of this volume would have beenconsiderably less. Even so, Mr. Walther has further honed his instructionalskills in this new Unleashed title. Hiswriting style is clear and to the point. For a book this large, the writtenexplanations are remarkably trimmed of extemporaneous filler. The materialscovered, ranging from using the ASP.NET 2.0 canned components to customizing Webparts, caching, and localization aspects, are logically presented. The Note andWarning call-out boxes are also a nice touch. Combined, all these aspects areindicative of a single author with a single voice that cements the one-to-oneteacher/student relationship.

One of the advantages this ASP.NET 2.0 instructional titleoffers above any other I ve reviewed is the inclusion of AJAXcoverage, though no mention is made of Microsoft s Atlas AJAX Toolkit. Nevertheless,the author spends a fair amount of pages demonstrating the subject in severalplaces throughout the book, giving the reader a decent introduction and anapplied appreciation for this red-hot technology.

Overall, I m honestly impressed with the improvements theauthor has made to the book. The focus on the most notable features of ASP.NET2.0, along with the author s lucid writing and insightful comments, make for astrong contender in an already crowded space. Although late to the ASP.NET 2.0book party, ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed iscertainly worthy of a top contender spot. While it could have done without someof the code listings and reduced the page count by about 500 pages or so (andpreferably knocked the price down by 10 dollars), the fact remains that this isa solid title useful for understanding the most useful facets of ASP.NET 2.0development.

Mike Riley

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Title: ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed

Author: StephenWalther

Publisher: SAMSPublishing

ISBN: 0-672-32823-2

Web Site: http://www.samspublishing.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0672328232&rl=1

Price: US$59.99

Page Count: 1,992(CD-ROM)