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Programming ASP.NET
by Jesse Liberty, Dan Hurwitz

Publisher: O'Reilly Buy it Now! 

ISBN: 0596001711
Format: Paperback, 960pp
CD: NO

"The ASP.NET technologies are so complete and flexible, your main difficulty may lie simply in weaving the pieces together for maximum efficiency. Programming ASP.NET shows you how to do that."

The above quote taken from the back cover is just what this book is about. The quote also gives a feel about the tone or main characteristic of the book - simple and concise. The authors of this book explain in a simple, straightforward and concise manner everything related to building web applications and services (mind you, the book has about 900 pages, not including the index).

The book's intended audience (so to speak) is definitely not the absolute beginner. It is intended for any programmer or web developer with some knowledge of VB. NET or C#.

The book covers everything from controls (HTML controls, web server controls, custom controls, etc.) to programming web forms, data access details (ADO .NET object model, etc), web services, caching, security, deployement etc. Coding examples are provided extensively throughout the book and are presented in both C# and VB. NET programming languages.

One big plus is that most examples are presented in such a way as though the user were using an ordinary text editor. However, wherever possible, in order to show the many advantages and productivity gains obtained, examples are also presented using the integrated development enviroment of Visual Studio .NET.

The chapters are very well organised and self contained so that one can decide to read a particular chapter or topic and get all the necessary information one needs about that particular topic without having to switch to other chapters to clarify some details.

This book is a must have for any programmer or web developer moving to or using the ASP.NET platform, and it fits well in the Top 10 ASP.NET books selection.

(The author of this book review, under the influence of the book, has also decided to keep everything concise)