Showing posts with label net. Show all posts
Showing posts with label net. Show all posts

Professional ADO.NET 3.5 with LINQ and the Entity Framework (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

Professional ADO.NET 3.5 with LINQ and the Entity Framework (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
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Professional ADO.NET 3.5 with LINQ and the Entity Framework (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewI bought this book to get a better handle on the advantages offered by LINQ and the Entity Framework to build Enterprise web applications. Although the author appears to have expertise in the subject matter, the style in which it is communicated was very difficult to follow. I would not rate this as one of the better technical books I have read. There is a lot of trivia throughout the book that really distracts from the content. Even the style and organization of the book does not allow the reader to read at a fast pace, since it does not clearly enough distinguish critical and superfluous content.Professional ADO.NET 3.5 with LINQ and the Entity Framework (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) OverviewLanguage Integrated Query (LINQ), as well as the C# 3.0 and VB 9.0 language extensions to support it, is the most import single new feature of Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.x. LINQ is Microsoft's first attempt to define a universal query language for a diverse set of in-memory collections of generic objects, entities persisted in relational database tables, and element and attributes of XML documents or fragments, as well as a wide variety of other data types, such as RSS and Atom syndication feeds. Microsoft invested millions of dollars in Anders Hejlsberg and his C# design and development groups to add new features to C# 3.0—such as lambda expressions, anonymous types, and extension methods—specifically to support LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs) and query expressions as a part of the language itself.
Corresponding additions to VB 9.0 followed the C# team's lead, but VB's implementation of LINQ to XML offers a remarkable new addition to the language: XML literals. VB's LINQ to XML implementation includes XML literals, which treat well-formed XML documents or fragments as part of the VB language, rather than requiring translation of element and attribute names and values from strings to XML DOM nodes and values.
This book concentrates on hands-on development of practical Windows and Web applications that demonstrate C# and VB programming techniques to bring you up to speed on LINQ technologies. The first half of the book covers LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs) and the concrete implementations of LINQ for querying collections that implement generic IEnumerable, IQueryable, or both interfaces. The second half is devoted to the ADO.NET Entity Framework, Entity Data Model, Entity SQL (eSQL) and LINQ to Entities. Most code examples emulate real-world data sources, such as the Northwind sample database running on SQL Server 2005 or 2008 Express Edition, and collections derived from its tables. Code examples are C# and VB Windows form or Web site/application projects not, except in the first chapter, simple command-line projects. You can't gain a feel for the behavior or performance of LINQ queries with "Hello World" projects that process arrays of a few integers or a few first and last names.
This book is intended for experienced .NET developers using C# or VB who want to gain the maximum advantage from the query-processing capabilities of LINQ implementations in Visual Studio 2008—LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL, LINQ to DataSets, and LINQ to XML—as well as the object/relational mapping (O/RM) features of VS 2008 SP1's Entity Framework/Entity Data Model and LINQ to Entities and the increasing number of open-source LINQ implementations by third-party developers.
Basic familiarity with generics and other language features introduced by .NET 2.0, the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), and relational database management systems (RDBMSs), especially Microsoft SQL Server 200x, is assumed. Experience with SQL Server's Transact-SQL (T-SQL) query language and stored procedures will be helpful but is not required. Proficiency with VS 2005, .NET 2.0, C# 2.0, or VB 8.0 will aid your initial understanding of the book's C# 3.0 or VB 9.0 code samples but isn't a prerequisite.
Microsoft's .NET code samples are primarily written in C#. All code samples in this book's chapters and sample projects have C# and VB versions unless they're written in T-SQL or JavaScript.
Professional ADO.NET 3.5: LINQ and the Entity Framework concentrates on programming the System.Linq and System.Linq.Expressions namespaces for LINQ to Objects, System.Data.Linq for LINQ to SQL, System.Data.Linq for LINQ to DataSet, System.Xml.Linq for LINQ to XML, and System.Data.Entity and System.Web.Entity for EF's Entity SQL.
"Taking a New Approach to Data Access in ADO.NET 3.5," uses simple C# and VB code examples to demonstrate LINQ to Objects queries against in-memory objects and databinding with LINQ-populated generic List collections, object/relational mapping (O/RM) with LINQ to SQL, joining DataTables with LINQ to DataSets, creating EntitySets with LINQ to Entities, querying and manipulating XML InfoSets with LINQ to XML, and performing queries against strongly typed XML documents with LINQ to XSD.
"Understanding LINQ Architecture and Implementation," begins with the namespaces and C# and VB language extensions to support LINQ, LINQ Standard Query Operators (SQOs), expression trees and compiled queries, and a preview of domain-specific implementations. C# and VB sample projects demonstrate object, array, and collection initializers, extension methods, anonymous types, predicates, lambda expressions, and simple query expressions.
"Executing LINQ Query Expressions with LINQ to Objects," classifies the 50 SQOs into operator groups: Restriction, Projection, Partitioning, Join, Concatenation, Ordering, Grouping, Set, Conversion, and Equality, and then lists their keywords in C# and VB. VS 2008 SP1 includes C# and VB versions of the LINQ Project Sample Query Explorer, but the two Explorers don't use real-world collections as data sources. This describes a LINQ in-memory object generator (LIMOG) utility program that writes C# 3.0 or VB 9.0 class declarations for representative business objects that are more complex than those used by the LINQ Project Sample Query Explorers. Sample C# and VB queries with these business objects as data sources are more expressive than those using a arrays of a few integers or last names.
"Working with Advanced Query Operators and Expressions," introduces LINQ queries against object graphs with entities that have related (associated) entities. This begins with examples of aggregate operators, explains use of the Let temporary local variable operator, shows you how to use Group By with aggregate queries, conduct the equivalent of left outer joins, and take advantage of the Contains() SQO to emulate SQL's IN() function. You learn how to compile queries for improved performance, and create mock object classes for testing without the overhead of queries against relational persistence stores.
"Using LINQ to SQL and the LinqDataSource," introduces LINQ to SQL as Microsoft's first O/RM tool to reach released products status and shows you how to autogenerate class files for entity types with the graphical O/R Designer or command-line SqlMetal.exe. This also explains how to edit *.dbml mapping files in the Designer or XML Editor, instantiate DataContext objects, and use LINQ to SQL as a Data Access Layer (DAL) with T-SQL queries or stored procedures. Closes with a tutorial for using the ASP.NET LinqDataSource control with Web sites or applications.
"Querying DataTables with LINQ to DataSets," begins with a comparison of DataSet and DataContext objects and features, followed by a description of the DataSetExtensions. Next comes querying untyped and typed DataSets, creating lookup lists, and generating LinqDataViews for databinding with the AsDataView() method. This ends with a tutorial that shows you how to copy LINQ query results to DataTables.
"Manipulating Documents with LINQ to XML," describes one of LINQ most powerful capabilities: managing XML Infosets. This demonstrates that LINQ to XML has query and navigation capabilities that equal or surpasses XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0. It also shows LINQ to XML document transformation can replace XQuery and XSLT 1.0+ in the majority of common use cases. You learn how to use VB 9.0's XML literals to constructs XML documents, use GroupJoin() to produce hierarchical documents, and work with XML namespaces in C# and VB.
"Exploring Third-Party and Emerging LINQ Implementations," describes Microsoft's Parallel LINQ (also called PLINQ) for taking advantage of multiple CPU cores in LINQ to Objects queries, LINQ to REST for translating LINQ queries into Representational State Transfer URLs that define requests to a Web service with the HTML GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE methods, and Bart De Smet's LINQ to Active Directory and LINQ to SharePoint third-party implementations.
"Raising the Level of Data Abstraction with the Entity Data Model," starts with a guided tour of the development of EDM and EF as an O/RM tool and heir apparent to ADO.NET DataSets, provides a brief description of the entity-relationship (E-R) data model and diagrams, and then delivers a detailed analysis of EF architecture. Next comes an introduction to the Entity SQL (eSQL) language, eSQL queries, client views, and Object Services, including the ObjectContext, MetadataWorkspace, and ObjectStateManager. Later chapters describe eSQL and these objects in greater detail. Two C# and VB sample projects expand on the eSQL query and Object Services sample code.
"Defining Conceptual, Mapping, and Storage Schema Layers," provides detailed insight into the structure of the *.edmx file that generates the *.ssdl (storage schema data language), *.msl (mapping schema language), and *.csdl files at runtime. You learn how to edit the *.edmx file manually to accommodate modifications that the graphic EDM Designer can't handle. You learn how to implement the Table-per-Hierarchy (TPH) inheritance model and traverse the MetadataWorkspace to obtain property values. Four C# and VB sample projects demonstrate mapping, substituting stored procedures for queries, and TPH inheritance.
"Introducing Entity SQL," examines EF's new eSQL dialect that adds keywords to address the differences between querying entities and relational tables. You learn to use Zlatko Michaelov's eBlast utility to write and analyze eSQL queries, then dig into differences between eSQL and T-SQL SELECT queries. (eSQL v1 doesn't support INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and ...

