Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET (Programmer to programmer)

ASP.NET 1.0 is the final release of Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP). It is a powerful server-based technology designed to create dynamic, interactive, HTML pages for web sites and corporate intranets. ASP.NET is a core element of Microsoft's exciting .NET vision, building on the strengths of the .NET Framework to provide many new features not seen in previous versions of ASP.

This book, entirely revised and updated for the final release, will provide you with a step-by-step introduction to ASP.NET using VB.NET, with plenty of worked examples to help you to gain a deep understanding of what ASP.NET is all about, and how you can harness it to build powerful web applications.

This book covers:

* Creating basic ASP.NET pages with VB .NET
* Understanding the concepts of Object Oriented Programming
* Working with Data and XML
* Debugging and handling Errors in your Code
* Using ASP.NET Server Controls
* Creating User Controls and Components
* Exploring the world of Web Services
* Optimizing Performance
* Securing your Application

Aimed at the programming novice or anyone approaching .NET for the first time, Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with Visual Basic .NET provides a patient guide to the new Microsoft platform used for Web development. Mixing a thorough tour of VB .NET and ASP.NET with background material on relevant Web standards, this title can put basic Web programming within reach for a wide range of readers.

While there are many books that look at .NET, this one starts from the basics and covers topics that are part of the landscape of Web development. For example, this text opens with a discussion of static versus dynamic Web pages, and a survey of earlier Web scripting languages, before turning to ASP.NET itself. Throughout this text there are patient explanations of basic Web and programming standards, like HTML forms, XML, and SQL, that underpin Web development today, whether in ASP.NET or not.

When it comes to ASP.NET, there's an admirably approachable tour of the VB .NET language itself, beginning with basic features and moving on to its more object-oriented features. The emphasis is on tapping the powers of ASP.NET rather than reinventing the proverbial wheel, when it comes to classes. Coverage of new conventions, like the new ASP.NET event-driven programming model, get ample attention. Throughout this text, the authors keep .NET internals (which can often sound esoteric to newcomers) to a healthy minimum.

Other essential APIs like ADO.NET for database programming show how to connect to databases and bind data to controls. Solid coverage of the new support for debugging and tracing in ASP.NET will show you how to get more productive. Several chapters look at how to build re-usable components, whether custom components or code-behind forms. A digestible tour of the basics of the much-touted Web services rounds out this book, which sets a high standard for approachability.

The new .NET can be daunting, but the tutorial in Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with Visual Basic .NET can put basic Web development on the new Microsoft platform within reach for most any reader, whether you have previous VB experience or not. --Richard Dragan