What's a good book for learning ASP?

Question

I'm an experienced programmer in C/C++, Java and PHP and I've recently become interested in learning ASP.NET. I'm looking for a book geared toward someone who already knows web development (I don't need to relearn HTML and CSS) and programming that will dive into using ASP. Also, a book that teaches ASP development using Visual Studio and Windows Server 2008 would be great.

I found Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB by Imar Spaanjaars but it goes into too much depth on the simple stuff... maybe there's something better?

Bonus points if it's available on books24x7.com. :D

Answer 1

One detail before: ASP and ASP.net are two different things. ASP is an older technology, that is still being used, so it may confuse.

As for books, i am always a big fan of the Apress stuff, and I do like their "Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition".

Answer 2

I've always enjoyed the Jesse Liberty range of books on the .NET families, but then again I haven't read (or used) .NET so I don't have much to compare them with.

Answer 3

I have always enjoyed the "Unleashed" series and ASP.NET 3.5 Unleashed is a good start. It is reasonably comprehensive, but I fear it will also suffer from going "into too much depth on the simple stuff".

Answer 4

I think Fritz Onion's books are still hard to beat.

Answer 5

The head first books are pretty good for intro stuff: http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfcsharp/

Answer 6

"Best" is subjective but here a few good ones:

• ASP.NET 3.5 Unleashed.

• Pro ASP.NET 3.5

• Professional ASP.NET 3.5

Answer 7

I'd suggest, if you're starting out developing web applications in .NET, that you skip the old and soon to be deprecated ASP.NET server control-based model and learn about the new ASP.NET MVC framework. IMHO, its a hundred times better than the server control model. Its much easier to understand, is of course a much cleaner design, is easier to test, doesn't require understanding the complex and bug-prone page lifecycle, etc etc etc.

BTW, there aren't any books out on it yet. The official site also lags behind ScottGu by about two releases...

Answer 8

This is a good starting point: http://www.asp.net/get-started/

Followed by this: http://www.asp.net/learn/

Also, if you don't have the .NET framework or an IDE yet, there are free downloads of both here: http://www.asp.net/downloads/essential/

Answer 9

You can find tons of asp.net info online. www.asp.net and www.4guysfromrolla.com are both great resources for info, and code examples.

Answer 10

I found Dino Esposito's Programming ASP.NET 2.0: Core Reference and Programming ASP.NET 2.0 Applications: Advanced Topics to be really well done. It's massive (which is why it's in two volumes), but very few people know the ins-and-outs of ASP.NET like Dino. His writing is exceedingly precise, which makes it a slow read but very detailed.

Answer 11

Fritz Onion's books are great.

Answer 12

Professional ASP.Net 3.5 in C# and VB - Bill Evjen, Scott Hanselman, Devin Rader from Wrox Press

Answer 13

I started with ASP.NET 2.0 For Dummies. I thought it was a great introduction and really easy to read. The 3.5 book was written by a different author and has examples mainly in VB. I was more interested in using C# so that book didn't really appeal to me. However, the author did post many of the C# examples on his website.