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Professional C# 4.0 and .NET 4 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

Professional C# 4.0 and .NET 4 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
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Professional C# 4.0 and .NET 4 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewC# and .NET are reintroduced in this one book for the 2010 audience of programmers. The two subjects are wedded in the text to form one complete reference. I have just finished reading this book and I can tell you that it will take another two readings to fully absorb the contents because of the numerous details. At just over 1400 pages, this is a compendium of the two programming areas that has enormous scope. I am impressed that the authors and the publisher were able to complete this project before the release of the two in April. Operations specific to the .NET v4 release are noted in the text.
I found the information in this book to be comprehensive and detailed in many ways. With 47 chapters and an appendix this book is going to be the cornerstone of my .NET computing from this time on. My previous references are getting dated and don't give me enough information to pass the employment interviews. This book and one other are going to be my entire reference library for C# programming in general.
I found the information to be very well written to the point that even after six years of using C# it increased my knowledge and understanding of this wonderful new computer language. I have over a dozen books on .NET and C# in my library and this is the best written of them all. For this reason I am giving it 5 stars. I believe that this is the best introduction to these two subject areas
Of course, if you want to work in depth on one of the chapters covered in this book, another reference that expands on the material will be required.Professional C# 4.0 and .NET 4 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) OverviewThis book starts by reviewing the overall architecture of .NET in order to give you the background you need to be able to write managed code. After that, the book is divided into a number of sections that cover both the C# language and its application in a variety of areas.
Part I: The C# Language: This section gives a good grounding in the C# language itself. This section doesn't presume knowledge of any particular language, although it does assume you are an experienced programmer. You start by looking at C's basic syntax and data types, and then explore the object-oriented features of C# before moving on to look at more advanced C# programming topics. Objects, types, inheritance, generics, arrays, tuples, operators, casts, delegates, lambdas, events, strings, regular expressions, collections, Language Integrated, Query (LINQ), Dynamic Language Extensions, memory management, pointers, reflection, errors, and exception are all covered in part 1.
Part II: Visual Studio: This section looks at the main IDE utilized by C# developers worldwide: Visual Studio 2010. The two chapters in this section look at the best way to use the tool to build applications based on the .NET Framework 4. In addition, this section also focuses on the deployment of your projects.
Part III: Foundation: In this section, you look at the principles of programming in the .NET environment. In particular, you look at assemblies, instrumentation, security, threading, tasks, synchronization, localization, System.Transactions, networking, interop, XAML, Managed Extensibility Framework, Manipulating Files and the Registry, transactions, how to build Windows services, and how to generate your own libraries as assemblies, among other topics.
Part IV: Data: Here, you look at accessing databases with ADO.NET, ADO.NET Entity Framework, data services. This part also extensively covers support in .NET for XML and on the Windows operating system side, and the .NET features of SQL Server 2008.
Part V: Presentation: This section shows how to build applications based upon the Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight, and covers writing components that will run on web sites, serving up web pages. It also has coverage on building classic Windows applications, which are called Windows Forms in .NET. Windows Forms are the thick-client version of applications, and using .NET to build these types of applications is a quick and easy way of accomplishing this task. Finally, it includes coverage of the tremendous number of features that ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, and ASP.Net Dynamic Data provide.
Part VI: Communication: This section is all about communication. It covers services for platform-independent communication using the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). With Message Queuing, asynchronous disconnected communication is shown. This section looks at utilizing the Windows Workflow Foundation 4, as well as peer to peer networking, and creating syndication feeds.
The book closes with an appendix covering Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 development.
Online Chapters: Even with such a large book, we can't fit in everything we'd like to tell you about C# and using this language with other .NET technologies, so we've made ten additional chapters available online at wrox.com. These chapters include information on a variety of topics: GDI+, which is a technology that is used for building applications that include advanced graphics; .Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO); NET Remoting for communication between .NET clients and servers; Enterprise Services for the services in the background; web services with ASP.NET, LINQ to SQL, Windows Workflow Foundation 3.0, and the Managed Add-In Framework (MAF). It also includes examples showing .NET 4 in others supported languages including Visual Basic, C++/CLI, and F#.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

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Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 (Windows.Net) Review

Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 (Windows.Net)
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Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 (Windows.Net) ReviewPro ASP.net 3.5: This book is a must to have book for anyone who is starting/ switching their careers to developing web applications using asp.net technologies. The authors Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta, has done a very good job of covering all sections that are useful for beginners as well as middle level developers.
For example, if you are seeing Visual Studio for the first time in your life, they dedicated a whole chapter on how to use visual studio. The reason I brought up this point is they kept the beginners in mind and they didn't leave any assumptions that the reader already know how to use Visual Studio.
At the same time for those middle level developers who wants to dive into newly released hot technologies like Ajax, LINQ and Silverlight you won't be disappointed. They have dedicated individual chapters for each of those topics. As I have been developing asp.net application from last several years, I opened this book to see what I can read about Linq and Silverlight. I enjoyed those chapters as they give you an introduction and a good kick start. I am surprised that the authors also dedicated a whole chapter for website deployment (Chapter 18) where the architectures of IIS 5.0, 6.0 and then 7.0 is explained. That is awesome that they have discussed installation of IIS 7.0 and explained the architecture as well as the new Configuration model of IIS 7.0. Everything is explained with the help of screen shots.
Of course I took for granted for all those core concepts of asp.net like developing Http Handlers, Http Modules, Customer Server controls, Custom Membership and profile providers, Security. They are all covered and are very well explained in individual chapters.
Given the broadness of the subject, the authors done a great job of covering all areas in depth methodically that way you won't be lost.
I enjoyed this book so much that I would definitely recommend this book to any .Net Web Developer and this book is going to take some space on my desk.
Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 (Windows.Net) Overview
ASP.NET 3.5 isMicrosoft's revolutionary ASP.NET technology. It is the principal standard for creating dynamic web pages on the Windows platform. Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008 raises the bar for high–quality, practical advice on learning and deploying Microsoft's dynamic web solution.

Seasoned .NET professionals Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta explain how you can get the most from this groundbreaking technology. They cover ASP.NET 3.5 as a whole, illustrating both the brand–new features and the functionality carried over from previous versions of ASP. This book will give you the knowledge you need to code real ASP.NET 3.5 applications in the best possible style.


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Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Step by Step--Version 2003 (Step by Step (Microsoft)) Review

Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Step by Step--Version 2003 (Step by Step (Microsoft))
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Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Step by Step--Version 2003 (Step by Step (Microsoft)) ReviewIf your looking for book that will start to make sense of the new .net technology, this book is the one to start with.
It's a beginners level book that teaches both vb.net basics and the Visual Studio environment you'll be using to make your applications. Existing VB6 programmers will find this an easy read (100+ pages in a couple hours).
Lessons are short, clear and goal orientated. There are numerous sceenshots to help guide the way and great charts in the places where you'll need them. Notes and tips are placed throughout the book and add real value to it. Differences between VB6 and VB.net are pointed out.
I'd purchase other books in this series based on my experience with this book. It gives you the solid understanding of the basics you'll need when you go into more advanced programmming levels.Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Step by Step--Version 2003 (Step by Step (Microsoft)) Overview
Get on the fast track to professional application development with Visual Basic .NET 2003. This practical, hands-on tutorial expertly guides you through the fundamentals-using step-by-step exercises, code samples, optimization tips, and real-world advice to accelerate your productivity. Work at your own pace, learning core programming skills by selecting just the chapters and lessons you need. Upgrade your Visual Basic 6 applications quickly with the help of "Upgrade Notes" sidebars, a special upgrading index, and insights into the enhanced Visual Basic .NET Upgrade Wizard. It's everything you need to start creating .NET-connected software now!

Discover how to:

Create a compelling user interface with Toolbox controls, menus, and dialog boxes
Use methods in the .NET Framework 1.1 class libraries
Utilize the new debugging tools and structured error handlers to build robust code
Manage data in your programs using collections, arrays, and string processing techniques
Automate Microsoft Office applications and manage processes
Manage Windows® Forms and create graphics and animation effects
Use inheritance and other new object-oriented programming capabilities
Write custom code for printers and dialog boxes for printing
Manage Access databases and create custom database applications with Microsoft ADO.NET
Display HTML documents using Microsoft Internet Explorer
Use Web Forms to build Internet interfaces
Deploy Visual Basic .NET applications
Port Visual Basic 6 programs to Visual Basic .NET

CD features:

Code examples in Visual Basic .NET 2003
All the book's practice files
Fully searchable eBook

A Note Regarding the CD or DVD

The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.


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The Book of Visual Studio .NET Review

The Book of Visual Studio .NET
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The Book of Visual Studio .NET ReviewThe title, "The Book of Visual Studio .NET," is misleading. The book is not an in-depth guide to using Visual Studio and barely touches on extending and customizing Visual Studio. A better title would have been "A Developer's Accelerated Introduction To .NET." It assumes the reader is a working developer, new to .NET, and moves at a brisk pace. Only one of twelve chapters focuses on the Visual Studio tools although Visual Studio is used throughout to design, code, compile, run, and trouble-shoot examples for nearly every topic. After brief disappointment (I wanted a Visual Studio handbook), I read the book cover to cover and learned something in each chapter after more than two years of heavy reading and significant development effort with .NET. If I taught a course on .NET, this would be my text!
Most of the .NET landscape is explored in the 369 pages - including: Visual Studio, the .NET framework and CLR, VB.NET, Windows forms, web forms, web services, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, XML, and COM interoperability. But C# and C++ are given almost no space.
Design and code samples are numerous and are no longer than needed to demonstrate the essential concepts. You will want to be sitting at your computer with a full deck of .NET available - Visual Studio, IIS, and SQL Server. The code can be downloaded.

This is probably an ideal book for someone crossing over from the Java world or moving on from older Micsrosoft technologies. If you are quite expert in other OOP technologies but new to .NET, two days with this book will get you started on your first .NET project or prepare you for a .NET job interview.

This is the author's first book; he is an experienced system architect working in .NET and COM. The publisher, No Starch Press, is small and new but headed by one of the Apress (serious books for serious people) founders. Their site suggests a bunch of San Francisco guys willing to put away their Linux and Java for a grudging review of the enemy's (Microsoft's) armored division. But I could still hear one of them say, "Microsoft .NET is not even in use within one hundred miles."

Nothing was too hard and nothing was too easy. Definitely no starch!The Book of Visual Studio .NET Overview
The Book of Visual Studio .NET surveys each .NET server and related technologies, with a focus on Visual Studio 7 (VS7). Hands-on examples cover building forms, data retrieval, moving to COM+, and implementing web services. Other key issues and solutions include upgrading from Visual Basic, source control services, and remoting.


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WCF Multi-tier Services Development with LINQ Review

WCF Multi-tier Services Development with LINQ
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WCF Multi-tier Services Development with LINQ ReviewI was given a project recently to "convert the back end of an existing application to WCF and LINQ". This book, judging from the title, seemed to be the place to start. I was not disappointed.
Everything works as you go through the projects in the book. It gave me enough information to complete my project. But I do have a few complaints:
1. Not everything is explained and somethings must be taken on faith. For example in the Service Contract model one is told to set the request IsWrapped property to true. Why? What does IsWrapped do? This is never explained.
2. At various points in the book one is told to enter some code and then add using clauses. Wouldn't it be more logical to do it the other way around?
3. The index is very skimpy. I never found anything I was looking for in it.
This book is not for the complete tyro. You do have to know your way around both Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server (SQL Server Express works fine by the way). It is very useful to have some knowledge of SQL before diving into LINQ. Previous experience with services would be helpful but not necessary (I didn't have any). Previous knowledge of WCF is not necessary.
In short, a useful book, with some flaws. I can recommend it.WCF Multi-tier Services Development with LINQ OverviewMaster WCF and LINQ in a multi-tier WCF service by completing practical examples and apply them to your real-world assignments. This book is for C# and C++ developers who are eager to get started with WCF and LINQ, and want a book that is practical and rich with examples from the very beginning. Developers and architects evaluating SOA implementation technologies for their company will find this book particularly useful because it gets you started with Microsoft's tools for SOA and shows you how to customize our examples for your prototypes. This book presumes basic knowledge of C# or C++. Previous experience with Visual Studio will be helpful but is not required, as detailed instructions are given throughout the book.

