Book Review - Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 Databases
One of the really nice things about working at DMXzone is making people happy when you tell them they've won a book. It's not unusual to get a quick note of thanks, but Jim Arthur of Jude Ministries.org went one better and dropped us a review to share.
This past summer I was blessed by winning one of the copies of Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 Databases, From Novice to Professional, by Damien Foggon and Daniel Maharry from Apress. I have discovered this book to be a rich help for those in my position.
I have traditionally called myself a Web Designer, meaning that I developed websites in HTML and some occasional DHTML. The sites were static in that the pages are not database driven. Except for size, the sites could forever remain in this fashion. They are mostly informational sites, where the basic information does not change, such as a church site or a religious ministry / teaching site.
Size, of course, becomes a major factor. As minor changes or design changes are made, how does one integrate these changes across several hundred pages? This is not a unique issue, just an issue related to these types of sites.
The answer, of course, is to move to a limited number of design pages while moving the content to the database. Most of those who view themselves as web developers (that is those with a programming background) would find this conclusion fairly obvious.
In my situation, the matter was more complicated because one site would ultimately be a PHP / MySQL site while others would be ASP.NET / Microsoft SQL Server powered. While some might argue for moving all of the sites to one or the other, I had no choice on the PHP site and my personal preference (at least on the front end) was to use ASP.NET. So, off I went in search of instructional materials.
In the midst of this search, I was blessed with the winning of Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 Databases in one of the occasional book give-a-ways held on DMXZone.com. I have found this book to be of major assistance and help because its sole focus in life is to teach the basics of the database side of the problem. While the work focuses on ASP.NET as the programming language, the focus is on the use of the databases.
There is no sole focus on Microsoft SQL Server, so the information becomes very portable to all programming languages. Most of the other works I encountered desire to teach the programming language first, then, or side-by-side, teach the database usage. Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 Databases has the benefit of learning about database usage without attempting to focus on both programming and databases at the same time.
The chapters are well organized and easy to read, while the examples are portable to other situations and make actual application easier to undertake. The real world case study (an HTML Reference system) is a pleasant change of pace from the other works, most of which want to delve into content management or Yahoo style portals.
This is a well written, well thought out work that makes a great addition to one's reference and learning library, especially if one closer to the novice side of the scale.
Jim Arthur
October 27, 2004