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.NET Book WatchHOMETitle: Sams TeachYourself ASP.NET in 21Days, Second EditionAuthor: Chris PaynePublisher: SamsList Price: $39.99Rating:Reviewed by DerekFergusonTitle: Visual Basic.NET and the .NETPlatform: AnAdvanced GuideAuthor: AndrewTroelsenPublisher: ApressList Price: $59.95Rating:Reviewed by DerekFergusonDESKTOPSERVEREVERYWHEREiSams Teach Yourself ASP.NETin 21 Days, Second Editionwill always rememberobtaining my advance copyof this manuscript, as itrequired a walk from my hotel roomin lower Manhattan to the W Hotelin Times Square. The trip was wellworth it, however! I began leafingthrough the manuscript on the trainback home and didn’t even go tosleep until I had read the entire firsthalf. I finished the remaining half inthe morning before we arrived inChicago. When a book is this good,you don’t even need the 21 dayspromised by its title.The book begins with virtuallyno assumptions about the reader’sprevious development experience.This is very ambitious, consideringthat by the end of the book thereader will have covered all key conceptsnecessary in order to becomea highly skilled ASP.NET developer.This process is helped along enormouslyby the presence of exercisesat the end of each chapter, to allowreaders to check their progresstoward the goal of ASP.NET mastery.Part of the reason I so quicklybecame engrossed in this manuscriptis that it gets off to a veryquick start. It smartly sidesteps theissues associated with teachingeither C# or VB.NET and digs rightinto a working example to get readersinterested in exactly whatASP.NET can do for them in theirdaily work. Later on, Chapter 3 managesto compress into a single chapterso much C# versus VB.NET materialthat it would take days of scouringthe Microsoft documentation todeduce it for yourself.The book makes very quick workof teaching the basics of ASP.NETstructure and syntax, so the remainderof the manuscript is wisely spentexamining the various .NETFrameworks related to advancedASP.NET development. Just a few ofthese topics include XML, COMinteroperability, and internationalization.One thing I particularly likedabout this book was that every tooldescribed in it is absolutely free fordownload. Assuming you alreadyhave an ASP.NET-capable operatingsystem (Windows 2000 or WindowsXP, for example) this book showsyou how to install IIS, the .NETFramework, and the free debuggeravailable in the .NET SDK.The book’s attempt to cover Webservices in any form is admirable,and a basic understanding of thetechnology is very well communicated.On the other hand, topicssuch as SOAP headers, DISCO, andnon-ASP.NET clients (a Java applicationrunning on Solaris, for example)are mentioned in passing, andthen passed over. This is probably awise decision, considering the scopeof the manuscript.sVisual Basic .NET and the .NETPlatform: An Advanced Guideo, there I was in the bookstore,trying to decide whatbook to buy for a plane tripout to Redmond. I’d been invited toa special .NET technology “bootcamp” for authors and wanted toarrive knowing even more about.NET than I knew stepping onto theplane.My peculiar situation was that Iknew a great deal about one specificarea of .NET (mobility – aboutwhich I’d already written a book,Mobile .NET). However, my day jobat Expand Beyond (www.xb.com)keeps me up to my armpits in Javamost of the time. What I needed wassomething that would expand thebreadth of my .NET knowledgewithout talking in terms that anexperienced Microsoft developerwould find insulting.The first thing you’ll notice aboutVisual Basic .NET and the .NETPlatform: An Advanced Guide is itssize. At approximately a thousandpages, I knew this wasn’t going to bea book I could finish in a round tripbetween Chicago and Seattle – muchless on my way out. However, I alsoimmediately felt that a book of thissize could present a serious claim tothe title of being “the” book on .NETdevelopment.Well, I wasn’t disappointed. Thismay not be “the” book on .NETdevelopment, but it’s certainly thebook to read if you’ve already doneMicrosoft development and arenow looking to learn about .NET.I was sold from the moment theauthor, Andrew Troelsen – ofIntertech-Inc fame – introducedILDASM on page 33. ILDASM is atool that lets you examine the contentsof any .NET assembly rightdown to the level of the individualIL instructions. Any book that’salready talking about this tool onpage 33 has made a conscious decisionto dispense with the fluff andget right down to business!Now, it should be noted that thisbook is essentially just a VB.NETtranslation of the author’s earlierwork, C# and the .NET Platform. So,if you’ve already read the previousbook, you might not find this booknearly as useful as I did. (We’ll keepour eyes peeled here at .NETDeveloper’s Journal for the perfectbook or books for those of you whohave already learned .NET using C#and now want to tackle VB.NET – orvice versa!)Similarly, given my own extensivebackground in Java, I didn’tneed any of the in-depth explanationsgiven for object-orienteddevelopment or multithreading.However, for the bulk of the readership– who will undoubtedly becoming from a Visual Basic 6 (orearlier) background – I’m sure thismaterial is indispensable. In anyevent, it was all wonderfully writtenand thoroughly explained.Two things that I’m glad thisbook doesn’t cover are XML Webservices and Web applications. Ifully understand that Web servicesare integral to .NET’s entire valueproposition. I also understand thatWeb applications represent one ofthe most stunning applications of.NET’s incredible flexible architecture.However, the author gives amore than adequate introduction tothe concept here, so there’s no needto devote any more coverage to it.Microsoft’s own documentation andnumerous other works do an excellentjob where this is concerned.For over a thousand pages, thisbook tells you everything you needto know about .NET – without a bitof fluff – and that’s quite an accomplishment.I must deduct half a star,however, because I couldn’t locatethe author’s e-mail address anywherein the text or on the cover.26Preview Issue • dotnetdevelopersjournal.com