Since having worked with ASP.NET for a few years now, I’ve been on the hunt for a new book that goes beyond the introductory/intermediate description of how ASP.NET does what it does in the aggregate.  I don’t need an omnibus discussion ASP.NET in the aggregate, detailing how to populate a drop-down list or connect to a database, and the obligatory of how to create a “Hello world” XML Web service.  I wanted a title that would focus on a niche aspect of ASP.NET Web development, and that’s precisely what this book delivers.

The book could also very fittingly be named, “The Things We Like Best About ASP.NET – 2 Dudes and their Opinions.”  And this is a good thing.  The authors do a great job of providing you with helpful tips to hone, refine and enhance your existing ASP.NET savvy to be able to write code less, smarter, and more productively.

It provides closure for all-too-common developer inquiries like: what’s faster – a DataReader or a DataSet?  Which Web server control is more top-heavy - a DataList or a Repeater?  It also demystifies the mighty, mighty DataGrid and shows it’s not the all-encompassing solution many may think.  Further, it addresses the much-misunderstood mechanism of suitably using client-side JavaScript in your ASP.NET WebForms.

You’ll find lots of accommodating code methods, syntax tidbits, and general concepts buried deep within the .NET Framework to let you write more productive apps.

WHAT I LIKE

• Phenomenal chapter on caching – when to use it, and when it’s more of a burden than a blessing for your apps.  This is one of the best discussions on the topic I’ve found in print to date.
• Great ADO.NET coding techniques are enforced throughout the book, showing how to effectively/efficiently connect to, disconnect from, and destroying database communication objects
• Comparing the true best way to persist data across pages and postbacks
• Tips and tricks from classes and interfaces within the .NET Framework that have gotten little fanfare or have gone largely undocumented, such as various sues for the IList interface C#’s ‘lock’ keyword help out a lot.
• I enjoyed the section on the dangers of overusing dynamically-loaded users controls, adding severe overhead to your app
• The portion of why it’s not a bright idea to use business logic within a DataSet is really eye-opening
• I like the fact the concepts are supported by metrics in Application Test Center , demonstrating the relative performance of a code block in the real world.  Although numbers don’t lie, but they don’t tell the whole truth, this is a much-needed addition.
• The chapters are short, to the point, but still chock-full of great content, not inundating the reader with extraneous information.
• Included is a very nice discussion of performance optimization through proper development of an app’s web.config file.

WHAT I THINK NEEDS WORK FOR THE SECOND EDITION

• The code samples are inconsistent, with half of them being in C# and the other half being in Visual Basic .NET.  Also, the VB.NET chapters tend to be so tightly married to Visual Studio .NET coding that it makes migration out of it rather difficult
• The writing style has a tendency to display the occasional grammatical abnormality, (e.g., “know how to properly use DataSet”)
• I was hoping to see a discussion of performance optimization within the context of a tiered application, specifically tweaking your data access layer (DAL) for maximum speed.  This isn’t a biggie, just maybe a suggestion for the next edition.

I would rate the book 4 out of 5.  Forgiving the editorial snafus and the code inconsistencies, I really had a positive experience reading this book.  It’s not the same old take on ASP.NET, and you’ll be a better off and more well-rounded developer, now conscious of the major considerations behind your app’s curtain because of it.