Book Review: ASP.NET AJAX In Action

I love to read. It's safe to say that one of my favorite activities is sitting down with a good book. Maybe it's just the type of learner that I am, but In terms of professional development, I also think that reading is one of the most important activities that I undertake. Getting your hands dirty, hacking out solutions to problems on your own is something we've probably all experienced. The truth is, though, that for mortals like myself, it's just not the best way to tackle most problems. Generally there is somebody that has already encountered most of the problems that I'm going to face. Even if they haven't dealt with the specific issue I'm facing, more often than not somebody has written something about the underlying technology that will better help me attack the problem. 

I hope to add a section on my website in the future where I will post reviews of books that I've read. After all, a good book can be a great help, but taking the time to read a bad book can be extremely frustrating.  Not that you should implicitly trust my judgement, but it's a lot easier to read a few reviews of a bad book than it is to waste time ploughing through it, only to discover it wasn't worth the read.

So there's my introduction. Now on to the review:

ASP.NET AJAX In Action is an excellent read. While the book is definitely not for the beginner, if you already have a grasp of both JavaScript and ASP.NET, it is a great eye-opener to the powerful features of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework. You definitely don't need to be a JavaScript expert to appreciate it, as the authors do give a rundown on the language, but I think having some understanding ahead of time is a good idea.

The book is only 538 pages (right to the back. index and all.) and is a pleasant reminder that a book does not need to weigh as much as an automobile to be effective. It is concise in its descriptions, especially in the earlier stages, meaning that you need to pay attention to keep from missing vital information, but it is also extremely thorough. I should point out, also, that while it does move quickly, it isn't difficult to understand. 

A lot of computer books that focus on a specific technology can suffer from irrelevance and outdated material before they are even published. This book does not have that ailment in very many places at all. The authors clearly had a very thorough understanding of the technology as it was being developed, and they chose their material well.

I think one of my favorite aspects of the book is that it doesn't cater to developers that just want an easy "plug and play" solution to a problem. If you just want to know how to make your FileUpload control work with your UpdatePanel, this is definitely not the book for you. Instead, the authors provide a strong base, giving you the understanding you will need to really take advantage of the framework. You will learn how to leverage the Microsoft AJAX Libraries in your client-side development, and you will also learn a server-centric model for developing against the framework. One of the great advantages of ASP.NET AJAX is that flexibility. There is a lot of freedom to develop in the "realm" that you feel most comfortable with, whether that be with JavaScript or a .NET language. In addition, if you're primarily a JavaScript developer, the framework opens giant doors of opportunity to utilize some of the more powerful aspects of server-side development without straying too far out of your comfort zone. I'll write a few posts about some of those techniques in coming days.

As a summary, I'll just say that if you're looking for a book on ASP.NET AJAX, you don't need to look any farther than this one.