.NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide

Rating:
Summary: Couple of gems, the rest are rocks!
Review: Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book.

Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in a book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about a particular book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions:

* The book title. What specific technology does it focus on?
* Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point?
* Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit

This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered.

The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls.

All code samples are in VB.Net

Grade: Pass

Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework

A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them.

Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls.

Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant.
I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators

A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc.
A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices.

Grade: Pass

Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT
This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point.

But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET

One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications.

I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies.

Grade: Fail

Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions

This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product.

At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT!

Grade: Fail

Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application

I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code.

It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices.

Grade: Pass

Conclusion:

Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind.