Book Description

ASP.NET 3.5 Unleashed is the most comprehensive book available on the Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 Framework, covering all aspects of the ASP.NET 3.5 Framework--no matter how advanced.

This edition covers all the new features of ASP.NET 3.5. It explains Microsoft LINQ to SQL in detail. It includes a chapter on the two new data access controls introduced with the ASP.NET 3.5 Framework: ListView and DataPager. With its coverage of ASP.NET AJAX, this book shows you how to take advantage of Microsoft’s server-side AJAX framework to retrofit existing ASP.NET applications with AJAX functionality. It also demonstrates how to use Microsoft’s client-side AJAX framework to build the web applications of the future: pure client-side AJAX applications. All code samples are written in the C# programming language. (Visual Basic versions of all code samples are included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book.)

• Take advantage of Microsoft’s new database query language, LINQ to SQL, to easily build database-driven web applications
• Learn how to use the new ListView and DataPager data access controls to build flexible user interfaces
• Take advantage of ASP.NET AJAX when building both server-side and client-side web applications
• Use the AJAX Control Toolkit to create auto-complete text fields, draggable panels, masked edit fields, and complex animations
• Design ASP.NET websites
• Secure your ASP.NET applications
• Create custom components
• Build highly interactive websites that can scale to handle thousands of simultaneous users
• Learn to build a complete ASP.NET 3.5 website from start to finish–the last chapter of the book includes a sample ASP.NET 3.5 web application written with LINQ to SQL and ASP.NET AJAX

CD-ROM includes all examples and source code presented in this book in both C# and Visual Basic.

Customer Reviews (7)

Removal of VB code was a bad move
It hurts to deduct a star from this excellent book's rating, but it deserves at least removal of one star for the poor decision to remove the VB code and stick it on the CD.

If I wanted to view something in electronic form I would just Google it.I buy a book to leaf through everything on paper.I rarely look at a book's CD, so putting the VB code there is of little value to me.

If I had known about the lack of VB code in print I may have stuck with the previous ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed (which I "upgraded" from) and used other books to supplement the 3.5 material.

If the author left out the VB code in order to reduce the size of the book (with the added material for 3.5 stuff), perhaps he should have produced separate VB and C# editions.

THE guide for ASP.NET 3.5
The Unleashed series has a certain following behind it for being a fairly comprehensive guide to the technology the book examines.This entry into the series is no exception.This book goes into every detail of ASP.NET and ready digs into the new features of 3.5, as you may expect given the title.

I've enjoyed the way this book presents material.It's not too detailed for the beginner but doesn't leave the experienced wanting too much more.I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for information on ASP.NET 3.5.This book is something every ASP.NET book should aspire to be.

Intermediate or Advanced Developer? Buy It!
At first blush, it may seem strange for me to review a "competing" ASP.NET 3.5 book. However, Stephen Walther's ASP.NET 3.5 Unleashed doesn't target the same audience as ASP.NET 3.5 For Dummies. Mine is unabashedly a beginner's book.ASP.NET Unleashed is for intermediate to advanced programmers and definitely hits that mark.
At over 1800 pages, this is definitely not "light" reading. It is, however, packed with most everything a professional ASP.NET developer needs to know to work in ASP.NET 3.5.

I was interested in Walther's assertion at the opening of Chapter 31 (Using Server-Side ASP.NET AJAX) that the future is AJAX:
"Microsoft ASP.NET is a dying technology. It received its death blow on February 18, 2005 when Jess James Garrett published his article 'Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications.' All that is left is the long, slow goodbye."

The author encourages readers to "leave the safety of the server side and enter the wilds of the client side." To that end, Walther does an excellent job of explaining the use of the UpdatePanel, Timer, and UpdateProgress controls that are built into ASP.NET 3.5.
The subsequent chapter, Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit, gives a solid overview of the toolkit's suite. It then shows how to use the AutoComplete, DragPanel, FilteredTextBox, MaskedEdit, Animation, and UpdatePanelAnimation controls. As always, there are many code listings (in C# in this edition). Chapter 33 digs even deeper into AJAX to program client-side applications against the Microsoft AJAX Library. If you're ramping up to build on the client, the book's AJAX content is very valuable.

The book is also solid on LINQ, the popular addition to ASP.NET 3.5. Chapter 18 goes through the concepts of LINQ to SQL entities, automatic properties, initializers, type inference, anonymous types, and lambda expressions. You learn how to perform standard database commands using LINQ to SQL and debug your queries.

This is a programmer's book, for sure. Where my book caters to beginners by using the IDE's graphical tools, Walther writes and explains lots of code. Don't look for numbered steps telling you where to click in Visual Studio 2008. The book focuses more on ASP.NET code than how to get the IDE to write it. This makes sense for the intermediate and advanced audience. Interesting to note, however that ASP.NET 3.5 Unleashed uses the single .aspx page model very effectively that I recommend for beginners. The book includes a CD with tons of valuable samples in C# and VB.

I have only two minor issues with this book:Firstly, the screenshots take up an excessive amount of space on the pages for very little value. For example, at page 448, Figure 10.6 takes up half a page to display a list control, a label, and a button scrunched into the top left corner of a browser page. I wish Sams would revise its template standard to do away with full page screenshots and focus on what's important. Secondly, the book is too heavy to rest comfortably on my stomach for bedtime reading. Buy a tray for increased comfort!

In summary, if you're an ASP.NET beginner, start with my book and graduate to ASP.NET Unleashed as you expand your confidence and capabilities. If you're already working comfortably in .NET, you only need this book and the MSDN reference documentation. Buy it.

Very good book.


Its a very good book with an intermediate approach.
As a seasoned professional much of the first part about controls i skipped, but found here and there that bit of very useful information.

A very good book.

Thoroughly impressed--this is the best ASP.NET book out there
Stephen Walther is of a rare breed of authors that can churn out a 1,900-page book and actually give you immense value on each of those pages...unlike most that might give you about 10% value, 90% rambling.