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The Ultimate VB .NET and ASP.NET Code Book Review

The Ultimate VB .NET and ASP.NET Code Book
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The Ultimate VB .NET and ASP.NET Code Book ReviewThis is a great book with the intention of showing real world tools and tips to fast track any developer. The emphasis of the material is to help developers looking for those tricks we all spend hours and hours trying to figure out. It's NOT a reference book, it's NOT a step by step book. It's a book for a somewhat experienced programmer looking for quick answers. We always miss our tricks when moving to a new platform...Karl has figured out those asp/vb6 tricks for us in VB.NET
Golden!!!The Ultimate VB .NET and ASP.NET Code Book OverviewYou know all those hidden techniques and amazing features you spent months discovering in Visual Basic 6? Imagine you could read just one book and regain all of that knowledge. Imagine a book that clearly shows you how to do practically everything you want in .NET - and provides real-life code to get you there. Imagine a book that goes beyond the basics, yet doesn't get bogged down in detail, a book that will save you hours. That's what this book is all about; it isthe number one book for all your VB.NET code demands.

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Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages (Programmer to Programmer) Review

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages (Programmer to Programmer)
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Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages (Programmer to Programmer) ReviewLet me get the bad out of the way first, so I can tell you why I think you should still consider buying this book.
1. Spends a bit of time on superfluous issues. For some of you, this might be a godsend, however, as development is often more than just coding these days.
2. Some fairly long code samples that fluff up the book without adding a huge amount. One illustration of CSS versus tables would be sufficient.
3. Not a lot of highlighting in code to point you to the points that have changed.
4. Some of the explanations are thin for those without a lot of experience in this particular topic.
Now that I got that out of the way, let's look at why this book should be a welcome addition to your shelf.
Reason 1 is it is the only book that focuses on this particular topic. Reason 2 is this topic is extremely important, although more often overlooked.
If you have an ugly, unusable personal site, it is not a big deal, as your mom will still visit. But, with business, it can be devastating. And, now, with accessibility lawsuits, it can be costly, as well.
Let's start from the beginning (a very good place to start, I hear).
The first few chapters are a bit of overview and express the importance of things like CSS, accessibility and good web design. None of these will make you an expert, but they will likely push those of you still in table design over to the dark side (CSS). The arguments for accessibility, including information about recent legal actions against websites, may be the kicker. Chapter 3 also focuses on using PhotoShop for designing a nice looking site. Some of the techniques will not apply to other image manipulation tools, but the basic ideas are useful for all.
Chapters 4 and 5 focus on CSS. In particular, chapter 4 talks about setting up a site that appears "tabled" in CSS and chapter 5 gives you a great overview, and some practical advise, about the CSS Friendly ASP.NET controls.
Chapter 6 talks about navigation and gives great practial advise on the web.sitemap file. This chapter was a godsend to me, as it finally gave me an epiphany on why roles were not working. This was actually a portion that fit #4 on my bad list, but sometimes seeing an example is enough to clue you in. :-)
Chapter 7 is focused on master pages. One of the biggest aids here will be the bits on design. The pages on passing information from master to child is also very useful.
Chapters 8 and 9 focus on themes. If you have a site that can be "skinned" different ways (by user or "site"), these chapters may well be worth the price of admission.
Finally, chapter 10. This is one of the best chapters in the book, as it brings all of what you have learned together. It shows how to use a single code base to work with a wide variety of browser targets, including mobile devices. And, unlike many books, it does it in a very practical, real world way.
There are also bonus appendices on Orcas (Visual Studio 2008) and Silverlight.
Summary: Overall, this is an average book. As the only book on the topic, however, it gets a slightly higher nod. As this is a topic I have tried to drill into people's heads (i.e., building a site is as much about user experience as making things work), I would like to see as many people pick up this book as possible. Someone might come out with a better one at some time, but learning this material is a wise thing.Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages (Programmer to Programmer) Overview

This book is for anyone who wants to learn about using .NET for web interface design. Beginner or hobbyist .NET developers can certainly get a good foundation of .NET web interface design by going through this book from cover to cover. However, more seasoned .NET professionals, especially if they tend to steer away from the GUI of their projects, can also pick up a thing or two by focusing on certain chapters that appeal to them. This book is meant to take a reader from the beginning of a project to the completion of the interface design. Along the way, concepts are illustrated to show how the different pieces play together. So, anyone who really wants to understand the concepts presented in this book will be able to do so by reading the entire thing. However, this book should also serve as a good reference after you have read it or, in some cases, in place of reading it.
All of the early chapters provide useful information and examples for any web developer. Many of the concepts presented after Chapter 4 are more specifically targeted at .NET developers. In the later chapters, the target audience is .NET developers or, at least, people who want to become .NET developers. In those chapters, you should probably have at least a basic understanding of the .NET Framework and some experience with Visual Studio 2005 (or possibly Visual Studio 2003). If you are completely new to .NET, you may find it useful to pick up a beginning ASP.NET 2.0 book before delving too deeply into those chapters. If you want to learn about .NET 2.0 web interface design, you are the intended audience.
It should be noted that all of the .NET code samples in this book are in C#. However, this shouldn't limit other developers, such as VB.NET developers, from understanding the concepts or being able to replicate the code in their own projects. The actual managed code examples are pretty limited and, when they are used, they should be fairly easy to port over to VB.NET.
This book covers the concepts serious developers need to begin designing cool and consistent web layouts. The early chapters focus on general web design standards that you need to grasp in order to move into the later chapters. Specifically, these concepts are:

Basic web design considerations (colors, fonts, images, accessibility, and so on) (Chapter 2)

Photoshop basics to get you started making your own graphics and color schemes (Chapter 3)

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and their use in web design layout (Chapter 4)

When you finish these chapters, you will have the basic shell for the project that you will continue to develop throughout the book. You will have the header graphic, color scheme, and CSS layout that you will begin to incorporate .NET-specific concepts to in the later chapters. This includes:

How to make .NET controls render accessible CSS code rather than their default: tables (Chapter 5)

Using the built-in controls of .NET to create easily maintainable and consistent site navigation (and how to make them render CSS divs instead of tables) (Chapter 6)

Creating your web site template with Master Pages (Chapter 7)

Creating themes and skins to style your .NET controls (Chapter 8)

Applying themes to your projects through various approaches, including base classing (Chapter 9)

The final "regular" chapter ends with you building an entirely new mobile device theme using all of the concepts learned in the previous chapters. In Chapter 10, you will start with modifying your graphic to better fit the resolution of your mobile devices. You will also learn how to modify your stylesheets and apply them programmatically to be used only for this theme. You will have a new Master Page and an entirely new theme. You will also see one way of switching themes based on your criteria (in this example, your criterion will be whether your client browser is a mobile device).
Beyond these chapters, you will get a "forward look" at some of the new technologies coming down the pipeline that affect these some of the material you learned in the preceding chapters. In Appendix A, you will get a glimpse at the upcoming release for Visual Studio, codenamed "Orcas." This will almost exclusively focus on the new CSS features because they are the most relevant to the other chapters of the book, and there are so many new features regarding CSS management in this release that they warrant their own chapter (nested Master Pages are also included, but CSS takes up most of the appendix).
Finally, with Appendix B, the Visual Studio Codename "Orcas" discussion is extended to include Microsoft Silverlight. You will learn how to create drawing object, incorporate images, animate your objects, and affect the rendered output through your managed code.
If you read this book from cover to cover, you should end up with a really solid understanding of the current technologies for .NET developers to create consistent and accessible web interfaces, as well as a feeling of excitement for the new stuff that should be coming soon to a computer near you.


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MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Communication Foundation (Pro Certification) Review

MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Communication Foundation (Pro Certification)
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MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Communication Foundation (Pro Certification) ReviewComputer Science books usually fall into one of three categories:
1] The truly rare gems , books that you read from beginning to end, they don't feel like a chore to read. I've come across a few such books -"Head First: Design Patterns" is one of them.
2] The books that aren't quite perfect -maybe the content is too dry, or the technical details are a bit off, but all in all , your time is not wasted reading them (or even skimming). You get some use out of it, and you learn something new. Finally, there is the last category.
3] The absolute bottom of the pile, books so bad and in-cohesive, that they leave you furious after having read the garbage in the first place.
After having purchased this book, to study for the 70-503 exam, I can state without a doubt in my mind that this book clearly falls in the 3rd category of books and should be avoided at all costs. There are much better books out there for studying for the WCF exam (even if they aren't official training kits), and as a reference guide this book is useless. Heck, you'd be better off just studying from MSDN. You WILL fail the exam if this book is your only study material.
Large chunks of the book are just copied directly from MSDN, specifically the instrumentation and security chapters. Even the same code examples are copied, as well as the general formatting. You'll be trying to read areas of the book, not understand what the authors are trying to say, go to MSDN for clarification, only to realize that they are the same. Of course, just like a student attempts to avoid getting caught for plagiarism by changing the occasional words, the authors have made the same futile attempts. For example: compare the Performance Counter section on pg 312, with the corresponding article on MSDN. The authors have even decided to copy the full registry key entries, without thinking whether or not they are relevant for the exam -they are not. To make matters worse, when the authors weren't cutting and pasting from MSDN, they were reusing the same text from other areas in the book (for example, duplicate exam tips, pg 362, pg 345, and duplicate tables pg 361, pg 344).
The book is also missing important WCF information such as service contract operator overloading, streaming, serviceKnownTypes, onserializing, releaseContextMode, IErrorHandler, etc. These are good to know items for the exam, and any solid WCF reference book should include them. Even exam objectives that are stated to be in the book (in the tear-out section), are missing. For example "Manage consistency between life cycles, sessions, concurrency, and bindings" is missing from Chapter 2, Lesson 2. The authors also seem to have avoided important issues such as the default InstanceContextMode (it's PerSession), and mentioning that the Light Weight Transaction Protocol isn't supported by ANY binding.
Missing content would have been somewhat justifiable if there simply was no more room in the book to put it in, however instead the authors have filled the book with bloat, tons of it. Pointless exercises, overly verbose labs, condescending requirements, and useless practice questions. Does every chapter need to be prepended with the requirements, and that you require Visual Studio 2008 to read this chapter. Why do the authors insist on telling readers that they require 384megs of RAM and a 1024x768 screen? The WCF 70-503 is not a beginner exam, it's a given that users taking this exam will know how to use a computer and install/use Visual Studio. The sample exam questions were a poor emulation of the actual exam questions. The bundled CD offers no extra practice questions, instead it's just a repeat of the questions in the book. In fact, the bundled CD's (2 of them), offer nothing new to the book, and should not have been included -the Visual Studio trial can just be downloaded from Microsoft's website. Other bloat includes pointless tables that just fill space, i.e. Algorithm Suites and Distinguishing Values on pg 346, -don't worry you don't need to memorize it for the actual exam.
If you are serious about taking the exam, or you are looking for a good WCF reference book, I recommend reading "Programming WCF Services" by Juval Lowy instead. I fail to see how anyone could give this WCF training kit book a review of more than one star. Compare the two books and you will see that I mean, it's that clear cut. What a difference it makes, when the author actually knows what he's talking about.MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Communication Foundation (Pro Certification) Overview
Your 2-in-1 Self-Paced Training Kit

EXAM PREP GUIDE

Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam 70-503-and on the job. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what you've learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. This official Microsoft study guide is designed to help you make the most of your study time.

Maximize your performance on the exam by learning to:

Define and implement service contracts
Configure client and service endpoints across transport protocols
Customize service behavior; host and expose services
Add instrumentation to services, including end-to-end tracing
Implement transport, message, and user level security
Consume services through proxies and agents
Manage the service life cycle-instances, sessions, transactions, concurrency

PRACTICE TESTS

Assess your skills with the practice tests on CD. You can work through hundreds of questions using multiple testing modes to meet your specific learning needs. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers including a customized learning path that describes how and where to focus your studies.

Your kit includes:

15% exam discount from Microsoft. Offer expires 12/31/13.
Official self-paced study guide.
Practice tests with multiple, customizable testing options and a learning plan based on your results.
225+ practice and review questions.
Code samples in Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C# on CD.
90-day trial of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition.
Case scenarios, exercises, and best practices.
Fully searchable eBook of this guide.

A Note Regarding the CD or DVD

The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.


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Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide Review

Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide
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Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide ReviewYou may want to acquire various other WCF books for depth, but if you're just getting started with WCF, this is the book you want. There isn't another book out there that compares to it. It's cleanly written and nicely balances conceptual material on service orientation with the practicalities of Windows Communication Foundation.
Many other books on WCF take the form of a "brain dump" on WCF features, or get bogged down in conceptual discussion of Service Oriented Architecture. Instead, Ms. Bustamante has a very clear, logical path from simple WCF features to more complex. You won't be overwhelmed early, but you will eventually get to most of the advanced features you'll likely need. Other books, such as Juval Lowy's Programming WCF Services (Programming), can pick up at that point for the really advanced topics.
Many of the chapters contain step-by-step labs, and you can get working end results from the author's web site. They start easy and build nicely through more complex concepts.
The sample code in the book is in C#, but if you happen to be a Visual Basic developer (as I am), you're not left out. Many of the labs and samples are also available in VB on the author's web site.
The book was unfortunately published too early to include definite coverage of the Visual Studio 2008 features for automatically generating some of the code you need to use WCF. Those capabilities are in the Visual Studio 2008 beta now and will be released in the next few months. Some of the labs could have been simplified by using those Visual Studio features. But, on the positive side, working through the labs in more detail will give you a more in-depth understanding of the subject and enable you to use the Visual Studio features more effectively.Learning WCF: A Hands-on Guide Overview
This easy-to-use introduction to Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is ideal for developers who want to learn to build services on a company network or as part of an enterprise system. Built into Windows Vista and Longhorn, and available for Windows XP and Windows 2003, WCF provides a platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) that enables secure and reliable communication among systems within an organization or across the Internet. With WCF, software developers can focus on their business applications and not the plumbing required to connect them. Furthermore, with WCF developers can learn a single programming API to achieve results previously provided by ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting. Learning WCF removes the complexity of using this platform by providing detailed answers, explanations and code samples for the most common questions asked by software developers. Windows Communication Foundation (or WCF, formerly code name "Indigo") provides a set of programming APIs that make it easy to build and consume secure, reliable, and transacted services. This platform removes the need for developers to learn different technologies such as ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting, to distribute system functionality on a corporate network or over the Internet. The first truly service-oriented platform, WCF provides innovations that decouple service design and development from deployment and distribution - creating a more flexible and agile environment. WCF also encapsulates all of the latest web service standards for addressing, security, reliability and more.


