ASP.NET Evolution

Vast numbers of people are attracted to ASP.NET because of the relative ease with which Web applications can be developed. However, many beginning developers often have no experience in building a full-scale application. They quickly run into problems as the complexity increases. This book addresses the desire among these developers for solid example code by giving them a completed application that they can personalize to their own needs, rather than having to start from scratch.

The application is an online community -- the type of application that most novice ASP.NET developers want to build. Features such as dynamic news, updateable image galleries, Web logs, email newsletters, forums, events calendar and polls are all included. The example application is used as the basis for a variety of learning activities. After being introduced to the application, readers are guided through making progressively bigger changes to the code and adapting it to their own needs. This unique teaching style instills a sense of ownership that will give each reader the confidence to make further changes. By the time they have finished the book, each reader will have adapted the example application, making it their application.

User review
Rubbish!
I bought the book for two reasons
1)It was supposed to be above beginner level
2)It was supposed to be in C#
3)It was supposed to be really hands-on

i'm only in chapter 2 and the book has already failed in point 2.
How the h**l did the publishers let such a kind of blunder get to print, i'm really disappointed. It just goes to show you cant judge a book by its cover, ,,,,(rubbish)

User review
If you are ready for a big fight, got the book
The book is not for anybody that wants a smooth drive! I have spent 2 weeks, 60 hours on the book and you know what, I haven't seen the output of the initial program.

The idea to learn from real porject is very appealing but this book did an extremely horrible job in explaining basic concepts and providing any help in troubleshooting. As has been mentioned by other guys, there is no forum to get help. Out of despair, I even wrote a personal message to the author one week ago to ask for help, but yet to get any response.

The problem I have in setting up the initial application:
1. Some errors in the source code. for example, we shall use findobject rather than find when calling from facade.
2. Some problem with the mapping file(repository). The file is supposed to map the database schema to the class in VB.Net code. I got errors pointing to the file.

what I am doing now is debugging line by line after download the OJB.net source code, hoping to locating the problem in the mapping file.

The terms and concepts adapted by the author to `decribe` an online community is also twisted, making the book even harder to digest.

I got the book at around $10(used), I was so happy that I got a good deal, now you shall know why I have had the book so cheap!

Mr. Dan Kent will be removed from my future books' author list.





User review
Terrible
Don't waste your money. I picked up this book because the process described in learning ASP.Net seemed like a good route to go, however, they do a terrible job of helping you understand how to get the application started. In the book it states that you can get help by going to the forum, however there is no such forum.

After about an hour of trying to get the site working I finally figured it out, only to find out that it's not even set up like it is in the book.

This book is a complete waste of time and money.

User review
Not enough explanations!
I must say that I am not very far into this book, say ch3. But I did fine part of the setup annoying. I don't expect to purchase a techie book and expect to figure out why it won't work the way they say. I have written this post to mostly help people out as there isn't a forum for this book (as stated in the book!).

I didn't have any trouble copying the files from the cd except for webctrl_client as it doesn't exist on the cd, and for the application to work, this folder it is needed. I had to source IEWebControls controls from www.ASP.NET. This got the app working ok. The other annoying thing is the sql script to make the user 'community' doesn't do the job completely as it leaves out that user's permissions, I have to change the connection string to point to user SA for the time being.

Other than this I have found the book interesting, and I am hoping as I get further into the book I won't encounter any further problems. Maybe I brought the wrong book as a ASP.NET newbie, but I do llike the idea of working through an application from start to finish and the author (from his bio) knows what he is on about.

User review
Some Errors but worth the trouble
I encountered some of the problems mentioned below but found that working through these problems actually increased my knowledge of the application. Having said that, this book was not meant for beginners, in fact I consider myself somewhere between a beginner and intermediate developer and I find much of the material over my head. But that is why I bought this particular book. I wanted something that would take me beyond the simple controls and pages that my current library provides.

True, I would be a lot happier with the book if there were fewer errors but the challenge of getting things up and running was somewhat worth it and once it is setup the code all seems to work fine.

I should also note that this is a VB.Net book, which you wouldn't know if you read the back cover which states you should have a general understanding of C# to use this book. That is an example of the apparent sloppiness that went into putting this book together that you'll find as well as those already mentioned but I wouldn't necessarily write the book off because of that ,,,,. yet. (I am about a 1/4 of the way through it)

Hopefully they will get a errata page up real soon and fix some of the sloppiness in the next revision.