Fast Track ASP.NET

Rating:
Summary: Informative guide - well written
Review: An excellent book that gets right to the point regarding ASP.NET with C#. It is best if you've used ASP for a while, and are familiar, at least a little bit, with C# (or C++, or Java).

The book presents methods of compiling code using the command line, or using VS.NET. Personally, I have preferred learning ASP.NET and C# by hand, since VS.NET esentially hides some of the page details and compiler details that are really critical. Learn without VS.NET first!

The example code can be applied immediately - especially the authentication and user/server control chapters.

An excellent book, and not overpriced, since it is thinner than most similar books on the shelf. A good buy.

Rating:
Summary: Great Starter...A little light on more advanced topics
Review: First let me say this book fully met my expectations from what I know of Wrox press and the Fast Track series. It was a big help on the little things I was hanging up on. I'm a very experienced programmer with a lot of languages under my belt, and so my biggest hurdle in learning a new technology is the "translation" of certain concepts from one platform to another. This book is good for that "I know how to do X in ASP classic...how does that fit into .NET" state of mind. It probably would help to already be familiar with C# or another OO language though...pure VBScripters may have more trouble with the syntactical elements.

My only problem with this book is the very cursory examination of custom user controls. When I started writing ASP.NET, one of the first things I wanted to do was translate my old SSI libraries into the .NET framework, and one of the best ways to do so is with custom user controls...but the book barely spent two pages on it, and what they did discuss was hardly worth mentioning to begin with.

Aside from that one gripe however, great book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Starter...A little light on more advanced topics
Review: First let me say this book fully met my expectations from what I know of Wrox press and the Fast Track series. It was a big help on the little things I was hanging up on. I'm a very experienced programmer with a lot of languages under my belt, and so my biggest hurdle in learning a new technology is the "translation" of certain concepts from one platform to another. This book is good for that "I know how to do X in ASP classic...how does that fit into .NET" state of mind. It probably would help to already be familiar with C# or another OO language though...pure VBScripters may have more trouble with the syntactical elements.

My only problem with this book is the very cursory examination of custom user controls. When I started writing ASP.NET, one of the first things I wanted to do was translate my old SSI libraries into the .NET framework, and one of the best ways to do so is with custom user controls...but the book barely spent two pages on it, and what they did discuss was hardly worth mentioning to begin with.

Aside from that one gripe however, great book.

Rating:
Summary: I Love The Fast Track Series
Review: I bought Fast Track ASP.NET and it was exactly what I needed, a fast way to bring me up to speed on useful ASP.NET. No fluff, just straight to the point. Not to mention a good price. When I wanted to update myself on ADO.NET I just went straight to the bookstore, grabbed Fast Track ADO.NET, paid for it, and walked out, no hesitation. I will continue to consider the Fast Track series for future topics.

If you have been programming for a while and are getting tired of having to deal with a 800-1,000+ page book for every one of the million topics you need to keep up with, then the Fast Track Series is for you. This book is only 300 pages long! After reading a Fast Track book you have plenty of information to start working with the technology. I did it in just a couple of days.

I do not recommend this book for a beginner programmer or for someone who has never done ASP programming before (unless you are very good and experienced at learning new technologies). If you have experience in ASP programming then buy this book to bring you up to speed with the technology.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Track ASP.NET
Review: I purchased this book and Fast Track C# together and I was not disappointed with either book.

Pros:

The Fast Track C# book is targeted to Java and C++ developers making the transition to C# and the Fast Track ASP.Net C# Edition is targeted to ASP 3.0 programmers making the transition to ASP.Net. Even though I have limited ASP 3.0 experience, the book was easy to follow and I did not feel lost. When you have multiple authors, the difference in writing styles can sometimes be very obvious but that is not the case with Bellinaso, Gaster, and Hoffman. Their writing styles blend together. It was hard to distinguish where 1 author finished up and another started. Each chapter in this book builts upon the knowledge of the previous chapters. If you have some ASP and/or .Net skills you might want to skip the 1st (What is ASP.Net?) chapter. The authors show the results of the source code. If you do the examples, you can compare your results to the authors. A lot of books show you the source code but never show you the results. How can you know if you are doing it right, if you do not have the results to compare it with? Wrox recommends that this book or the "Beginning ASP.Net using C#" be followed with more advanced or specialized books. This book will give the basic skills to successfully write ASP.Net using C#. I would follow Wrox's advice and supplement this book with more advanced books. This is an excellent starting book and will get you up to speed with ASP.Net using C# in a hurry! I highly recommend this book.

Cons:

If you use a highligher, it may "bleed" through several pages before or after the page that you highlighted. This really makes a messy book. Did anyone else experience this?

Rating:
Summary: Fast Track ASP.NET
Review: I purchased this book and Fast Track C# together and I was not disappointed with either book.

Pros:

The Fast Track C# book is targeted to Java and C++ developers making the transition to C# and the Fast Track ASP.Net C# Edition is targeted to ASP 3.0 programmers making the transition to ASP.Net. Even though I have limited ASP 3.0 experience, the book was easy to follow and I did not feel lost. When you have multiple authors, the difference in writing styles can sometimes be very obvious but that is not the case with Bellinaso, Gaster, and Hoffman. Their writing styles blend together. It was hard to distinguish where 1 author finished up and another started. Each chapter in this book builts upon the knowledge of the previous chapters. If you have some ASP and/or .Net skills you might want to skip the 1st (What is ASP.Net?) chapter. The authors show the results of the source code. If you do the examples, you can compare your results to the authors. A lot of books show you the source code but never show you the results. How can you know if you are doing it right, if you do not have the results to compare it with? Wrox recommends that this book or the "Beginning ASP.Net using C#" be followed with more advanced or specialized books. This book will give the basic skills to successfully write ASP.Net using C#. I would follow Wrox's advice and supplement this book with more advanced books. This is an excellent starting book and will get you up to speed with ASP.Net using C# in a hurry! I highly recommend this book.

Cons:

If you use a highligher, it may "bleed" through several pages before or after the page that you highlighted. This really makes a messy book. Did anyone else experience this?

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I've partecipated to a number of Microsoft briefing on .net the past year. The evangelists i meet where doing all to make .net impossible to understand and this made me look at .net with a certain suspect. Then i got this book and.. tadah! I've seen the light. If you understand nothing on how asp.net works this is the book for you. You'll see that there is nothing magic, nothing hidden behind ,that your knowledge of asp and ado still worth (despite the propaganda) and that .net could become a improuvement of your old style of work, not his destruction. The book covers shortly but effectively all the aspects of asp.net development. Is a great point to start from.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction
Review: If you have some experience with server-side development such as ASP or Java Servlets, this book is a perfect fit. The authors did an excellent job in explaining the essence of this new technology with just enough information to give you a thorough understanding of all its core features. The samples are short and to the point and I liked the fact that it showed both how to handcode and what you gain if you use VS.NET. Unlike other introductions to ASP.NET this book is a very quick read. It feels a bit like a good discussion with a fellow developer who had years of ASP.NET experience. It told me what I need to know to get productive fast. Very impressive. I look forward reading more from these authors.