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Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: from Novice to Professional) Review

Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: from Novice to Professional)
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Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: from Novice to Professional) ReviewI found this book to be substantially better than others that I looked at. Most ASP.NET books focus on how to use the automated tools in Visual Web Developer. These are powerful tools, but they seem to give your website a "canned" look.
Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005: From Novice to Professional covered these tools, but went deeper, and demonstrated how to access the important features of ASP.NET 2.0 directly in code. The material was very accessable to me as a novice, and the examples were extremely helpful. I was able to copy them into my code, make the modifications to address my needs, and they worked flawlessly.Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: from Novice to Professional) OverviewThe most up-to-date and comprehensive introductory ASP.NET book you'll find on any shelf, Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 in VB 2005 guides you through Microsoft's latest technology for building dynamic websites. You'll learn to build dynamic web pages on the fly, with only basic prior knowledge of Visual Basic. Included is exhaustive coverage of ASP.NET, to guide you from your first steps, to the most advanced techniques, like querying databases from within a web page and performance-tuning your site. You'll find tips for "best practices" and comprehensive discussions of key database and XML principles you need to know in order to be effective with ASP.NET. The book also emphasizes the invaluable coding techniques of object orientation and code behind, which will start you off on the track to build real-world websites right from the beginning-rather than just faking it with simplified coding practices. By the time you've finished the book, you will have mastered the core techniques and have all the knowledge you need to begin work as a professional ASP.NET developer.

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ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
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ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewThis book builds on existing material from Marco Bellinaso's book, ASP.Net 2.0 Website Programming, migrating the implementation of the BeerHouse eCommerce web application to using more recently released Microsoft technologies such as ASP.Net MVC 1.0, LINQ to SQL, and SQL Server 2008, and updating the text to explain concepts behind the new implementation. As the authors indicated in their introduction to ASP.Net MVC, one thing developers will gain with using this newer technology instead of classic ASP.Net 2.0 is finer control over the web application's client-side code. The flip side to this is that .Net developers, who so far have been relatively shielded from having to know too much about html, css, or javascript because of conveniences offered by classic ASP.Net 2.0, may now have to know more about these technologies in order to develop the presentation logic for their web apps. It's not surprising, therefore, to see a lot more javascript code in the revamped BeerHouse web app. So if you're trying to get a feel for what a non-trivial ASP.Net MVC application might look like and you don't mind reading through the javascript code, the BeerHouse web app presented in this book might be useful to you.
In my opinion, however, despite its title, this book doesn't delve deeply into ASP.Net MVC per se. Compared to Steven Sanderson's book, Pro ASP.Net MVC Framework, this book only provides a superficial introduction to the new framework, and only demos a limited subset of features. With a little more effort and for pedagogic reasons, the authors could have worked into the BeerHouse application showcase examples of how to implement, say: server-side data validation (e.g., use of IDataErrorInfo), or security features such as more advanced model binding that prevents the editing of certain properties, and Cross-Site Request Forgery prevention through the use of the Html.AntiForgeryToken() helper, etc. For a more thorough but still accessible tutorial on ASP.Net MVC, you should get Sanderson's well-written book if you haven't.ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) OverviewPerfectly suited to the innovative Problem ? Design ? Solution approach, ASP.NET MVC is a new development model that separates code for the data, look, and business processes of a Web site. This nuts-and-bolts guide thoroughly covers creating a Web site with MVC and discusses solving the most common problems that you may encounter when creating your first application or trying to upgrade a current application. The material is based on the highly praised and widely used ?TheBeerHouse? ASP.NET Starter Kit that was developed in the bestselling ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem?Design?Solution. Additional coverage includes registration and membership systems and user-selectable themes; content management systems for articles and photos; polls, mailing lists, and forums; e-commerce stores, shopping carts, and order management with real-time credit card processing, and more.

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Microsoft® .NET: Architecting Applications for the Enterprise (Pro-Developer) Review

Microsoft® .NET: Architecting Applications for the Enterprise (Pro-Developer)
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Microsoft® .NET: Architecting Applications for the Enterprise (Pro-Developer) ReviewThis book seemed really promising from the title and mainly its author (Dino Esposito), who is one of the best .NET writers out there. It took me a while to buy it though, because for weeks I tried in vain to find its table of contents, to know exactly what I was buying. Having failed at finding one, I decided to just take a chance and buy it anyway, and I don't regret, it is a good book.
I would say the target audience is intermediate to senior developers who are getting into software architecture, or architects who work on a database-centric way and want to get an update to the current buzzwords, such as domain model pattern, repositories, services, AOP, POCO, OR/M, DDD etc. This book does not try to be a definitive source on any of those topics, but more like an introduction and a reference; the authors make a good job at pointing for resources for those who want to get more dense information.
Books like Martin Fowler's "Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture", the GoF classic Design Patterns book and Eric Evan's "Domain-Driven Design" are mentioned dozens of times, so people who have already read those books may not have lots of new stuff to see here, unless they are looking for a lighter reference or want to see how some of those ideas can be applied on .NET.
So, for those like me who have spent a few days on Google trying to find out the book's ToC, here is a summarized version, with some of the topics covered in parenthesis:
Part 1 - Principles
1 - Architects and Architecture Today (software life cycle, agile methodologies etc)
2 - UML essentials (UML models and usage, use-case diagrams, class diagrams, sequence diagrams)
3 - Design Principles and Practices (OOD, AOP)
Part 2 - Design of the System
4 - The business layer (transaction script pattern, table module pattern, active record pattern, domain model pattern, DDD)
5 - The service layer (service layer pattern, remote façade pattern, adapter pattern, SOA, AJAX service layer for rich web frontends)
6 - The data access layer (plugin pattern, Inversion of Control, data context, query services, concurrency, lazy loading, OR/M, stored procedures, dynamic SQL)
7 - The presentation layer (MVC, MVP, presentation model pattern, choosing a UI pattern, MVP in web presentations, MVP in Windows presentations)
8 - Final thoughtsMicrosoft® .NET: Architecting Applications for the Enterprise (Pro-Developer) Overview
Make the right architectural decisions up front—and improve the quality and reliability of your results. Led by two enterprise programming experts, you'll learn how to apply the patterns and techniques that help control project complexity—and make systems easier to build, support, and upgrade—right from the start.

