This book is targeted at the intermediate-level software developer interested in building scalable and reliable business applications. General knowledge of the .NET Framework is required, and all source code examples are implemented in the C# language. For building a .NET knowledge foundation, I recommend the following books: C# and the .NET Platform by Andrew Troelsen (Apress, 2001) and A Programmer's Introduction to C# , Second Edition, by Eric Gunnerson (Apress, 2001).