Walther does an especially good job explaining the new built-in ASP.NET AJAX functionality, how to mimic the ASP.NET AJAX architecture in your own JavaScript, and how to integrate the two to better extend the existing AJAX functionality.

A couple other interesting points were the rundown of the ASP.NET AJAX control toolkit and his blurb about Visual Studio 2008 support for IntelliSense for JavaScript via XML commenting.Very useful.

The one topic that I was surprised not to see was mobile ASP.NET development, especially since .NET has so much built-in support for it.The only book I've seen yet with mobile ASP.NET covered was an ASP.NET 2.0 title by Dino Esposito: Programming MicrosoftASP.NET 2.0 Applications: Advanced Topics...but the mobile coverage is just cursory and not nearly as useful as the MSDN site.

Overall, though, this book is a definite must-read and must-have for any ASP.NET developer. I'm now getting rid of my five other ASP.NET books...they've all been rendered obsolete by this title. ... Read more

Book Description
If you think you're well versed in ASP.NET, think again. This exceptional guide gives you a master class in site building with ASP.NET 3.5 and other cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. You learn how to develop rock-solid web portal applications that can withstand millions of hits every day while surviving scalability and security pressures -- not just for mass-consumer homepages, but also for dashboards that deliver powerful content aggregation for enterprises. Written by Omar AL Zabir, co-founder and CTO of Pageflakes, Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 demonstrates how to develop portals similar to My Yahoo!, iGoogle, and Pageflakes using ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Workflow Foundation, LINQ and .NET 3.5. Through the course of the book, AL Zabir builds an open source Ajax-enabled portal prototype (available online at "www.dropthings.com"), and walks you though the design and architectural challenges, advanced Ajax concepts, performance optimization techniques, and server-side scalability problems involved. You learn how to: Implement a highly decoupled architecture following the popular n-tier, widget-based application model Provide drag-and-drop functionality, and use ASP.NET 3.5 to build the server-side part of the web layer Use LINQ to build the data access layer, and Windows Workflow Foundation to build the business layer as a collection of workflows Build client-side widgets using JavaScript for faster performance and better caching Get maximum performance out of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework for faster, more dynamic, and scalable sites Build a custom web service call handler to overcome shortcomings in ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 for asynchronous, transactional, cache-friendlyweb services Overcome JavaScript performance problems, and help the user interface load faster and be more responsive Solve scalability and security problems as your site grows from hundreds to millions of users Deploy and run a high-volume production site while solving software, hardware, hosting, and Internet infrastructure problems Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 also presents real-world ASP.NET challenges that the author has solved in building educational and enterprise portals, plus thirteen production disasters common to web applications serving millions of users. If you're ready to build state-of-the art, high-volume web applications, this book has exactly what you need. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book
Omar is an excellent .NET programmer and I really enjoyed his book. This book gave excellent insight on running a high volume website with ASP.NET. It also dives into some of the new features of the .NET 3.5 framework. I really enjoyed the sections towards the end where he showed the type of hosting environment necessary to run a large scale website. I would also recommend subscribing to Omar's RSS feeds for excellent tips.

A must have resource for all ASP.NET developers!
I've read the author's articles on Code Project, and when I found out he had written a book that built on them, I didn't waste any time getting my hands on it!

Being the one of the few developers in my group that work with the latest "cutting edge" technology, and with no one to answer the questions I have, this book has simply been the fountain of knowledge I'd been looking for. Definitely a must-read for those wishing to utilize the latest and greatest.

The book is well organized, and the writing style makes it an easy read (usually technical books put me to sleep, but not this one).It does assume that you've already had some experience using ASP.NET 2.0/3.5, Javascript, and so forth, so I agree that this book will be the most beneficial to seasoned and advanced ASP.NET developers.

... Read more

Book Description

ASP.NET 3.5 is the latest version of Microsoft’s revolutionary ASP.NET technology. It is the principal standard for creating dynamic web pages on the Windows platform. Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 raises the bar for high-quality, practical advice on learning and deploying Microsoft’s dynamic web solution.

Seasoned .NET professionals Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta explain how you can get the most from this groundbreaking new technology. They cover ASP.NET 3.5 as a whole, illustrating both the brand-new features and the functionality carried over from previous versions of ASP. This book will give you the knowledge you need to code real ASP.NET 3.5 applications in the best possible style.

The book will teach you ASP.NET 3.5 starting with core concepts to more advanced topics. You will learn

• Core concepts of ASP.NET 3.5. Why it’s special. What it’s fundamental principals are. The basics of Visual Studio. How ASP.NET 3.5 controls are created, and how they fit into ASP.NET 3.5 pages, ultimately creating full applications
• Data access details. The intricacies of ADO.NET and how to perform data binding to many sources from databases to file streams to XML.We include LINQ coverage so you’re on the bleeding edge
• Security. Once considered the Achilles heel of all Windows web applications, security has vastly improved and is a cornerstone of ASP.NET 3.5. This section explains the various forms of available security, and how to best apply them
• Taking things further using advanced user interface techniques. This includes user controls, customer server controls, client-side JavaScript, and GDI+.
• Web services. In an increasingly connected world, working with web services grows in importance. This book will show you how to work with them.
• ASP.NET AJAX, with an emphasis on comtemporary web development techniques
• Development using Internet Information Services 7, Microsoft’s premier web hosting platform.
• And much more.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A must have Book
This book is an excellent resource for learning ASP.NET 3.5.It also serves as a great reference.

It is a comprehensive book that covers all of .NET 3.5, not just the new features in .NET 3.5, but all the features that have been there over the last several releases.

Mathew includes chapters on Linq, ASP.NET AJAX, and Silverlight.If you only want to learn about the new features in .NET 3.5, buy separate books on ASP.NET AJAX and Silverlight.Mathew does a great job of putting Linq into it proper place within a common ASP.NET 3.5 Architecture.So far he has done this best job of this I have seen in a book.

One reviewer on Amazon pointed out that the book has a lot of material from previous versions.That is to be expected since all the previous versions are included in the technology.Like I said above, this book covers everything.

Mathew does a great job relating everything to real world scenarios.He also provides very usable code samples.

If you are developing in ASP.NET 3.5, this is a must have book.

.net 2.0 book
Nice well docoumented .net 2.0 book. I would consider renaming the title to asp.net 2.0 book. The book really does not talk about anyfeatures of asp.net 3.5. like the listview control is only 2 pages. linqdatasource control that is asking for too much from the book. If u are looking to brush up on asp.net 2.0, go for it.. its a good book but if u are buying the book on its title look somewhere else.

Not the best for a Professional
Truly not the best book for me only two chapters are from asp.net 3.0, the rest are copied over from asp.net 2.0 by the same author. I was disappointed because I have read these chapters before .If you'renew to c# this may be the best book for you but for a professional c# developer not the best.

Apress never ceases to amaze
This book is a delight to read and reference. I learned C# in a week with the help of the great examples and explanations in this book.

A great book!
This is a great book for all C# developers who wants to dig a little bit deeper into the possibilities in C# and Visual Studio. The book starts with an introduction to get the reader familiar with Visual Studio 2008 and .NET. After the introduction the writer digs into more details, and gives the reader very good explanations about the topics. The topics covered in the book are very "right at the point". All the topics I expect to be covered in this book are actually covered! I have written many high volume web application over the last years, and often searched books and the Internet for information, but I have never found a book or a website containing so much valuable information! If you have written some web applications and want to get some steps further - I highly recommend this book! ... Read more

Book Description
ASP.NET 2.0 Programming: Problem Design Solution is aimed at describing, designing, and implementing a site much like the ones you’re probably working on or will be soon, while taking the opportunity to introduce and explain many of the new features that the new great ASP.NET 2.0 framework offers. Difficult problems are addressed head-on so you'll be ready for most of the problems you’ll typically face when writing a modern website, and have one or more solutions ready for them.

Unlike many other ASP.NET books that show examples for individual pages or features, the example in this book is an integrated end-to-end site (written in C#). The entire book and site has been written specifically for ASP.NET 2.0, to use the ASP.NET 2.0 features wherever they make sense.

The end-result is a website which features a layout with user-selectable themes, a membership system, a content management system for publishing and syndicating articles and photos, polls, mailing lists, forums, an e-commerce store with support for real-time credit card processing, homepage personalization, and localization. The book leads the reader through development of a site with:

• Account registration, personalization and theming
• News and events, organized into categories
• Opinion polls
• Newsletter
• Forums
• E-commerce store with shopping cart and order management
• Localization

Customer Reviews (57)

Not for beginners
Even in the books preface, it says it's not a book for beginners.It's geared more toward asp.net developers that have at least dabbled in design using Visual Studio.The book is more or less one big practical example.I recommend it for the novice+ developers of ASP.NET.

Great book to get up to speed on 2.0
This book is a great example of how to utilize VS 2005/Web 2.0 principles. There are a few components you can rip right out and utilize for other sites, it is a great addition to anyone's toolbox.

A top ASP.Net 2.0 effort
For those who want to understand and work with sophisticated ASP.Net 2.0 websites and are familiar with many of the detailed aspects of the technology side of things, this book is a terrific find. After having pushed through the details of each of the major areas of .Net and having become Microsoft certified, it was still a leap to make some valuable use of what the .Net can be used as in the real world.This is where to go next to pull the syntax and the quality techniques together.

The "Pro" books have there place. There is an immense amount of technical detail to .Net.It is quite an advantage to have it pulled together in a tour from beginning considerations to final implementation of a very significant website example. Quite appealing is that being so complete, it serves ably two other purposes: a core for adaptation to many other website ideas and a takeoff point to even more advanced techniques without reinventing the wheel.

Excellent Book
As a recent college graduate I felt like I needed to know a little more about asp.net 2.0 before I started trying to code for a living.This book
blew me away with all it offered.Its simply the best book you can buy for learning to program using C# and Asp.net to create ntier architecture solutions.

Nice overview of how to implement 2.0 features.
Overall, I think the book was a good investment and well worth the read. It lives up to everything that the title implies. The only reason that I didn'tgive it five stars is that the links for downloading the code have been broken since I got the book (several weeks now). It would be very helpful to have the project open and be able to reference the code directly rather that having to page back to revisit code that has already been covered, but is now being referenced as the project progresses. ... Read more

Book Description
Ajax has revolutionized the way users interact with web pages today. Gone are frustrating page refreshes, lost scroll positions and intermittent interaction with a web site. Instead, we have a new generation of fast, rich, and more intuitive web applications. The ASP.NET AJAX framework puts the power of Ajax into the hands of web developers. ASP.NET AJAX, formerly called Atlas, is a new free framework from Microsoft designed to easily add Ajax features to ASP.NET applications. With this technology, ASP.NET developers can easily build more interactive and highly-personalized web applications that work across all most popular browsers.

ASP.NET AJAX in Action is a fast-paced, example-rich tutorial designed for ASP.NET web developers and written by ASP.NET AJAX experts Alessandro "Garbin" Gallo, David Barkol, and Rama Krishna Vavilala. This book introduces you to Ajax applications and to the ASP.NET AJAX technology. Beginners will appreciate the clear explanations of key ideas and terminology. Intermediate and advanced ASP.NET developers will find a no-nonsense learning source and well-organized reference.

ASP.NET AJAX in Action offers a rich set of examples and meticulous explanations. The extensive code samples are accompanied by accurate and rigorous explanations of the concepts behind development with ASP.NET AJAX. In this book, you will discover how to use

Book Description
Building on the revolutionary ASP.NET 2.0 release, ASP.NET 3.5 adds several key new developer features including AJAX, LINQ, and a new CSS designer in Visual Web Developer 2008. The dramatic reduction in code that developers realized from the more than 50 new server controls in ASP.NET 2.0 now allows developers the time to make their applications more interactive with AJAX, to work with data in their preferred language with LINQ, and to build visually attractive and consistent standards-based sites with CSS.

