Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with C# 2005

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I run a consulting firm where we do a lot of work with C# and ASP.Net. This book is simply the best there is to get you up to speed quickly on real world ASP.Net development. The book is easy to follow, but still gives you the depth needed for real world programming. I simply wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

Chuck Easttom
www.cecdata.com

If you're even thinking about this book, you have an interest in or a project to do regarding connecting a database to a web site. This could be something simple like putting in a guest book, or more complex like a full fledged store. ASP.NET is Microsoft's vision of how this should be done (using purely Microsoft products of course).

The Microsoft products used in the ASP.NET approach include the operating system (Windows - possibly XP Professional, more likely Windows Server), Internet Information Service (the web server), Visual Studio (the integrated development environment that includes C# - pronounced 'C Sharp'), and the database (probably SQL Server).

The book covers these software products. It uses the Murach two-page presentation where the left hand page gives a text description of an issue, and the right hand side a more visual description of the same issue. I happen to like this format a great deal. One page tends to say the same thing in a different way. Sometimes one way is preferred (preferred means that I understand it better), sometimes the other.

If you're serious about this subject, I think you also will need a book on the SQL language for the particular database you will be using. SQL is a programming language all by itself. If you just use ASP, you will be tempted to do things in ASP that would be better done in a more complex SQL statement.

A great book, not for the total computer novice, but if you're planning a web site and want dynamic pages that have data coming out of a web site ....

I read most of this book over a weekend and that's a first for me. Generally, computer books are dry and boring. I was yet to finish reading any of them in its entirety and I have been programming for over a decade. But this book uses a clever approach of giving you expanded information on a topic on a page (generally the left one) and a bulleted summary description on the opposite page. So you can read the explanation, which is very well written, and then recap with the description. Or you can skip the explanation all together and still undertand the concept. The examples are good and illustrate the concepts quite well. The only reason I give this book four starts instead of five is that the database for the examples was specific to the MSDE version of SQL Server. I have both SQL Server 2000 and 2005 developer edition and could not attach the database to any of them. I was forced to download MSDE from Microsoft and intall it on my system. A waste of space in my opinion. The author should make available versions of the database of a higher version of SQL Server. Other than that, I am very happy to own this book.

A quite differnet style of learning is presented in this book of which I am still undecided on it's usefulness. Basically the book is show by example with not much theory or explantion. This is an absolute beginners level book and due to the books lack of theory I question its usefulness but some do learn better by example.

It does cover step by step how to do some things in Visual Studio which would be very helpful for beginers and possibly provide a little help for the experienced. The book does a good job of explaining how to do things in the IDE while most provide little to no help in this area.

My real beef with the book is the fact that it starts from the begining and this is not implied by it's or Amazon's descriptions. This book should have beginner written all over it. Chapter 2 is titled 'How to develop a one-page web application', chapter 3 is 'How to develop a multi-page web application', chapter 5 is titled 'A crash course in HTML' and chapter 8 is 'How to manage state'.

If you have done more than a couple of ASP.NET projects, any version, I would not recomend this book. While it does cover some of the ASP.NET 2.0 features it's not worth all the other fodder that comes along with it.

Have you seen the movie "Matrix"? Remember, when Neo says "I know Kung-Fu!" in 1 min after they plugged his head to the computer? I had the same feeling about ASP.NET after reading this book :-)
The book is so easy to read, even though English is my second language.

This book is a comprehensive tutorial that walks the reader through the basics of virtually every aspect of Web site programming in ASP.NET 2.0. The first half of the book is dedicated in part to programmers new to Web programming in general, or new to Web programming ASP.NET. The second half of the book delves deeper into more professional Web development techniques such as database access, SSL, user authentication and profiles, and even touching on Web services and reusable Web component design. Throughout, the authors do a good job of pointing out features that are new or specific to .NET 2.0, which makes this a valuable reference even for programmers with extensive ASP.NET development experience.

For every two pages in the book (it weighs in at nearly 900 pages) the content is repeated once in classic Murach style; the left-hand page is a detailed description of the concept being covered written in a conversational tone, and the right-hand page contains a recap of this discussion in bulleted-form, with screenshots and / or code samples. This layout is ideal for both novice and expert readers alike; beginners learn faster when a concept is restated / repeated, and experts can skim through the right-hand pages looking for content that is new to them.

The authors assume that the reader has a working knowledge of C# syntax (there is a VB version as well), but pretty much everything else involved in Web site development using ASP .NET 2.0 is explained in detail.

There is a lot of information in this 841 page book. It is broken into five sections starting with basic ASP concepts and finishing with web services and reuseable code. Easy to read, using the "paired pages" format: How-to on the left page and examples on the right.

This book continues the Murach tradition of good publications for the computer professional.

I bought this book to learn ASP.NET 2.0 and also to have a good reference for me on 2.0 as i'm not new on ASP.NET, even if you want to learn ASP.NET 2.0 from scratch, you should get this book because its a great value and a great piece of work!

I'm recommending this book because i have a past experience with Murach's books and they were really great as this one.

You see I have the VB 2005 version of this book and it is exactly the same word for word. I was surprised to find this out.

They could have created one book with two sets of examples.

I wanted to Learn more about C# and really test the waters. But I feel this book did not allow me to do that.

If you want to learn - really learn .Net 2.0 concepts - Then this book is for your and I recommend it 99.5%.