Get pragmatic architectural guidance on how to:

Build testability, maintainability, and security into your system early in the design
Expose business logic through a service-oriented interface
Choose the best pattern for organizing business logic and behavior
Review and apply the patterns for separating the UI and presentation logic
Delve deep into the patterns and practices for the data access layer
Tackle the impedance mismatch between objects and data
Minimize development effort and avoid over-engineering—and deliver more robust results

Get code samples on the Web.


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Java Network Programming, Third Edition Review

Java Network Programming, Third Edition
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Java Network Programming, Third Edition ReviewAvoid. This book appears to have quite a reputation, but despite being in its 2nd edition, it is riddled with errors. The book exhibits some fundamental misapprehensions about TCP/IP; as a result it perpetrates some astonishing misinformation, much of it quite basic. Partial list: the nature of a socket close operation; what IOException when closing a socket means; what happens when the listen backlog is exceeded; specification of the ServerSocket constructors; Nagle's algorithm (Socket.setTcpNoDelay); linger; keepalive; etc etc.
Of the examples which do work, the PortScanner and LocalPortScanner are provided in versions which perpetrate atrocities on the local machine and network by not closing sockets. Multi-homing very cursorily treated, not even indexed. Firewalls apparently treated in one page. Role of TTL in multicast apparently ignored.
The text is verbose and repetitive, and a number of the examples are irrelevant. Fully 50% of the Sockets for Servers chapter consists of a rather irrelevant excursion into HTTP and HTML; the examples have bugs, not that they have much point. Also, what pray have HTML rendering and parsing in Swing got to do with networking? 30 irrelevant pages on this; nice to have, but why here?
Author seems to think HotSpot is a JIT. Typos in the index, not encouraging. Many impending JDK 1.4 enhancements will shortly obsolete this book. Avoid it. For TCP/IP and UDP fundamentals, buy W.R. Stevens Unix Network Programming. -Java Network Programming, Third Edition Overview
The new third edition of this highly regarded introduction to Java networking programming has been thoroughly revised to cover all of the 100+ significant updates to Java Developers Kit (JDK) 1.5.It is a clear, complete introduction to developing network programs (both applets and applications) using Java, covering everything from networking fundamentals to remote method invocation (RMI).

Java Network Programming, 3rd Edition includes chapters on TCP and UDP sockets, multicasting protocol and content handlers, servlets, multithreaded network programming, I/O, HTML parsing and display, the Java Mail API, and the Java Secure Sockets Extension. There's also significant information on the New I/O API that was developed in large part because of the needs of network programmers.

This invaluable book is a complete, single source guide to writing sophisticated network applications. Packed with useful examples, it is the essential resource for any serious Java developer.


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C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference Review

C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference
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C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference ReviewThis book is great. It's no nonsense approach to covering the C# 4.0 language is like a breath of fresh air. It is clean, to the point, and thorough. It makes finding a topic, and learning it, or getting a refresher, a very fast process.
This new version includes new chapters on parallel programming (including PLINQ), and dynamic programming, and new sections on code contracts and COM interoperability.
The authors have a great writing style which makes the book a very enjoyable read. You can read this cover to cover, or use it as a very handy reference. You won't find any case studies, or made up scenarios, to help the authors describe the technology. They stick to writing about the technology, which is nice.
One of my favorite features of the book is the way the authors do their diagramming. They include a lot of diagrams that give a visual representation of the feature they are describing. The diagrams really help with getting a quick understanding of the overall picture of the topic. The authors also demonstrate with code that is always easy to understand and within the scope of the topic at hand. You don't have 2 pages of code with 3 lines highlighted.
Another part of this book I love is the way the authors deliver the code samples using LINQPad. I own the full auto completion version of LINQPad and it rocks. I have been using it since its first release and it has become my favorite tool when working with databases.
My only complaint about the book is the construction. The gluing job they did is horrible. It has big clumps of glue embedded in the pages which cause the binder to really bend. It will probably fall apart within a month of heavy use. I won't ding the book for that. It is a publisher issue, not an author issue.
All in all I highly recommend this book. It belongs on the shelf of any serious developer.
Review Update-
The editor of C# 4.0 in a Nutshell Book read my blog and suggested I contact O'Reilly Media for a new copy since my binder was a mess.
They made good on the request for a new copy of the C# 4.0 in a Nutshell Book and I received it today with the binder in perfect condition. No glue blobs in between any pages. Hats off to O'Reilly Media!!!!!
C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference Overview

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C# and the .NET Platform Review

C# and the .NET Platform
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C# and the .NET Platform ReviewI was informed by my manager to purchase a C# book, and I set out to do some research as to which book would fit my needs. I stumbled on this title as one recommended instead of another that was reviewed here on Amazon.com Based on the reviews posted for this book, I decided to purchase it. The positive reviews for this book are well-founded.
One of the very first things I noticed about this book is that it has a sticker on it that says that online updates for the final version of .NET are available. I went to the site and downloaded the list of changes to the book. The list was actually fairly short and the changes straightforward. I regard this as a good sign.
The book is well laid out and clear, the first 130+ pages dedicated to fundamental concepts and structures of C#. A 70-page introduction to OOP, in the context of C#, follows. The next few chapters deal with advanced topics including container classes and threads. Next the reader is launched into more graphically-oriented topics. Finally, the topics move into such as object serialization, database access, and web-centric subjects. The progression from subject to subject is logical and smooth, and each section is written clearly so as not to leave the reader in the dark and each presented after its prerequisites.
Example code in this book is clear, concise, and explained. The source to the examples is *not* included with the book, but is available readily for download.
This book is a great start into C# and .NET. It is *not* comprehensive, but it covers most of the important topics that get used regularly. Seriously consider this title when investigating C# and/or .NET.C# and the .NET Platform Overview

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ASP.NET 2.0: Your visual blueprint for developing Web applications Review

ASP.NET 2.0: Your visual blueprint for developing Web applications
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ASP.NET 2.0: Your visual blueprint for developing Web applications ReviewI bought this book to teach myself .NET and ASP. The whole book is nothing but a sequence of exercises, which is an interesting and possibly effective approach. 99.9% of the code you are given to enter in is presented in the images.
From the very first exercise, I have found frequent careless and typographical errors, such as menu sequences that don't exist or instructions that leave out a critical step. Furthermore, the code you are to enter is very small and hard to read. It is only given within images, and it varies from hard to read to virtually impossible to read. I get the impression that the author knows the subject well, but this book is written as though he was given impossible deadlines to meet, and the publisher doesn't seem to have proofread the manuscript, because it contains continuous errors. I think that the author is capable of producing a better product, and I wouldn't hesitate to look at another book of his by a different publisher, but I must regretfully recommend that people seeking to learn this subject avoid this particular book.ASP.NET 2.0: Your visual blueprint for developing Web applications OverviewOnly Visual Blueprint takes a visual approach to professional-level computer topics, and this guide demonstrates over 150 key ASP.NET 2.0 techniques with step-by-step screen shots. You'll see how to add a page to a Web site, write and read user cookies, collect user input with checkboxes, create an image map, display data in the GridView, reset user passwords, format the CreateUser Wizard, use nesting master pages, handle errors, build a Web service, and put together a terrific site.