Professional ASP.NET 3.5 helps the experienced programmer put these new technologies into action. Greatly expanded from the original best-selling Professional ASP.NET 2.0, Professional ASP.NET 3.5 covers all the key technologies retained from 2.0 in new depth alongside the hundreds of pages of coverage of the important new 3.5 features. Written by 3 of the most well-known and influential ASP.NET developers who were highly praised by ASP.NET creator Scott Guthrie for their ASP.NET 2.0 books, Professional ASP.NET 3.5 is the book you’ll learn the language from and turn to day after day as you write web applications. And as always, Professional ASP.NET 3.5 features language examples in the book and in the code download in both C# and VB!

Key new coverage for ASP.NET 3.5 includes:

• Thorough coverage of how to implement ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX and the ASP.NET AJAX Toolkit
• An introduction to LINQ and many LINQ examples throughout the book side-by-side with the related SQL example to show you the differences between the two
• Enhanced coverage of XML use in ASP.NET including the new XML Schema Designer Add-on, LINQ to XML, LINQ for XML examples, and XSLTC.exe, a command-line XSLT compiler
• A new chapter on CSS design for ASP.NET and the Visual Web Developer CSS design tools
• A new chapter on the ASP.NET lifecycle and architecture best-practices
• Increased coverage of ASP.NET with SQL Server 2005 and Oracle as the databases
• Coverage of enhancing your ASP.NET applications with Microsoft’s new Silverlight for stunning video and animation uses
• Coverage of Scott Hanselman’s famous productivity tool picks for developers to help make you a more productive ASP.NET developer
• Updated coverage of migrating applications for previous ASP.NET versions

This book is for experienced programmers and developers who are looking to make the transition to ASP.NET 3.5. ... Read more

Product Description
Get the practical, popular reference written by ASP.NET authority Dino Esposito now updated for ASP.NET 3.5. An in-depth guide to the core features of Web development with ASP.NET, this book goes beyond the fundamentals. It expertly illustrates the intricacies and uses of ASP.NET 3.5 in a single volume. Part of Microsoft Visual Studio® 2008, ASP.NET 3.5 includes AJAX functionality, the Microsoft SilverlightTM cross-platform development tool, new controls, and new integration features. This pragmatic guide covers these new features, and also includes coverage of Windows® Communication Foundation, LINQ, and other key Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 capabilities. Complete with extensive code samples and code snippets in Microsoft Visual C# 2008, this is the ideal reference for developers who want to learn what s new in ASP.NET 3.5, or for those building professional-level Web development skills.

Key Book Benefits

Delivers deep coverage of core ASP.NET technologies

Delves into the key topics for developers working with ASP.NET 3.5, and helps build professional skills

Includes coverage of ASP.NET AJAX, Silverlight, Windows Communication Foundation, LINQ, and other key .NET Framework features

Features extensive code samples and snippets in Visual C# 2008 ... Read more

Amazon.com
Suitable for most any programmer who wants to master ASP.NET with an eye toward real-world development, Programming ASP.NET is an excellent resource that mixes good coverage of APIs with actual programming techniques and advice using Visual Basic .NET and C#. The combination places it in the forefront of currently available titles on ASP.NET.

Written in part by veteran computer author Jesse Liberty, this book offers an excellent mix of coverage of important ASP.NET features that you will absolutely need to use for real-world programming. Readers with previous ASP experience will appreciate early sections that compare an older ASP sample with the new ASP.NET to highlight what's new and improved, with good explanation of the ASP.NET event model. The pace of this book is just excellent. The authors first move through the essentials, like basic ASP Web controls and data binding, before delving into data-driven applications using the (slightly complicated) ASP.NET database APIs. It also helps that the authors let you use Notepad (or another text editor) to create your ASP.NET programs first. (Later, they cover the details of Visual Studio .NET, pointing out how this tool can sometimes make it difficult to see where your code is generated.) There's also coverage of debugging and tracing techniques.

Standout sections on the calendar, Repeater, DataList, and DataGrid controls (all presented in good detail) will help you master these important controls. Coverage of techniques and support for validating user input in Web pages will also help you use these essential features.

The author's well-measured tutorial on Web services (much touted by Microsoft) is as good as any. Their demos (using a well-traveled example of a stock ticker server) will show you what all the fuss is about. They cut through the hype here and manage to show why Web services are a potentially better way toward distributed computing. Later sections look at deployment, configuration, and performance (as well as caching) options that you'll need to deploy and run your ASP.NET programs successfully. Coverage of security options in .NET rounds out the tour of what you'll need to create real applications.

Illustrated throughout with samples from VB .NET and C#, Programming ASP.NET is a worthy addition to the O'Reilly lineup and one of the best available titles for learning ASP.NET. The authors have achieved an excellent balance of practical, hands-on examples and essential programming techniques with the most important APIs and features, all without getting bogged down in the richness and complexity of .NET itself. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to the .NET platform and ASP.NET; basic programs in HTML; ASP and ASP.NET compared; events in ASP.NET (application, session, page, and control events); HTML and ASP controls compared; basic ASP controls APIs (including in-depth coverage of calendar support); code behind forms; using the Visual Studio .NET IDE; tracing, debugging, and error handling; validation controls in ASP.NET (including built-in and custom validators, plus regular expression support); basic data-binding techniques; list and DataGrid controls; ADO.NET tutorial (basic APIs and programming techniques); calling stored procedures; updating database records; Repeater and DataList controls used with ADO.NET; custom ASP.NET controls (including derived, composite, and full custom controls); overview of Web services (including SOAP, WSDL, and other standards); creating and consuming a sample Web service for a stock ticker; ASP.NET caching techniques explained (including fragment and object caching); security options in ASP.NET for authentication, authorization, and impersonation; configuration and deployment options in ASP.NET (including XCOPY deployment); and an appendix with a quick tutorial on database design.Product Description
O'Reilly has once again updated its bestselling tutorial on ASP.NET, the world's leading web development tool from Microsoft.In Programming ASP.NET, Third Edition, authors Jesse Liberty and Dan Hurwitz give you the lowdown on the technology's latest version, ASP.NET 2.0, as well as Visual Studio 2005.

