Pro ASP.Net 2.0 in C# 2005 by Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta from Apress

Jeff Tolle — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 19:23:00 GMT

As I am sure everyone who takes the time to read this article is aware, in November Microsoft releases a huge upgrade to their developments platform, VS2005. (There is also some other releases in this time too, but that is for another article.) Part of that release is a complete reworking of the ASP.Net platform. Not that there is anything disastrously wrong with 1.1, but if you have developed with it for any amount of time, you know where its weak points are. That is, there are not an inordinate number of bugs per-se in ASP.NET, but there are functions that are difficult to implement. I am thinking specifically of Master Pages, Skinning, Dynamic Data Controls, Web Parts, etc. Thus, ASP.NET 2.0 is designed to speed up the development process.

But a better development platform only speeds up development if you know the tools available, and getting learning the tolls in ASP.NET 2.0 is no small task. While much of the framework’s basics haven’t changed, there are a whole slew of new controls to learn about; not to mention how to build portal using web parts, or how web site administration works. While this process is MUCH easier than learning how to build functions by hand (your only option under earlier versions), you still have a learning curve to work through; and fast. We have all seen it before: A year from now when companies finally switch to 2005, they all want developers with 3-5 years experience. So now is the time to learn. (Better still, do a 2.0 web site for a friend or a charity for free. It is great experience, and you can truly say you have been working with 2.0 since it was in beta.)

Always for me the question is: how best to learn all that you need. I am a book reader, but I like books that have examples – complete with source code. I also prefer books that are comprehensive. If I am going to drop the requisite $50 - $60 for one of these tomes, then I prefer the authors to err on the side of too much information. I can always skip the chapter if I feel like I have the topic down. Pro ASP.Net 2.0 in C# 2005 by Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta is the book for the new version. It is a hefty tome, and it took me a few weeks to get through it. But this is good, ‘cause these guys didn’t skimp or skim. Better still the examples are just as comprehensive, and all the source code is available on line.

The book is directed to a specific audience; that is to say, they wrote this with the expectation that the reader has a base knowledge of web development, and specifically a working knowledge of ASP.NET. (They direct the newbie to other resources.) But they do not assume that since the reader has used this technology before that they know the why’s of a technology, as well as the how’s. This was a pleasant surprise. I find that if I get a glimpse under the covers of a technology, it helps my understanding in the long run. This book has some great examples of this behind the scenes documentation. For example, this book has one of the best explanations of the Kerebos Authentication process that I have seen outside of a Windows Server book. It is worth the price of admission for this alone (I think developers know far too little about this side of development, but that too is another article.)

So I have a new go-to reference that will sit on my shelf next to where I work. You know what I mean. There is always that one book that you reach for when you run across a thorny problem. One that you go for even before the internet, just because you know where to go to find the info you need. It is chapters like the integration of JavaScript and ASP.NET 2.0, that I know I will use again and again. Oh yeah! It’s also available in e-book form. So I don’t have to lug the book to my on-site contracts. Just one last touch from the guys at Apress. I would definitely recommend you pick this one up.

Learning Perl

Jeff Tolle — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:51:00 GMT

Right up front, the authors of this book state that you really should have done smoe coding befor in order to get the most from this book. But with that pre-requisite covered 'Learning Perl' is a fun and information dense learning tool. Not to say that you can’t do it if you have never coded before, but it will be more of a struggle. Luckily I am familiar with how to code (note: there may be those who strongly object to this statement), and so this book turned out to be a fabulous resource.

Coming in at under 275 pages, the book doesn't waste time in getting down to what you need to know. I am a self-learner, and I was constantly amazed at the end of each chapter at how much we had covered. Given such information rich text, you might imagine it to be a little dry. Not so. The book exhibits a quirky, geeky sense of humor. And be warned; it uses footnotes extensively. While that may not be your bag, I found the footnotes made the book more like an internet browsing experience (or an author who uses excessive parentheses - like me). I treated the footnotes like a link to more detailed and in-depth information.

I do have one small beef. The authors assume that you are a UNIX programmer. There are numerous references to UNIX arcana, which you are supposed to just know. Phrases like 'If you want to make a Perl program [..] like the utilities cat, sed, awk, [..] and many others..' mean nothing to me. Furthermore there is little (a couple of paragraphs) to explain how to get Perl up and running on a Windows box. Now, I can easily overlook the little Microsoft digs, but I think more of an effort could have been made to reach out to the 'other side'.

So now, I am building my own Perl library. I love the functionality it gives me. Once I figured out how to call programs from other web platforms I was one happy camper. It is surprising how well it integrates with Windows. All in all, the time spent with this book was well worth it. Mainly the book provided a quick and comprehensive introduction to a powerful and flexible language. Thankfully the authors took a difficult subject and made it easier with their light in tone / heavy on the info style. Check it out.

Book Reviews

Pro ASP.Net 2.0 in C# 2005 by Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta from Apress

Learning Perl