If you want to learn more about C# then it is not.

Murach is quickly becoming my favorite publisher of books for learning new software development skills. This books continues in their tradition of books that do a very good job of selecting the most important topics and then treating those topics clearly and thoroughly enough to get you started with some real development.

This book gets you up and running very quickly with ASP.Net 2.0 and C#. It covers the most important new features of ASP.Net, (such as enhanced security that at the same time is easier to implement) as well as classically important topics such as database access.

The book is laid out in typical Murach style - a discussion of a byte-sized slice of a topic on the left-hand page with the corresponding example on the facing right-hand page. It's a logical and effective style that I appreciate.

There are some things left out in this book - such as a discussion of classes in C# - but you have to make choices as to what to leave in and what to exclude, and I have no argument with the way these choices were made by the authors. Meanwhile, for more in-depth teachings on C#, Murach has just released a new book on this very topic, and I expect it will be their usual high quality.

This book is identical to the VB 2005 edition which I read cover to cover. It has been an invaluable resource to me as I am upgrading a number of web sites to ASP.NET 2.0

Knowledgeably co-authored by web programming experts Joel Murach and Anne Boehm, Murach's ASP.Net 2.0 Web Programming With C# 2005 is an informed and informative guide for using ASP.NET 2.0 to create a professionally crafted, "user friendly" web-site. Deftly presented in a step-by-step, easy-to-follow format, Murach's ASP.Net 2.0 Web Programming With C# 2005 thoroughly and accessibly presents innovative, practical, and productive ideas and ideals for web-design construction. Murach's ASP.Net 2.0 Web Programming With C# 2005 is very strongly recommended for all web-designers and programmers for its extensive presentation of the entire process involved with creating professional quality websites.

I have read many ASP.NET books but this is so far the only one that have real meat inside. The first 3 chapters alone is well enough to get you started to create your own ASP.NET application. I advise readers of this book to learn C# first to get the most out of it.
This is the first Murach series that I have read and with this outstanding quality, I will most likely look into their other books.

I had recently checked this book out of the corporate Library where I work. There are about 60 copies avaiable for checkout, and I was #37 on the waiting list. I had to keep checking it out in order to keep reading it. This bacame an inefficient way to read the book so I purchased my own copy, and I am glad I did.

This book is a fantastic learning tool as well as an excellent referrence book. I am currently taking an ASP.NET class and I have found that the book is actually in parallel with the class, making the class more effective.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to learn ASP.NET Web Programming with C# 2005. I also recommend the Murach book "C# 2005" as a companion book. And along with those two, their Murach's SQL Server 2005 for Developers is also a great companion book since most ASP.NET web application are data driven one way or another. With these three books you will be on the fast track to becoming a solid web developer in no time.

This book is great for the novice as well as the seasoned professional. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn ASP.NET 2.0

This is a great book that'll help you hit the ground running. Sort of falls short on really specific things when it comes to writing code for maintaining a database. Gives the reader a quick overview of the key parts of the language, but not much else.

It helps to have a few years experience of Visual Studio under the belt. I don't think I'd recommend this for beginners. It mainly deals with 4 languages at once. Html, ASP, C# and SQL. I've had experience with SQL, HTML, and C# previously. And PHP which is almost the same as ASP.

Perfect for refreshing after you know about the language/programming style already. Excellent reference book, with code examples and explanation of the code side by side.

Murach's C# 2005 and Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 with C# 2005 are plainly excellent books.
They are organized and presented in such a way that the reader can learn very fast and acquire a very complete knowledge about C# and ASP.NET.
These books go directly to the point, in a practical way, presenting examples that can be applied to real programs. The way they are organized makes them useful for learning and for reference.

I like this book. It is a fast read. It is written so that someone fairly new to programming can create a website in c#. Even though I am experienced programmer in VB, there were many tidbits of information that I got from this book. The fact that is such an easy read makes it all that much better.

I have read some other harsh reviews. In all fairness, this book is geared toward someone new to web application development. Murach tries to encompass what would take about 4 books and much development time if one were to become an expert in web application development.

If you are interested in learning the basics of web app development, this is good place to start. If you are more experienced at programming, then there are many things you can take away from this book(especially from the later chapters).

As a self-taught developer, I rely on programming texts to not only provide the syntax and rules of a language, but also to provide real-world examples and problems that reinforce the material. Because the move from the living room desktop to a professional cubicle is daunting, practical tutorials are an absolute necessity. And the Murach team's offerings never disappoint.

Murach's C# 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming With C# are a two volume set that will take a disciplined beginner from "Hello World" to professional junior-level projects. The C# 2005 title takes you in a logical, orderly manner thru practically every aspect of the language, with accompanying tutorials (as already mentioned) to help the information 'stick'. Then the ASP.NET 2.0 with C# text shows you how to put all that newly-acquired C# knowledge to work on the web. All the basics of the IDE, all the new .NET tools, and ASP.NET using C# are covered. The two books together are still a tad light on detailed subjects like Web Services, network programming, etc., but there are plenty of more narrowly focused books out there to fill in those gaps.

If you work thru the examples, and if you work the end-of-chapter problems, and if you really strive to understand how and why things are done a certain way, this pair of Murach manuals along with their SQL Server 2005 for Developers - and a good bit of HTML/CSS knowledge - will put you well on your way to that first Web Development job.