Learning ASP.NET

[Vanny]

Hi All,

I currently programming all my sites in Traditional ASP (VBSCRIPT), but am looking at upgrading my skills to ASP.NET so that later in the year I will start to migrate my application across.

Can any one recommend a good book on learning ASP.NET, preferable a VBSCRIPT one as I dont really want to go down the C# path.

Thanks

[Shuja Ali]

Beginning ASP.NET using VB.NET This is the only one that I can think of right now.

[T2T2]

I was looking for some guidance in this area.

I have been productive with VB6 on recent projects but have only experimented with ASP.Net and briefly with Asp Classic.

I am hoping to jump into ASP.Net and VB.net on my current project and would like to know if learning ASP.net without asp classic knowledge is an advantage or disadvantage.

Are there recommended reference materials books /net sites /sample codes, which aim to introduce ASP.Net (with or without VB.net). Preferably without referencing the older ASP.

Thanks

[Shuja Ali]

I am hoping to jump into ASP.Net and VB.net on my current project and would like to know if learning ASP.net without asp classic knowledge is an advantage or disadvantage.

Are there recommended reference materials books /net sites /sample codes, which aim to introduce ASP.Net (with or without VB.net). Preferably without referencing the older ASP.

ASP.NET is not an upgrade version of Classic ASP. It is all together a different programming paradigm. I don't think you need to know Classic ASP to start learning ASP.NET.

So go ahead and get a book and start learning ASP.NET.

[Diezel]

ASP.NET is not an upgrade version of Classic ASP. It is all together a different programming paradigm. I don't think you need to know Classic ASP to start learning ASP.NET.

So go ahead and get a book and start learning ASP.NET.

That's true. ASP.NET is Visual Basic, not VBSCRIPT. Even if some of the syntax looks almost the same it's quite a bit different.
I would also suggest to the original poster to take a look at Microsofts great webcast series. I've been looking at them and they are really informative and free.

[T2T2]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I guess the .net environment is more complex because of the integration of various facilities.

Installing VB.net on my laptop was very involved.
With my vb6 projects I did not have to allow for IIS and framework, which are new concepts for me.

I guess the learning curve to get off the ground is more significant because of the new understanding of components and their interaction.

At the moment I am working with the help facility within the MDE, it has a working enterprise sample "Duwamish 7.0".

I will chase up the web casts as well to see what I can do.

I will be using ASP.net as a front end to Microsoft's sqlserver and reporting services.
The aim of the project is to provide ASP.net web forms for users to request reports and enter parameters, and for ASP.net to return the reporting services result back to the user screen.

I hope I can achieve this soon,,,,in a week???? At least to the point I can prove to my boss I can achieve the project goals.

Thanks againl.

[Shuja Ali]

In order to learn .NET properly I would first suggest going through the .NET Framework without concentrating on any Language. Understand the stuff that .NET Framework is all about. You can find interesting FAQS in FAQ Index

And yes once you are familiar with the concepts it becomes easier to program.

[Diezel]

Learning both .NET framework and Visual Basic in a week? I think that's a little to quick. If you are used to programing with many different languages it might be remotely possible but if you have no knowledge of the .NET framework nor Visual Basic it might be a to big piece to swallow.
The .NET framework really speeds up development but only once you understand it. Also if you don't know what you are doing there is a great possibility that the webapplication will be built wrong from the bottom, and a total rewrite in a few months is never really good.
The webcasts can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/events/seri...ialaspnet.mspx
They follow the book Essential ASP.NET by Fritz Onion. I've never read the book but I found theese really helpful when I started of with ASP.NET C# in .NET 1.1.
The ASP.NET 2.0 series cover this with 15 webcasts. The author site is at
http://pluralsight.com/fritz
Have fun and don't put to much preassure into learining, .NET is a complex framework that you will learn to love once you understand it.

[T2T2]

Looks like I have a lot more to learn than I thought.

I purchased VB.net which has the framework 1.1

When I try to connect to my local sql server databases, I get an error saying this version of VS.net can only connect to sql server desktop engine databases.

I believe I have the standard version of Sql Server.
Eventually I want to build applications to access database servers over the web.

In msdn I found reference to the error I am getting, it goes on to say that you need to purchase the Professional or Enterprise versions if you want to connect to databases on other Microsoft SQL Servers.

My start in the .Net world is full of blunders already.

Bummer.

[Shuja Ali]

Instead of buying VB.NET you should have downloaded a more latest and free version known as Visual Basic Express 2005 from Microsoft web-site.

Download it from
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ex...d/default.aspx

It is totally free.

[T2T2]

Ali thanks for the advice on the express version.

I had a look at the quick tour and got the impression it may not be able to connect to SQL Server Databases across network servers. It specifically works with an express version of sql server?

I am trying to do 2 things at once, learn the new tool while working toward a real live business solution for a Radio/TV business.
I am fortunate to be working on a project where the IT manager accepts my learning process.

The other issue I am not sure about is that the express version is 2005 while the business I work for is still using 2003.net and sql server 2000.

At work we are going to upgrade our software to be able to achieve commercial requirements. Aiming for the professional version of Visual Studio 2003.
The project I am working towards also comprises of MS Reporting Services, so I have all these MS dependancies to consider. For example the Reporting Services available for Sql Server 2000 is not as feature rich as the 2005 version. I will have to do ASP.net programming to set up reporting parameters. (things like calendar date selections).

So I am caught between old and new versions to deliver the project.

I am seriously considering an MSDN subscription, purchasing components here and there is probably the long and hard way to go when learning and actually developing.
As for the express version, I will look at it more seriously to see if it is worth using to learn the new 2005 version on my home desktop.

Cheers.