Teaching Approach

I'm a firm believer that the best way to teach is by example. In this book, I generally explain new concepts in high-level terms first and then go into practical code examples that show those concepts in use. In all cases, the examples form part of a working application you can run.

This book is designed to complement, rather than replace, the Notification Services Books Online (the electronic documentation that comes with the product). Books Online provides a thorough reference to every Notification Services command, programming construct, and configuration option. This book does not attempt to duplicate this reference information. Instead, this book is a guide that shows you how, when, and why to use the various aspects of Notification Services in real scenarios. My expectation is that you will use this book to learn the concepts and work through practical examples, but refer to the Books Online for exact syntax details, usage restrictions, and other detailed reference information.

When providing instructions throughout this book, I've chosen to err on the side of being too specific, rather than not specific enough. In many cases, I explicitly state steps or commands, even though I know most readers will already be familiar with them. My purpose in doing this is to leave no room for ambiguity. I realize that calling out what may seem like obvious instructions can come across as pedantic, but doing this eliminates potential confusion and misinterpretation. I want every reader to get the most out of this book, and to that end I've tried to be as clear as possible at every step. I consider my readers to be capable software engineering professionals, and the tone of the instructions is never intended to contradict that.