SMXSteve said
To say it is the best in its category is not saying a lot with what's out there. It is a good book but typical of something so large.
Defining beginner can vary greatly. Having coded in VB6 and VBA (classis ASP) for 15 years or better I would be considered a beginner to .NET. And even tho examples are in C# locating the VB samples on the CD wasn't a problem.
The problem I do have with the book is that there is more emphasis on using controls than actually coding. For instance, I prefer to code all of my database access because I can see it - nothing hidden within the control to deal with when debugging. He also left out a very critical part of coding, error handling and how to really use the web.config file. Some of his samples had a lot of web.config code that was not explained so the samples wouldn't always work without tweaking. Finding what needed tweaking took time.
He does seem to know his stuff and there is a lot there. Some of it is beginning level but like a lot of books that have some beginning info, some important stuff gets left out when transitioning beyond. For example, creating a user login. What he gave was very simple. But how do you make those controls more robust. If you can't, then it's strictly beginner.
Saravanan Kumarashanmugam said
This is good book for intermediate to advanced asp.net developers. First couple of chapters covers controls, master pages, themes, ans user controls. Later, more than 550 pages devoted to data access. I have read couple of other books but no one covers data access this much. Then it covers site navigation, security, state management, Ajax etc. I don't see any errors in this book, all examples are working fine. This book missing couple of things like - webparts, security basics, Personalization. I am giving 5 stars.
M. Jew said
I'll preface by saying my comments are on Part 1 of the book.
I feel that Stephen Walther left out a lot of major issues about configuration and models in Part 1.
While the author talks about dynamic compilation in the section called "Understanding Dynamic Compilation", he barely talks about PreCompilation. And he doesn't even touch upon the ASP.Net 1.1 model of compilation which is certainly available in ASP.NET 3.5.
While he covers using code-behind pages and how compilation works with that model. He doesn't mention how compilation works with the single page model.
It's ok to simply certain concepts for one's readers, but don't leave the different code models and compilation models out and they work together in deployment.
Jason A. Haley said
The first thing everyone notices about this book is the size (and weight) ... which makes it less mobile than others but a great deal per pound (~$6 a pound of Asp.Net goodness).
For beginners:
I know the book's back cover says it is a book for Intermediate-Advanced, but I honestly think most beginners could use this book as much as anyone else - mainly due to Stephen's writing style. He is very good at walking through the details in an easy to follow manner while showing all the parts and details that help the reader get the complete story. If you are a beginner, I would suggest reading the sections completely and looking at the code on the CD. If you are serious about becoming an Asp.Net expert - read the whole book from cover to cover.
For experienced Asp.Net developers:
I've been using Asp.Net for awhile now (since it came out in 2002) and use this book for my first reference. I have the 2.0 version at work and the 3.5 version at home and keep them both in reach of my desk. The things I like about this book (and why I use it more often than Google for Asp.Net related questions):
1. The Index ROCKS! - whoever put the index together for this book really knew what would be useful and makes finding useful information easy (and I know I can trust faster than Google).
2. The coverage (as in completeness) of Asp.Net is amazing. Sometimes I find myself hitting F1 or looking something up in MSDN only to be disappointed (or not completely satisfied) with the detail and examples to then reach over and grab this book (or run a text search on the source code - which I keep on my dev machines for reference).
3. The samples and source code are practical and useful. For me there is nothing better than complete working code examples for reference when I need to do something similar or understand how things work.
The only problem I have with this book is the weight (~6 pounds) ... but then again, maybe I should just get to the gym more often:)
In summary, if you are serious about writing Asp.Net applications you should get this book. If you don't have time to read it, page through it to get a sense of Stephen's writing style, put the code on your machine and keep it in reach of your desk. Next time you think of Googling some detail about Asp.Net - first check the index of this book ... you might be surprised at how fast you locate a working example and detail of what you were looking for.
Sreeni said
They have shipped the item very fast and the book I got is in very good condition. I recommend this merchant without any hesitation
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