Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide: C# Edition

Book Review

Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide: C# Edition
by Doug Lowe and Joel Murach
Copyright 2005
Mike Murach & Associates, Inc.

Are you new to ASP.NET web development with C#? Are you considering a jump onto the ASP.NET 2.0 train?

If so, this book isn't really for you. It is no beginners' book. So, it won't tell you the kind of things you need to know to get started in this programming language such as syntax, language constructs, and general concepts. However, if you are already an ASP.NET 1.x developer and you are looking for an in-depth book on what you can expect from ASP.NET 2.0 and how you can use the new features efficiently, you'll like this book.

On more than 500 pages the authors introduce you to all the new and exciting features of ASP.NET 2.0. But not only will you read about it, you'll also see the many code samples and screenshots that guide you through complex issues. And if this isn't enough, you can download the source code and the sample databases from Murach’s Web site and play with it on your own.

Here's what the book covers:

• Introduction to ASP.NET 2.0
• ASP.NET 2.0 data access
• New ASP.NET 2.0 features

The first section gives a brief overview of the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 and explains how to create C# applications with Visual Studio 2005.

The second section deals with data access in ASP.NET 2.0. From an SQL Server point of view, it may not be desirable to see so many embedded T-SQL statements within the C# source code, but after all, it's a book about ASP.NET 2.0 with C# and not a book about SQL Server and best practices of data access. Anyway, in about 170 pages the authors explain almost everything you need to know about data access with C# and how to create data-driven dynamic web applications.

The third section is clearly the highlight of this book. The authors explain in detail by means of real-world examples how to use the new features in ASP.NET 2.0 to save precious coding time, and thus increase your productivity with even less work. You learn about the new controls, how to use the new wizards to your advantage, and how to put this all together to build rock-solid modern web applications.

The forth and last chapter finally shows you how to migrate existing ASP.NET 1.x applications to ASP.NET 2.0 and how to configure and deploy such applications.

What is notable about the book is that the authors stay focused on "how" to use the new features. They don't delve into "why" or "how come." You'll appreciate this approach when you're looking for information to get you started fast So, if you are thinking about migrating to ASP.NET 2.0 with C#, take a good look at this book. It is well worth $39.50.