I'm going to be starting a new project with VS2008/ASP.NET, and I would like to use MVC.
What is the best MVC book out there? (Are there any good ones?)
Edit: I threw in the asp.net-mvc-2 tag so we could possibly get some updated answers.
+7
A:
Are there any out yet that aren't specifically labeled as a "preview"? In terms of "quality" of the authors and their blogging quality, I'd probably vote for the WROX Pro ASP.NET MVC one. Rob Conery, Scott Hanselman, and Phil Haack collectively have some of the best ASP.NET MVC content out there today. Now that Scott Guthrie is added into the mix of authors, it seems almost silly to buy any other ASP.NET MVC book if you're set on buying a book.
Chris Farmer
2008-10-27 18:19:57
The first Chapter is available for free: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/03/10/free-asp-net-mvc-ebook-tutorial.aspx - but yes, this is a book i'd buy just becuase of the reputation of their authors.
Michael Stum
2009-03-16 12:12:43
Yeah, throwing in Scott Guthrie is also a big plus, and a nice chunk of free content in that pdf is a great bonus.
Chris Farmer
2009-03-16 17:53:52
+1
A:
I don't believe there are any available yet as ASP.NET MVC is still in Beta. You would be much better seeking out the web resources. Its a pretty shallow learning curve.
If you check out Amazon, you will see there are a lot of ASP.NET MVC books on the horizon.
Andrew Rimmer
2008-10-27 18:20:29
+2
A:
As far as I know, there isn't a book on ASP.NET MVC yet, since it doesn't have a final release.
I recommend that you watch the videos and try keeping up with Scott Guthrie's Blog.
changelog
2008-10-27 18:20:58
I spent time in Redmond with Ben who is one of the authors of this book, we spent a week helping to create the asp.net 3.5 cert tests and I can tell you he is very sharp and one the knowledge of him alone I would recommend this book.
keithwarren7
2009-01-24 14:50:50
Scheduled for March 2009? So how come, as of June 9 2009, it's still a 'pre-order' on Amazon?
David
2009-06-09 15:33:17
If you purchase the 'Early Access' book at Manning.com you can have access to the first 12 chapters right now (the layout isn't the prettiest but the content is there). The book should be done in August according to the latest I have read, but it takes time for printing and such. I recommend buying the Early Access Preview.
GuyIncognito
2009-06-10 19:37:03
Sign up for the Manning email newsletter and get weekly emails that have 40% to 50% off coupon codes.
GuyIncognito
2009-06-10 19:40:25
+1
A:
asp.net mvc has some pretty good introductory videos. They're a little slow at times so they can be hard to stay focused on. I just browse SO when the pace slows. I would say that books are much better for quicly grocking new material. But the videos cover most of the basics and will lead you through creating a few asp.net mvc + linq sites in a short time.
I did find that the current Beta to have some stabilities issues when it comes to VS2008. I experienced lots of freezing and crashing which made learning a bit less fun.
Todd Smith
2008-10-27 18:32:20
+3
A:
Here's a recommendation of a book that's out there now:
"One of the best, short, and simple books I have found on MVC is this one handed out last week at the PDC 2008 expo:
http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430216468
Not only does it cover MVC's concept, but its comparisons to other concepts such as Ruby on Rails and MVP methodology.
In addition, it goes into the entire reason MVC exists by describing it's seperation of concerns, and why it should not only be at the UI level - but down into your actual layers or IoC structure of your business objects and DAL.
I'd highly recommend this book as he covers best practices, in just 110 pages or so.
And no, I do not work for FirstPress or related to them at all. I just liked the book, and finally someone I agree with. "
DOK
2008-11-08 20:04:32
+1
A:
Wrox MVC 1.0 book would be my pick. I would suggest the ASP.NET MVC 1.0: Problem, Design, Solution book as it gives you a practical walkthrough. TheBeerHouse MVC project is already online for you to review source code.
Al Katawazi
2009-03-02 19:46:03
The link leads to the first chapter of the book. Only this first chapter is in free access.
Alexander Prokofyev
2009-05-20 04:40:25
By the way, the NerdDinner application is an ongoing project hosted on CodePlex (http://nerddinner.codeplex.com/. Feel free to submit patches and help make it better.
