ASP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference

I recently made a successful transition from client server to web applications. I credit part of the success to this book. As a VB programmer, I wasn't interested in a long book on all aspects of the VBScript language and COM objects. What I needed was a book that explained the HTTP protocol and ASP object models. This book filled that function exactly. This is not a good book for programming novices, and will be no more helpful than a reference manual would be to them. However, experienced VB programmers will see it as fulfilling both instructional and reference roles. It is a book you will read on repeated occasions and always keep close at hand.

This book is titled "In a nutshell" and appropriately so. I have over 4 years experience with server side scripting with Perl and PHP and had some familiarity with ASP before I bought this book. I bought it mainly as a reference to help me look up how to do thing I already knew how to do in those other languages with ASP. For that purpose, it has been a great resource. It has helped identify the objects that are available from ASP while providing some nice code snippets with which to see what I was looking up in action. I was able to successfully code a practice project in less that a week, and will definably use this book for any future ASP project that I work on. I've been a fan of O'Reiley "In a nutshell" books since picking up Director and Lingo in a nutshell and would highly recommend this book as a reference resource. As for using it to learn server side scripting, you might be better to get a more in depth training book instead.

I purchased this book to be both an introduction to ASP as well as a reference guide. I was not disappointed in either. For an introduction, the book is definitely geared more as a reference guide, so it assumes you have some scripting (or programming) background; VBS and/or VB being an advantage. Having both of these, I was very pleased to find that the sections of the book used as an introduction/mini-tutorial kept to the important information and did not stray off into personal stories or lengthy (yet ultimately pointless) explanations. As a reference guide, I use it constantly. It is one of the few books that actually reside on my desk. The reference sections are divided into logical sections, and clearly give syntax, rules, explanations and (when appropriate) examples. The reference section even goes so far as to cover ADO; I found some did not, or if they did, they skimmed it. This reference guide provides excellent ADO references.This guide has allowed me to jump very confidently into ASP scripting, and has yet to let me down. I have recommended this book to my peers, and I recommend it to you.

Wow! This is undoubtedly the best 2nd edition to come along in a long time. This book is even more informative and concise than the first one. Although it is not a book for beginners it is a great reference manual for those of us in the field. O'reilly definitely knows how to put together a good book.

Keep in mind that this, and all "....in a Nutshell" books are designed to be reference material, not how to books. From that standpoint, this is an excellant desk reference for any ASP developer. After using another book to ease into ASP, this one became my standby for day to day development. If you are looking for something to teach you ASP, look elsewhere and then buy this one when you're done.