Among the most significant improvements to ASP.NET 2.0 are new server controls and services that make you dramatically more productive.In fact, when compared to its predecessor, ASP.NET 2.0 reduces the amount of code you have to write by about 75%.Creating interactive web applications has never been easier-but that still doesn't mean it's hassle-free!The difficulty in ASP.NET 2.0 is that it's so complete and flexible that there are many pieces that must be woven together to build a robust, scalable, and efficient application.

Fortunately, Programming ASP.NET, Third Edition is on the case, dispensing all the information you need to be effective with this dynamic tool.For starters, the book features a comprehensive tutorial on Web Forms, the user interface that gives web applications their look and feel.It then offers detailed explanations of all new controls, including web server controls, HTML controls, and custom controls.Used properly, these controls are able to take care of nearly all the foundation work-security, data access, layout, etc.-that you would normally have to write yourself.Free of these burdensome tasks, you can instead focus on your specific application.

Other new material found in this updated edition even shows you how to create ASP.NET 2.0 pages for mobile devices.With Programming ASP.NET, Third Edition at your side, there's virtually no end to the programming possibilities.

Customer Reviews (83)

Great Reference and Learning Title
Just as any good large technical book should do, this gives a pretty good reference of all the basic controls and how to perform basic operations.This is also it's only fault, as it spends a lot of time on the simple controls, and not enough time on the more complex concepts.

It's good for reference though, as it does contain a good amount of content to do most anything in ASP.This title is good for the beginner ASP as it covers simple to complex tasks fairly thoroughly.After you've absorbed most of this book, you might find yourself looking for more, and I've mostly found Google useful to add-in the pieces missing from this book.Overall I recommend this for any ASP guru who needs a refresher every now and then.

Subpar Liberty book
I am a big fan of Jesse Liberty books and rate him as one of the best and more experienced tech writers around, but this book is definitely not up to his excellent standard. To be more precise, the book starts out very well, with and introduction to the basic control of ASP.NET illustrated by many clear examples, and the only complaint I have about the first part of the book is that I would have loved to see the two chapters that he devote to webapp structure and configuration right at the start of the book. I think it would have given a clear picture of what one is doing with all those pages and controls and why things are the way they are. The second part of the book is where I was expecting to find more complete and advanced examples on how to build and configure a "real - life " web application, but here is where the book fails miserably. The chapters on ADO can be defined as confusing at best, and the remaining chapters are either a sequence of instructions fitter more to a "build a website visually for dummies" title, or missing crucial information. I have been also very annoyed by the organization of the example code. Every, and I say every example is in the format of a single website, and to make things worse these websites are not organized by chapter number but just by name.
It really looks like the kind of book a smart and experienced tech author could write after studying the documentation throughly but having no real experience with the subject in practice. I think I understand why.. even I find myself more interested in the foundations of a technology on language structure and on general CS subjects than in the structure of the Nth API or Framwork, but still I don't go about writing books on them!
So, a somewhat decent book, especially considering the low general quality standard of ASP books, but nothing to be enthusiastic about.

Clearing up misconceptions
This book is a C# book.The reviews here, along with Amazon's own review, are referring to one of the previous editions where VB.NET code samples were included.

When deciding to buy this book, or not, be wary of the reviews that were posted before the publication date.I can see that this situation has already caused others some grief.

VB.NET code gone
[...]This edition has no VB.NET code and assumes knowledge of C#.All the examples are in that language.

I bought it because of positive reviews and publishers description that stated the book had all examples in both languages,[...].

It may be a fine book for those who know C#

Pretty darn good
A good book to use both as a learning guide, and as a reference. Though some of the code examples could have been tightened up a little bit, they do a nice job of starting at the very bottom/core of ASP and working their way up -- teaching you how to use ASP to create quality applications instead of glue and popsickle stick nightmares. ... Read more

Book Description
ASP.NET allows web sites to display unique pages for each visitor rather than show the same static HTML pages. The release of ASP.NET 2.0 is a revolutionary leap forward in the area of web application development. It brings with it a wealth of new and exciting built-in functions that reduce the amount of code you'll need to write for even the most common applications.

With more than 50 new server controls, the number of classes inside ASP.NET 2.0 has more than doubled, and in many cases, the changes in this new version are dramatic. This book will alert you to every new feature and capability that ASP.NET 2.0 provides so that you'll be prepared to put these new technologies into action. Greatly expanded from the original best-selling Professional ASP.NET 2.0, this new special edition adds hundreds of pages of new coverage of advanced and new techniques relating to data and data sources, the provider model, personalization, membership, role management, localization, configuration, migration, and Altas.

Bonus CD-ROM and DVD
* The bonus DVD includes a 180-day trial of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional
* The accompanying CD-ROM features a valuable library of chapters from other key Wrox books. It contains more than 1,000 pages from more than 15 Wrox ASP.NET 2.0, C# 2005, VB 2005, .NET 2.0, and SQL Server 2005 books.

What you will learn from this book
* The idea of the server control and its pivotal role in ASP.NET development
* How to create templated ASP.NET pages using the new master page feature
* Techniques for debugging and handling errors
* How to work with data from enterprise databases including SQL Server 2005 and Oracle(r)
* Ways to package and deploy ASP.NET applications
* How to retrieve, update, and delete data quickly and logically
* How to implement the cultures and regions features to localize your web site into multiple languages for different visitors
* How to use the new "Altas" add-in for ASP.NET 2.0 to add Ajax-style capabilities to your ASP.NET applications
* An understanding of how to use and extend the new pro?vider model for accessing data stores, processes, and more
* How to keep track of your application's performance and health with new monitoring tools
* When and how to migrate your ASP.NET 1.x applications to 2.0

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced programmers and developers who are looking to make the transition to ASP.NET 2.0.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

This book is also available as part of the 5-book ASP.NET 2.0 Wrox Box (ISBN: 0-470-11757-5). This 5-book set includes:

• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Special Edition (ISBN: 0-470-04178-1)
• ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (ISBN: 0764584642 )
• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Security, Membership, and Role Management (ISBN: 0764596985)
• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control and Component Development (ISBN: 0471793507)
• ASP.NET 2.0 MVP Hacks and Tips (ISBN: 0764597663)
• CD-ROM with more than 1000 pages of bonus chapters from 15 other .NET 2.0 and SQL Server(TM) 2005 Wrox books
• DVD with 180-day trial version of Microsoft(r) Visual Studio(r) 2005 Professional Edition

Customer Reviews (4)

Comprehensive but not in depth
This is a nice book for people who have the basic idea of ASP.NET.This Book covers almost all topics for .Net2.0 . It is a very good reference book for newbie.
Unfortunately, this book isn't in-depth for lots of topics, basically it just introduces most common cases, and you probably can't find what you want for some topics. (Eg implement Sorting and Pagation for ObjectDataSource, Crystal Report, memory management, ADO.NET in depth, .Net Virtual Machine etc). The source code is another down side for this book. Most of the code doesn't run, also the connection string wasn't right at the first place, I have to spend hours and hours to get it right.
In conclusion, it worth to buy, if you just want learn asp.net in a fast way. It will give you the solution for most tasks. Pretty good reference book.

Great ASP.NET 2.0 Reference
This is a great ASP.NET 2.0 reference book.It is absolutely packed with information covering all areas of the product.The book is also somewhat unique in that all code snippets are provided in both VB and C#, making it useful to all developers.

The authors are fantastic technical experts and speakers on .NET and ASP.NET.I think you can learn a lot from this book.

Encyclopedia of ASP.NET
Wrox is a great publisher of quick and massive volumes with multiple authors. I'm a teacher and look for good values that combine clear technical information and a broad range for a low cost. This is a good choice if you have experience with ASP.NET, know your web architecture (query strings, cookies, sessions, etc.), and don't want an extended tutorial.The reasoning for why you use these things wasn't clear but the details on how to use them exceeded most of the current fare which is why I chose to teach from the text recently. The quantity of code that was provided in VB and C# was excellent but the topics were out of order for classroom use. For the ASP.NET beginner, I feel it needs to be supplemented with a more tutorial based text and then this makes an excellent companion volume.

A Professional Level Book in Every Way
This is a monumental book. Almost sixteen hundred pages of hi-tech stuff. It is not for the faint of heart. It is intended for people who have at least a general understanding of how the web works with particular attention as to how a database driven web site is set up and works. Knowledge and experience with earlier versions of ASP (Active Server Pages) would be very helpful, but so would experience using other technologies such as Cold Fusion, PHP, or Java. Such knowledge is to provide you with the concepts of doing a dynamic web page consisting of a framework or template with the actual data being displayed coming from a database.

The book builds on this basic understanding to start with a very simple page and go on to much more complex tasks such as the building XML web services. Along the way every aspect of ASP.NET 2.0 is discussed.

ASP.NET 2.0 is the second major release of ASP.NET, Microsoft's main concept for programming dynamic web pages. The focus of the new release is on productivity. A major goal of the development team was to reduce the number of lines of code needed to program a page by two thirds. On the whole they suceeded.

In addition, the book contains two CD-ROMs. One is a 180 day trial version of Visual Studio 2005. The other has about a thousand pages from about 15 other WROX books that you may find helpful in looking up background information. The book is in reference format rather than tutorial. It will be very helpful for quite a long time. ... Read more

Book Description
Learn how to build impressive ASP.NET 2.0 Websites in both C# and VB from scratch.

Using a practical step-by-step approach, the authors introduce the ASP.NET framework, teach you about database design, and walk you through obtaining, installing and configuring all the freely available software you need to use ASP.NET 2.0. They then show you how to build several real world Web-based applications that you can put to use instantly in your projects.

Readers will learn how to:

Book Description

The most up-to-date and comprehensive introductory ASP.NET book you’ll find on any shelf, Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 guides you through Microsoft’s latest technology for building dynamic web sites. This book will enable you to build dynamic web pages on the fly, and it assumes only the most basic knowledge of C#.

The book provides exhaustive coverage of ASP.NET, guiding you from your first steps right up to the most advanced techniques, such as querying databases from within a web page and tuning your site for optimal performance. Within these pages, you’ll find tips for “best practices” and comprehensive discussions of key database and XML principles you need to know in order to be effective with ASP.NET. The book also emphasizes the invaluable coding techniques of object orientation and code behind, which will start you off on the track to building real-world web sites right from the beginning&emdash;rather than just faking it with simplified coding practices.

By the time you’ve finished the book, you will have mastered the core techniques and have all the knowledge you need to begin work as a professional ASP.NET developer.

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Introduction to ASP.NET
I have purchased (what feels like) hundreds of computer related books from Amazon.com (including other ASP.NET books), and this is the first one that I have ever felt the need to comment on.

This is just a great book, in my opinion!I found the book to be very easy to read, and logical to follow - Matthew MacDonald's writing style is very effective in communicating technical information in a way that made it easy for me to understand.

I've been developing Windows client applications (VB/C#) for close to 10 years, and have "played around" with ASP.NET 2.0.I knew how to make some basic web apps work, but didn't really understand what was going on underneath the covers.I had a lot of questions that were answered and now have a lot more confidence going forward with creating ASP.NET apps.

As I mentioned, I had purchased ASP.NET books by different authors (for 1.1 and 2.0).Maybe I never gave those books a chance, but this is by far the best that I have come across.

