While it's obvious that Mr. Connolly feels that the ASP.NET environment provided by Microsoft is very good, he's not afraid to express his opinion when he finds shortcomings. For instance, he points out that the number of collection types is incomplete in ASP.NET compared to Java. He does, however, point out that developers at Wintellect and Microsoft have created additional collections that are available in the powercollections library.

In the second half of the book he tackles broader topics like site navigation, data binding, security, and personalization. In the chapter on customizing managing your site's appearance, he explains why it is better to use % or em units instead of pixels when creating CSS styles. And in the chapters on "Working with Data," he provides alternative ways to retrieve data from a database and the pros and cons of each method. His chapter on designing and implementing Web applications is also a must read.

I could go on and on. You'll find that the book replete with intelligent discussions on Web development on a whole range of topics. If you're an experienced developer, an instructor, or someone looking for more than just a "how to" and would also like a "why should I" then you'll enjoy this book.

Author: Randy Connolly
Publisher: Pearson Education
Pub. Date: March 2007
ISBN-13: 9780321419507
1088pp
Series: Core Series
Language: C#
ASP.NET: 2.0
Level: Intermediate to Advanced