Haacked
2009-06-26 17:13:40
This book is great, I would highly recommend it to some new to ASP.NET MVC.
mc2thaH
2009-06-30 15:33:54
Just gotten around to start tinkering with ASP.NET MVC myself, thankfully I had one lucid thought pound me...do not change framework whilst in the middle of project....why am I telling you this obvious nonsense? Because the book mrCherian recommends (didn't even know about the CC-part, props!) with the daily recommended SO and Google and whatnot...great book, almost too inspiring ;-)
Morten Bergfall
2009-11-12 15:16:59
+2
A:
Here is a daily updated list of .NET related web development books (including ASP.NET MVC):
Also there is an RSS feed.
Koistya Navin
2009-03-25 21:35:39
+3
A:
I don't know if it's the best (not much out yet to compare against), but I just picked up "ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Quickly", which was released just as the framework was. I just started reading, but it seems like a good introductory text. I have a preview copy of the ASP.NET MVC in Action book, and it seems like it has a ways to go. I'm probably most looking forward to the Wrox book, but the PacktPub book might give you something to whet your appetite if you can't wait!
+1
A:
First books have recently started to appear so I entertain the idea of getting one.
The first choice would be the book from the framework authors:
I long awaited it but it got quite bad feedbacks on amazon. I managed to get my hands on the PDF of this book and I'm quite disappointed with what I have seen there (very basic, like ASP.NET MVC for dummies), so buying it out of the question.
I know see the another book:
has gotten excellent points. I only could look at its table of contents and that seems very promising. I'm considering getting it, but... I would realy like to hear from those who have read it.
Any other recommendations for some "advanced" ASP.NET MVC books? I suppose it is too early, other works have not been published yet.
User
2009-05-11 09:44:17
+65
A:
I recently finished Steve Sanderson's Pro ASP.NET MVC Framework and I can recommend it. It has a multiple chapter sample application that gets you started quickly with ASP.NET MVC and then 10 or so follow-up chapters that cover the relevant topics in depth (Controllers, Views, Security, etc). The book has a strong focus on unit testing and dependency injection and also covers basic object relational mapping with LINQ to SQL. There is also chapters that cover integrating jQuery with ASP.NET MVC and how you might utilize framework components (authorization, membership, roles, personalization, caching, etc) from traditional WebForms applications.
There are a number of positive reviews on Steve's Blog which is also a good source of additional ASP.NET information. Amazon.com has a couple of positive reviews on the book (I need to add mine when I get some free time). You can also preview some of the book over at Google Books.
Some of the other books that are available now or available shortly are:
Wrox: Beginning ASP.NET MVC 1.0 --- Both authors Keyvan Nayyeri and Simone Chiaretta are active ASP.NET MVC bloggers. There is a sample chapter on testing for download here. I've read that it should be available at the end of June 2009?
Manning: ASP.NET MVC in Action --- This book is by Ben Scheirman, Jeffrey Palermo and Jimmy Bogard. They all have interesting blogs that cover ASP.NET MVC related topics. If I heard correctly, this book should be out in August 2009. You can pre-order the book (MEAP = Manning Early Access Program) here and get access to the first 11 chapters (unedited or loosely edited I think). The CodeCampServer reference application that complements the book is pretty intense and covers using nHibernate (ORM), Castle Windsor (DI / IoC), DDD, unit, integration and regression testing.
Wrox: Professional ASP.NET MVC 1.0 --- This is the book that accompanies the NerdDinner sample application and reader that was made available a while back. It's authored by some pretty smart Microsoft guys: Rob Conery, Scott Guthrie, Scott Hanselmann and Phil Haaaaaaaaaaaaack who have the inside information on why certain decisions were made with the framework. Available now.
Packt: ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Quickly --- The author Maarten Balliauw has a pretty good blog that talks about various ASP.NET MVC issues including testing. Available now.
Sams: ASP.NET MVC Framework Unleashed --- Author Stephen Walther is responsible for a number of popular ASP.NET Unleashed books from the early 1.0 days of ASP.NET and now he is writing a book on ASP.NET MVC. You can check out his blog for sample content from the upcoming book and other ASP.NET MVC related posts. Amazon says this book will be available in July 2009.
Wrox: ASP.NET MVC Website Programming Problem Design Solution --- This appears to be a follow-up to the book Wrox: ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem Design Solution and welcomes back author Marco Bellinaso and introduces two new authors to the project Nick Berardi and Al Katawazi. The sample application for the book is the Beerhouse CMS and is available for download on CodePlex. The book's website says that it will be released in June 2009.
GuyIncognito
2009-05-13 17:33:45
I completely agree, Steve Sanderson's Pro ASP.NET MVC Framework is perfect for beginner and intermediate developers, and for advanced developers i would recommend ASP.NET MVC in Action, its excellent book.
Roboblob
2009-09-30 10:59:59