Disconnect from the first edition
First Edition of this book 1-59059-468-1 was a step by step tutorial of how to build sites.At the end, you get a decent working model of a balloon website.Thus, the title Novice to Professional.This book doesn't do this.The book is more laid out like other books.Chapter by Chapter, it covers a big topic like State Management, Error Handling, and others.This book is just like other books out there.I am bit disappointed that the publisher thought that previous book was not in an optimal format.There is really nothing wrong with the content or the information.This just isn't the Novice to Professional Book.It's as if you were reading the Harry Potter.On first edition, you know how Harry Potter is like.On second edition, he is gone or he doesn't do the magic tricks anymore.Instead, he cooks or sings.This book is like that.I can see Harry Potter Singing and Cooking.But that's not the Harry Potter series.He does magics...

This book is good but it's not in the original format. ... Read more

Book Description
ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX is Microsoft's Ajax tool for ASP.NET developers and this book covers the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX final release. You’ll learn how to use the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX features in order to create richer, more responsive dynamic Web sites. The book walks you through examples for each featured element, demonstrating how the client and server interact to produce a better Web application, and reviews such topics as client framework, script manager control, networking stack, application services, partial page updates, control extenders, client form elements, and client behaviors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Book
Very well-organized, easy to follow and provided a great starting point for the ASP.NET AJAX framework. Even if you've been surfing the ASP.NET AJAX documentation you'll still pickup some good tips and information from this book.

Very good first AJAX reference
I have nearly completed my first tour through the book. It is well-organized, written with considerable clarity, possesses a reasonable number of focused examples, and covers ALL the bases in good depth, including deployment and custom controls. Some very minor deficiencies are a scattered few forward references and a muddling of the details of JSON serialization when accessing web services, but the errata and future printings will hopefully clear these up soon.

Thua I strongly recommend it as the FIRST book to introduce yourself seriously to mainstream AJAX 2.0.

Great book from the source!
Just got a copy of this new book on ASP.NET AJAX and it looks great.It should be because Matt is the Development Manager for ASP.NET so he deeply understands the product.He has also worked on several other books and I can personally attest to the fact that he can indeed form complete sentences. ;-)
Seriously, this book is straight from the source and contains good, detailed information about the ASP.NET AJAX release that applies equally well today and in Visual Studio 2008

Excellent Book
Matt and Dan's ASP.NET AJAX book is an excellent one.It is packed with useful content, and contains a lot of great code examples that demonstrate real-world usage examples.

The book covers all of the core ASP.NET AJAX Scenarios:

- Server-Side Controls (UpdatePanel, UpdateProgress, etc)
- Client-side libraries
- Networking Stack
- Application Services
- AJAX Control Toolkit

Matt Gibbs is the development manager of ASP.NET at Microsoft, and led the ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 development team - so obviously knows his stuff well.Dan Wahlin is a great trainer and presenter of ASP.NET and ASP.NET AJAX.You are in very good hands with them.

I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Themes are a way to allow programmers to establish "skinnable" websites that can be programmatically adjusted for various purposes. A webmaster may decide that there should be a certain look and feel for site administrators while registered users see a different look and the remaining users see still a different view when they visit the site. This could include, among other things, completely different controls, graphics, and/or color schemes for each group. Users may want to set up a theme specifically targeted to meet the needs of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that removes all images and background colors and leaves the pages in stark contrast for that particular user group. Or maybe the developer just wants to let people choose the way they experience the site each time they visit.

Themes are very powerful and this book aims to highlight the potential of ASP.NET 2.0 Themes as well as their relationship to master pages and CSS in web applications today and illustrate many of the facets that can and should be included in theme development. While not specifically a designer's book, an overview of good web design and even a cheater's guide to PhotoShop will be included with the intent of taking the average ASP.NET Programmer and given them the knowledge to be "Renaissance Men and Women" of web design.

Specific topics covered in the book include:

• Browser, bandwidth, and accessibility considerations
• Use of color, fonts, multimedia
• CSS classes, elements, and Visual Studio CSS tools
• Master pages, child pages, and inheritance
• Consistent navigation and Site Maps
• Theme files, skin files, and applying themes
• A mobile theme example
• Basic PhotoShop tricks for Web Developers

Customer Reviews (2)

Developer Focussed.
I am a hardcore .net developer. But, site design has been kind of my downside. Came across this book and had a glance at the book contents. It looked impressive and bought it. Actually, after reading it, I am glad I bought it. It covers everything that you need to consider when building a website. Not just "How" to do it, but also the "Why" of doing it. It also covers the nitty questions which you have been thinking about how they do it in the site. Explains in a simple and direct way. Jacob Sanford has done a real good job in his first book. If you are a .Net developer and would like to sharpen your design skills, this is the book to buy. It's worth it.

Only book on the topic does a nice job
Let me get the bad out of the way first, so I can tell you why I think you should still consider buying this book.

1. Spends a bit of time on superfluous issues. For some of you, this might be a godsend, however, as development is often more than just coding these days.

2. Some fairly long code samples that fluff up the book without adding a huge amount. One illustration of CSS versus tables would be sufficient.

3. Not a lot of highlighting in code to point you to the points that have changed.

4. Some of the explanations are thin for those without a lot of experience in this particular topic.

Now that I got that out of the way, let's look at why this book should be a welcome addition to your shelf.

Reason 1 is it is the only book that focuses on this particular topic. Reason 2 is this topic is extremely important, although more often overlooked.

If you have an ugly, unusable personal site, it is not a big deal, as your mom will still visit. But, with business, it can be devastating. And, now, with accessibility lawsuits, it can be costly, as well.

Let's start from the beginning (a very good place to start, I hear).

The first few chapters are a bit of overview and express the importance of things like CSS, accessibility and good web design. None of these will make you an expert, but they will likely push those of you still in table design over to the dark side (CSS). The arguments for accessibility, including information about recent legal actions against websites, may be the kicker. Chapter 3 also focuses on using PhotoShop for designing a nice looking site. Some of the techniques will not apply to other image manipulation tools, but the basic ideas are useful for all.

Chapters 4 and 5 focus on CSS. In particular, chapter 4 talks about setting up a site that appears "tabled" in CSS and chapter 5 gives you a great overview, and some practical advise, about the CSS Friendly ASP.NET controls.

