Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide: C# Edition 
Buy it at Amazon
Read a Sample Chapter From The Publisher
Author Doug Lowe and Anne Prince
Publisher Mike Murach & Associates
Length 564 pages
vbRad Rating: 4 fingers up. (4 out of 5)
Reviewed by Gregory Hwin

For a seasoned programmer like me (Java/Oracle/Sybase) but new to Microsoft .NET, I had qualms about picking up this upgrader's guide-- Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide, C# Edition. I needed to quickly become an expert on this topic for my work and thought about starting from the beginning with ASP.NET 1.1. But at the same time, I wanted to embrace .NET 2.0 wholeheartedly when it goes GA in November 2005. Upon reading through chapter 1, however, I was pleasantly surprised at how well thought-out and planned-out everything was.

Now I believe that all truly good programmers are either autistic or obsessive-compulsive to some degree. What the first chapter did for this OCD reader who felt the need to read cover-to-cover (particularly if it's a strange new topic) was amazing-it mapped out the entire book comfortably in my mind and even encouraged and reassured me that it was okay to attack each topic individually. I quickly jumped to my favorite topic of SQL/XML data sources and then to GridView with the greatest of ease, not unlike a seasoned trapeze artist.

The book, takes a shot and succeeds in covering all the major (and some minor) changes to ASP.NET. It focuses on the new 2.0 code-behind model and its associated master pages. The authors tackle the new data access features, even though technically, it isn't ASP.NET (but find me a web app, that's not data driven). Then various new controls are highlighted such as site navigation, login/register/password/etc.., profiles/authentication, theming, web parts, etc… The key is that the authors never lose sight of the connection between 1.x and 2.0, reinforcing concepts as they go. As a part of this exercise, they convert a 1.1 site into 2.0, highlighting important parts to remember.

Oh, and did I mention that the book is written in "Paired Pages" formatting style? Yes, it is true, so it is really easy to follow. Yes, once again this Murach's book delivered on what it promises-identified the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 and showed you how to use them.


Want more reviews and sample chapters? Click here.