Hi, I'm looking for a book to learn asp.net, but I also want one that will have meat that will carry me through beyond something like "asp.net for dummies."  Few seem to review asp.net illustrated (3 reviews on Amazon, with little detail).  What would be a good choice?   

Hi

Have a look here. http://www.asp.net/community/books/

True that displays a whole lot of books available in this chapter, but provided you for a reference.

I personally prefer Dino Esposito's books (For crisp explanation of internals of how something works in .NET), Jesse libety (For a great overview and some intersting samples)

I am told that Professional ASP.NET 2.0 (Updated edition) a good book for getting a good start on almost every functionality of ASP.NET.

Once we graduate out of these, i suggest ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution by Marco Bellinaso. This is got a 5 star rating from Scott G himself. It deals with how to develop a full fledged n-tier model of ASP.NET web site.

Thats my take.

VJ

Hi

Sorry missed this. Besides what i said, have you had a look here at http://www.asp.net/learn/. It is a great place to start with a lot of written / video / sample tutorials.

Hope that helps.

VJ

Thanks! I've spent a good amount of time learning from the great stuff here: http://www.asp.net/learn/ but I haven't exhausted it all yet.  Earlier I was looking at http://www.asp.net/community/books/ .    It's a bit overwhelming looking at each and reading amazon's reviews. 

 
So, on these boards Professional ASP.NET 2.0 is recommended over ASP.NET 2.0 Illustrated and ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed? 

 
I'm sure there is no over all best "starter with all the meat" book.  What's best for one person is not best for another.  I'm wondering if I could have some insight into the various book's different slants .... or perhaps a good book that follows and/or supplements this: http://www.asp.net/learn/

ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution looks very interesting.  If I weren't a beginner I'd jump on that one, since it appears to go into the "why" aspect and the understanding that goes beyond pure information.  I'll definitely look at this once I'm ready. 
 

Hi

Very rightly put, books are a "matter of preference". ASP.NET unleashed that you had mentioned, I have found that as an excellent desk reference which covers almost everything under ASP.NET. It is worth a buy anyday.

I pesonally do not prefer books that have more content on teaching you how to drag and drop controls from the Visual studio IDE. They teach you how to do things fast - but do not go beyond that, where in for developers drag and drop cannot help them mostly in real time. So if you are buying books for ASP.NET 2.0, my suggestion is to skim and see how much of the content is drag and drop and how much is hand coding.

Can I refer you here - http://forums.asp.net/p/1063034/1530983.aspx#1530983. Mentions about a similar topic.

Hope that helps and "Happy Reading and coding".

VJ

 Thanks very much.  I decided to go with the Wrox Professional book.  Thanks very much!

Hi

Glad could be of some help. Happy Reading and Coding.

VJ

Actuality:

I decided to go with the Wrox Professional book.

Well, as a first book...  :)

Everyone buys one ASP.NET book.  Then another.  Then four at a time.  Then Amazon.com gets their second mortgage.

The Worx Professional ASP.NET 2.0 book is good, though I'm not sure it's a great beginner book.  Same with ASP.NET Unleashed.  Both are long-term books though.  The Problem/Solution series are great for those who learn best solving a specific problem, and I usually recommend ASP.NET for Dummies.  I still use it occasionally when dealing with new areas.  I also like the Programmer to Programmer series.

But, when you find yourself looking for a new book, expect that it won't be your last.

Jeff