Beginning Active Server Pages 2.0

When I was on the market for an ASP book, I was torn whether or not to get 2.0, go straight to 3.0, or try my hand at a Professional 2.0 or 3.0. I was scared away from anything 3.0 because I didn't have Win2000 and IIS 5.0. As it turns out, I learned plenty about ASP with this book, regardless of which Win operating system I'm on (or you are on).It is true what reviewers write below, this is a very introductory book to ASP. It assumes you are a beginner to programming. It also favors VBScript as opposed to JavaScript. But the most important part is that it is an intro and it sets the foundation to learn more (which i would suggest ASP Databases with Kauffman next!)I had no previous ASP experience but plenty of HTML and VBScript. This book was a good choice for me because I could breeze through the HTML/VB and concentrate on how to use what I knew with ASP. It helps you with the PWS download and gets it running (which allows individuals to run ASP if you don't have Server of IIS).It spends a fair amount of time on the big 6 ASP objects. However, there are a few other really great parts to this book. They give a few great scripts, including one that detects browsers. In addition, I really like the last three chapters. After they teach you about ASP, Ch. 13 introduces ASP with databases (including ODBC and OLE-DB), Ch. 14 discusses the ADO model (with SQL) and Ch. 15 integrates it all together with a big, 100-page database classifieds example that anyone can use and manipulate to something of their own.

Than this is your book. This book explains everything from the bottom up. I didn't no didly-do from scripting languages and yet I was up and runnig in no time with this book. At last a book that understands the needs of a beginner...

Excellent for those who haven't programed before. The only stuff you need to know is plain old HTML, and everyone practically knows this. WARNING : This book is very addictive.

As I was starting to learn ASP, I was a bit shaken by the control and power available through ASP. However, the book starts one off with an extremely satisfactory introduction to ASP that should take the shakes away from any beginner. As the book progresses, the examples and the text carry one well into the intricancies and abstracts of ASP. The result at the end of the book is a competent, intermediate/advanced level ASP programmer who should be able to design and implement basic/medium ASP databases with full web intergration. Thanks to this book, I can proudly call myself an intermediate ASP programmer.

I found this book to be the best beginners ASP book I have come across. I tried the SAM'S series first (i.e. Active Server Pages 2.0 in 24 hrs and 21 days respectively) I found these books to have too many coding errors and not being able to properly route you to an ASP environment. This book on the other hand did a great job of telling you what you needed to run ASP on your laptop/desktop, and how to find it. My personal suggestion is that if you have the means of downloading PWS 4.0 from a network do so, because the download takes forever otherwise. I found the example programs to be pretty much on the mark. I would also suggest downloading HomePage 4.0 from Allaire, it is an excellent HTML editor. The book tells you how to go about downloading HomePage as well. I have had a lot to say about this book because it is just that good, the authors do a fantastic job of explaining how each part of the code works. Some other readers may have found this repetitive, but with limited HTML and no ASP experience, I found it to be a God sent.