Active Server Pages.NET, or ASP.NET, is Microsoft's latest version of its popular dynamic Web programming technology, Active Server Pages (ASP). ASP.NET, however, is much more than a simple upgrade from classic ASP: A new programming model and a plethora of brand-new tools are just two of the many new features of ASP.NET. The numerous differences between classic ASP and ASP.NET create a bit of a steep learning curve for developers moving from classic ASP to ASP.NET a learning curve that this book will surely help to flatten. Although having experience with classic ASP or another dynamic Web programming technology will aid in learning ASP.NET, such prior experience is not required. Each lesson's concepts are explained assuming that the reader has no prior ASP experience. However, if you have created Web pages using classic ASP, you'll appreciate the "That's Not ASP!" section at the end of each chapter. These sections highlight the differences between classic ASP and ASP.NET and are ideal for developers coming from a classic ASP background. The new features in ASP.NET make designing dynamic Web pages quicker and easier than ever before. For example, ASP.NET offers developers a number of powerful Web controls, which are HTML-like tags that provide useful functionality, such as displaying a calendar, showing a random banner advertisement, and displaying an HTML table whose rows and columns contain data from a database. These Web controls allow developers to provide rich, W3C-compliant HTML with a minimal amount of coding. To get started with Web controls, refer to Day 5, "Beginning Web Forms." Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 21 Days breaks down the many complexities of ASP.NET into 21 essential lessons (with a couple bonus lessons thrown in for good measure). Each lesson contains useful information that you will be able to start applying to your Web applications immediately. With the abundance of new features in ASP.NET, this incremental teaching style is beneficial for those new to ASP.NET to get a quick jump start on this exciting new technology. ASP.NET is an exciting new Web development technology that is going to take the world by storm. This next generation of Web development technology makes designing impressive Web sites an easy and fun process. If you're ready to get started with ASP.NET, you'll find Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 21 Days an invaluable resource. Happy Programming! Scott Mitchell
mitchell@4guysfromrolla.com
http://www.4GuysFromRolla.com | 
