Net ASP

I bought this book because i want to learn about new Microsoft MVC Framework, but, this book have a lot of explanations about a bounch of things that dont have any relation about MVC (like LINQ, CSS, HTML, etc )

I have to say that i am experiece web/desktop application developer, but i am very new/begginer in [...] MVC.

I dont know why this book have alot of explanations of how to build good layouts, CSS, not use tables, what is a membership/profiling sub-system, etc.

I would prefer a simple book who starts with a simple examples from scratch, instead of trying using all the tools/features of Microsoft like LINQ and another stuff that make more complex the learning of this technology.

Bottom line

This book have alot of general explanations about a bounch of things that doesnt have relation with MVC and its looks like a commercial of Microsoft Tools.

I dont recommended it.

Rating: 1 / 5

This is not the right book to use to learn MVC. In Marco’s ASP.NET 2.0 version of this book he actually teaches the reader ASP.NET 2.0 web forms using what was the current method of building a full functioning web app. This book simply recreates that web app in MVC, but doesn’t really teach MVC in the process, it is more of here’s how we implemented TheBeerHouse app in MVC. If you want to learn MVC I highly recommend Sanderson’s book, or the other Wrox book by Conery, Hansleman, Hack & Gutherie, much better books for getting up to speed on the MVC Framework.

This is also one of the poorest edited books I’ve read in quite some time, partly because much of it was lifted directly from the 2.0 version (this is why Marco is listed as an Author). As an example there are numerous references to stored procedures, but there are zero stored procedures in this implementation; it exclusively uses LINQ to SQL (could have used Marco’s stored procedures and LINQ toSQL), but once again, provides next to zero teaching of LINQ to SQL. There are several copy and paste errors where the same chunk of code is used for similar but different objects. And, the numerous proclamations that the ‘Admin’ role has access to everything is flat wrong, since every Role authorization is specified for a single role (editor, contributor, etc.), rather than a delimited list including the ‘Admin’ role. this is easily corrected, if you know MVC, but this isn’t mentioned so the reader will have to figure it out with information from somewhere else.

This book could have been so much more. One of the unfortunate holdovers from the previous book is the use of the provider model. In chapter 4 a couple of pages go into the importance of being able to easily switch data providers should the need arise and the value of isolating the DAL from the rest of the app. Well, the Controllers are not part of the DAL, but the DataContext is sprinkled throughout the Controllers, too tightly coupling the DAL and the Controllers. A much better solution would have been to use the Repository pattern and program against an interface (as shown in detail in the Sanderson book). But, if you don’t know these things you will assume that what is being provided in this book is the way to go; it isn’t, there are better patterns and practices to follow. One other key for switching to MVC is testing (TDD),other than to mention it in passing,this isn’t even covered in this book. Another example is Routing, routing is a very big thing in MVC and it isn’t mentioned in the book.

If you have gone through some of the other books and have a working knowledge of the MVC framework, then this book can be used to get some ideas and approaches, but you will be armed with the knowledge to know when to follow it and when not to. As I stated, this book could have been so much more, but it isn’t, all that it is is a rewrite of TheBeerHouse app in MVC without teaching the reader, in any depth, about MVC, LINQ to SQL, TDD, the repository pattern, IOC or DI. The authors took the easier path producing a book that shows what they can do with MVC, but not teaching the reader how to learn to do it too, and not showing how to use MVC with a better architecture, for these reasons, and all the editing errors, this book only warrants two stars and my recommendation to get Sanderson’s book instead.
Rating: 2 / 5

This book is a great resource that I’m currently working my way through. The realistic scenario of setting up an e-comm site with several commonly used tasks (blogging, polls, forums, newsletters, etc…) offers a best practice approach, often given with insights into alternative methods and the reasons for using them. The foundational introduction and architecture of MVC, the code given within the book, and the complete site assets that are provided online are invaluable in giving the reader an understanding of MVC.
Rating: 5 / 5

This book lives up to its title. It is one of the best books for designing mvc websites. If you want a book to hold your hand through every step using impractical examples, get any of the other books available. This book shows how to get your hooks into the important parts of a working website. If you get hung up on the cursory explanation of the ISO codes and Link to SQL DataContext creation, your missing the overall purpose of the book.

Mvc makes it so easy to create DataContexts and DataSets that it becomes trivial. What the “Three Heads” do in this book is to put all these MVC pieces together into a well designed practical web site.
Rating: 5 / 5

This book was exactly what I was looking for in an MVC Framework book. I had projects that needed to be done with the MVC Framework and TheBeerHouse project that comes with this book actually had a module that already did what I was looking for. Everything is very well organized and each chapter discusses a different web module that you will probably have to build on the web.

I totally disagree with the other reviewer recommending Sanderson’s book over this one. I found Sanderson’s book was geared for people starting at the very beginning. This book on the other hand is made for people going from ASP.NET Web-forms to MVC Framework. I don’t have time to relearn what a class is. This book covers topics that are important to me such as using jQuery in my applications (an awesome lightweight javascript framework), and using LINQ. I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: 5 / 5