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Essential Silverlight 3 Review

Essential Silverlight 3
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Essential Silverlight 3 ReviewThis book was a big disappointment.
Microsoft built a lot of new stuff into SL3 targeting business applications.
SL is an interesting alternative for building B2C and B2B apps beginning with release 3.
After watching a lot of the tutorial videos on the SL homepage I expected to get material that at least touches most of the new features.
That's not the case.
Are you looking for information regarding the new Datagrid & Dataform control, Pagers, AutoCompleteBox, ChildWindows, how how to interact with data services (SOAP, WCF, binary encoding), cross domain policies, out of browser clients, merge external style templates, interaction with DOM/Javascript, interaction with Blend 3 etc? You won't find it here.
This book is mainly about drawing stuff that was already there in SL1 & SL2: lines, circles, brushes, animations, videos, layout, effects etc.
It doesn't even scratch the surface of what the SL3/toolkit bundle adds on top.
Essential Silverlight 3 Overview"The book you are holding contains the keys to writing great Silverlight 3 applications. Use them well!" –From the Foreword by Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, Microsoft Developer DivisionMicrosoft Silverlight is a leading cross-platform, Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology that allows you to create more compelling and interactive Web experiences than are possible with simple HTML browser pages. Silverlight 3 includes significant improvements over previous versions, including "out-of-browser" operation, H.264 video, 3D graphics, and real-time effects.Essential Silverlight 3 is the definitive reference and insider's guide. It not only covers all the key features of the Silverlight 3 runtime and how to use them but, in Under the Hood sections, explains why each feature was developed and how each one works. These "insider" explanations often lead to concise, practical performance tips that can help you speed up your own Silverlight applications.Author Ashraf Michail is uniquely qualified to explain Silverlight 3. He is a Microsoft Silverlight architect who has guided Silverlight from its beginnings through the current version. In this book, he shows how toIntegrate the principles and components of a Silverlight application, including XAP, XAML, and .NET code

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Visual Basic.NET XML Web Services Developer's Guide Review

Visual Basic.NET XML Web Services Developer's Guide
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Visual Basic.NET XML Web Services Developer's Guide ReviewA pretty thorough book covering Web Services technologies in some detail, the title is a bit misleading (not in a bad way though), as the author covers both VB6.0 Web Services technology and VB.Net implementation of the same, (with good reason). This strategy should ease the transition for the typical VB6.0 developer to VB.NET Web services, and also facilitate better understanding of SOAP over HTTP.
This guy's writing style is pretty unique among Computer Manuals in general. He has really researched his stuff, and the book is peppered with several references to tools, articles, and online resources of which many can be put to very good use.
The one and only gripe I have is that there are no simple example applications in this reference. The author acknowledges this in the book, but explains that no B2B or B2C application is simple either, (primarily what XML Web Services are for).
I can see that this approach will appeal to some and not to others, but on the whole I have to admit that his web-service examples are more complete and real-worldy than the typical "weather samples" and "add two numbers" implementations which are promoted in many circles as "Web Service examples". The author is a regular columnist for many of the Fawcette group publications such as Visual Studio magazine and I'd advice any purchaser of this book to keep in touch with Roger's writing on XML Web Services in these magazines as there are regular updates on some of the information presented in this book, which Roger continues to write about.Visual Basic.NET XML Web Services Developer's Guide Overview-- Covers migration to Visual Basic. NET for developers looking to take advantage of expanded Web service capabilities-- Loaded with hands-on examples and source code to help professionals build Web service solutions-- Complete overview of related open standards and protocols that encompass Web services, including XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI-- Gives developers and corporations the tools they need to cut development cycles, become more efficient communicators, and establish new business channels

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XML Web Services with ASP.NET Review

XML Web Services with ASP.NET
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XML Web Services with ASP.NET ReviewAny book on ASP.NET will mention Web services development, but "XML Web Services for ASP.NET" is an entire book dedicated to explaining all of the different sub-areas within the technology platform. And very well done. It's written by everyone's friend in .NET, Bill Evjen, one of the most outspoken advocates of .NET technology around.
The book is outstanding and takes an in-depth look at XML Web services, and Microsoft's specific implementation of the paradigm. All of the major considerations are explained well and adequately to become productive in developing your own library of Web services, or by extending the functionality of your applications.
The book's tone is very friendly, and non-intimidating, so it's a very easy, quick read. Bill also uses lots of practical analogies to make the more complex topics relevant, so it's an added bonus that this book appeals to the beginning as well as the seasoned developer.
Bill discusses areas critical to a thorough understanding of WS technology using .NET such as SOAP, UDDI, remoting, security, authentication, performance, and client development for calling an XML Web service from an ASP.NET WebForm or Windows Form, VB 6.0 app, or an ASP 3.0 Web page. The book also features some really good appendices, especially those on .NET's Web service classes, and an XSD primer for schema development.
The book is not about ASP.NET development, and so providing the reader has some experience with building third-generation Web applications, gets right to the meaty stuff. The chapters are short and to the point, and Bill's overview of ADO.NET is one of the better ones I've read in recent times. The most outstanding thing to me is that Bill liberally uses real-world code samples, with all code presented in both Visual Basic .NET and C#. Snafus in the code are very minimal, and I know form personal experience that good ol' Bill is extremely available and answers all his e-mail...about anything.
However, the book's printed code samples (I haven't checked the downloadable source code from the publisher) tend to reflect code generated from Visual Studio .NET, which in my opinion become confusing and therefore more difficult to replicate in an IDE environment like Dreamweaver MX or ASP.NET Web Matrix or non-IDE environment like Notepad due to all of the proprietary code VS.NET generates, and in doing so, using code behind. It's been my experience that it's easier to go the other way - provide the raw code and leave it up to the developer to implement in whatever means they see fit.
Another thing I did not care for (some of you may agree, I'm assuming most may not) was the physiology of the book itself, which was beyond the author's reasonable control. The binding is very flimsy and the spine breaks without much trouble. The paper isn't very durable, and doesn't lay flat for very long. I hope Wiley Publishing take into consideration that books of this nature get used & abused for their content more than most, and consider making corrections in the book's composition to make them last longer.
But beyond this, the book is a must-have for a user group as it's cross-language, multi-developmental platform, multi-subject appeal make it applicable to many different levels of developers, and is great for team environments.XML Web Services with ASP.NET OverviewThis book is a comprehensive guide that walks the reader through developing and consuming XML Web Services using the .NET platform and ASP.NET. It begins with an overview of the .NET framework and an explanation of the process behind XML Web Services, and then quickly delves into building and consuming Web Services. Included will be discussions of proxies, classes, SOAP, Global XML Web Services Architecture, WSDL, UDDI, and Disco. The book will also cover the important issue of security and how to apply encryption and signing. This book is the reader's guide to advanced XML Web Services such as error and exception handling, configuration, and optimization.

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