ASP.Net Solutions - 23 Case Studies: Best Practices for Developers

This a great book for transitioning knowledge without a drastic paradigm shift, as it doesn't rely heavily on data binding. (not like EVERY other ASP.NET & ADO.NET book I've picked up.) Great alternatives presented (and performance-wise, they probably run more efficiently). Also a great learn-by-doing book, instead of a language reference. Made the connection for me.

I just wanted to comment because I noticed this book being knocked for not having complete source code and for having missing links on the website. The problems seem to have been rectified. Thumbing through the book for over an hour at the bookstore gave me the strong impression that this is a very good book to aid any self taught programmer in improving their techniques, following better practices than they may have developed on their own and/or through clipping ideas off the internet. It also seems to include many/most of the types if things that a real-world web programmer would want to know how to accomplish.

This book is one of the few books that is reminiscent of the many titles that were published in the glory days of ASP Classic, being "plug and play" books that had independent bits of code you could rip and start working with immediately. I'll admit that I hadn't heard of Rick Leinecker before this book came out, but I'm a big fan now.While the title's main draw is to give a developer a series of diverse applications, it presents the information in a way in which many of us admittedly still program - on a per-script level, without all being tied into one major application. The code is documented nicely and explained well. Also, examples like the Microsoft ASP.NET Forums and dynamic charting script author Leinecker use a more enterprise approach, each being component-driven sub-applications. While the book's subtitle denotes "best practices" (which is somewhat argumentative when dissecting the code and methodologies used), it is a quick read, with lots of helpful info. And it does a great job of doing what it says - giving a developer quick, easy access to 23 different types of applications with which to deploy in web environments. The SpeechVB application was also a neat addition. So if you're looking for a title that just gives you a jumpstart on getting working code, grab this book.

One thing I love about case study books is how they help you take your skills to the next level. Sometimes applying your skills in more advanced ways is a struggle. This book has helped me do just this in a few chapters. While not every case study will hit the "nail on the head" for your current need, I think that there is something here for everyone. It's certainly been beneficial to me. Justin B.