Chapter 6 talks about navigation and gives great practial advise on the web.sitemap file. This chapter was a godsend to me, as it finally gave me an epiphany on why roles were not working. This was actually a portion that fit #4 on my bad list, but sometimes seeing an example is enough to clue you in. :-)

Chapter 7 is focused on master pages. One of the biggest aids here will be the bits on design. The pages on passing information from master to child is also very useful.

Chapters 8 and 9 focus on themes. If you have a site that can be "skinned" different ways (by user or "site"), these chapters may well be worth the price of admission.

Finally, chapter 10. This is one of the best chapters in the book, as it brings all of what you have learned together. It shows how to use a single code base to work with a wide variety of browser targets, including mobile devices. And, unlike many books, it does it in a very practical, real world way.

There are also bonus appendices on Orcas (Visual Studio 2008) and Silverlight.

Summary: Overall, this is an average book. As the only book on the topic, however, it gets a slightly higher nod. As this is a topic I have tried to drill into people's heads (i.e., building a site is as much about user experience as making things work), I would like to see as many people pick up this book as possible. Someone might come out with a better one at some time, but learning this material is a wise thing. ... Read more

Book Description
If you are familiar with creating HTML web pages but aren't familiar with creating dynamic, data driven web applications, you should consider learning ASP. And Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is the perfect learning tool. The Starter Kit provides the unbeatable combination of programmer/author Scott Mitchell and the step-by-step learning method of the best-selling Sams Teach Yourself series. The accompanying CD includes Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, a lightweight, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn web development tool, and all projects developed in the book's examples.Download Description
If you are familiar with creating HTML web pages but aren't familiar with creating dynamic, data driven web applications, you should consider learning ASP. And Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is the perfect learning tool. The Starter Kit provides the unbeatable combination of programmer/author Scott Mitchell and the step-by-step learning method of the best-selling Sams Teach Yourself series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Good starting point
I don't often review books but I felt I had to on this one. Coming from a classic ASP background I think this book really helped me get my feet wet in ASP.Net 2.0. It had easy to understand examples on using the IDE to accomplish a lot of the common things you would normally do while developing.

Granted, the book does not get deep into best development practices or higher level concepts such as Data Access Layers and different types of databases and methods for accessing them. What it does do, is give you a very good starting point if you've never done any .Net development.

After you absorb this book and understand what you can do, you can move onto a more full featured ASP.Net book that covers a lot more.

I actually emailed the author and asked what book he would recommend next and he pointed me in the right direction. Overall a good book to start with.

Good book, great shipping!
shipped and arrived really fast and the other 2 books i had ordered, it turned out i didn't need them and amazon took them back without any problems and i got my refund. this book is great!! thanks amazon!

Very good book; Better than '..for dummies' book
Scott Mitchell is a very good author and has a great deal of ASP knowledge. This book took me from knowing absolutely nothing and a few days later I was creating a Web application for my company (and it actually works).The data explanations are very good.

The book does not detail ALL the web server controls, but a good majority of them.The details that it does lack you can easily pick up from the author's web site.

I also have the ASP for dummies book, but it does not compare to this one.

Useless book = waste of time + waste of money
The more I read this book, the more I realized that I was wasting my time and the money I paid for this book. I've always been a fan of the 24 Hours book I buy these line of books to learn new technologies. This one, however, leaves a lot to be desired. For instance, it doesn't break examples into visual enumerated instructions; instead, it mixes the instructions with the text, personal comments, etc. Also, it talks and talks, but does very little, making the information very diluted. I can't say anything positive about this book.

Great book!
An excellent book if you know HTML and have had some experience with databases and web programming. I am a static web programmer needing to learn dynamic creation of websites. This is all I need! Great Book! ... Read more

Book Description

ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed is a revision of the best-selling ASP.NET Unleashed, by Microsoft Software Legend Stephen Walther. It covers virtually all features of ASP.NET 2.0 including more than 50 new controls, personalization, master pages, and web parts. All code samples are presented in VB and C#. Throughout the more than 2,000 pages, you will be shown how to develop state-of-the-art Web applications using Microsoft's latest development tools. This resource is guaranteed to be used as a reference guide over and over!

Customer Reviews (34)

Good Book But Missing ADO.NET and WebService.
Generally speaking, it's a good book for new features of asp.net 2.0.
Unfortunately, this big book still not include, two important parts of asp.net, ADO.NET and Web Service.

No Databasefiles in the CD
I bought this book just a few weeks back. And I've noticed that there are no database files in the CD. The author mentioned in the 8th chapter of the book " You can simply copy the database files(.mdf files) from the CD onto your local hardrive to use the sample databases". But I could see only the sourcecode files in the cd, no database files. That's really bad and I am very disappointed.

Asp.Net 2.0 revealed
Trying to read most other book on asp.net 2.0 programming books are dull, boring, and mostly hard to follow. ASP.Net 2.0 Unleashed was considerable easier to follow steps and really hit on the concepts!

Book of ASP NET 2.0 heaven
I've been read a lot of ASP NET books, but since I read this one my knowledge of using this tecnology has changed and a lot of concepts in this plataform as well. Therefore, the best ASP NET book I've ever read!

Lies and Greed - no C# in book
"All code samples are presented in VB and C#." If you were able to read the previous sentence describing the book's contents, you, like me, would naturally assume that C# code is present in the book. You would be wrong. The C# code is relegated to the CD only, making reading the book from a C# perspective awkward at best. I've written the publisher, who foolishly asked for feedback. Bottom line, if you develop in C#, this book is not for you. ... Read more

Book Description
Delve into the core topics for ASP.NET 2.0 programming, mastering the essential skills and capabilities needed to build high-performance Web applications successfully. Well-known ASP.NET author Dino Esposito deftly builds your expertise with Web forms, Microsoft Visual Studio-, core controls, master pages, data access, data binding, state management, security services, and other must-know topics#151;combining definitive reference with practical, hands-on programming instruction. Packed with expert guidance and pragmatic examples, this CORE REFERENCE delivers the key resources you need to develop professional-level Web programming skills. ... Read more

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