Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix Starter Kit by Mike Pope, Microsoft Press

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
ASP.NET makes it easy for programmers to build dynamic, data-driven web applications -- but what if you're "merely" a power user? (Say, for example, a small businessperson who wants to take your site beyond "brochureware"?) Microsoft's just released a great tool for you: Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix. It's powerful, visual, and free -- and one book can help you master it.

Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix Starter Kit begins with a simple overview of web page programming: how it works, where ASP.NET fits, and where Web Matrix fits. You'll walk through setting up Web Matrix (and the IIS web server it works with), tour Web Matrix's visual interface, and then get down to work.

You'll start with super-simple applications to give you a feel for web programming: slide shows, hit counters, a "random quotations" application, and, perhaps most useful, a way to store user preferences -- the first step toward personalizing your site for each visitor.

Next, you'll learn to create applications that work with databases -- including a web-based calendar and an application that automatically sends email responses on your behalf. Since you're writing VB.NET code and connecting with databases, you'll obviously have an easier ride if you know a little about these topics. But if you don't, Pope presents quick tutorials that'll help you get by.

The accompanying CD-ROM contains Web Matrix itself, Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine for your back-end databases, and a collection of useful ASP.NET utilities -- everything you need to get results. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

From the Publisher

Now everyone can build dynamic Web sites! This book teaches non-professional developers how to build Web applications by using ASP.NET and the Microsoft Web Matrix project.

Complex Web programming is not usually considered a skill that non-programmers can pick up quickly—until now. By learning a few straightforward programming techniques and using the right tools plus this book, people with little programming experience can create cool Web applications that have many of the features of commercial sites. This book teaches the basic techniques of building dynamic Web applications by using Microsoft® .NET tools, the Microsoft .NET Framework, and the latest Web technologies, including Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET, and the Microsoft Web Matrix project—a popular community-supported visual development environment. These technologies put pure power and complete control in the hands of everyone, while the .NET Framework lets you do things that no amount of pure HTML ever will.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents