ASP.NET and VB.NET Web Programming

Active Server Pages (ASP) has been the backbone of server-side programming in the Microsoft environment for several years. Visual Basic has been that company's toolkit for developing client-server applications in a hurry. Now, with the release of the ASP.NET specification and the VB .NET development environment, the two technologies intersect more than ever. ASP.NET and VB.NET Web Programming explains how each of these technologies works on its own, and explains in implementation-level detail (i.e., lots of code listings) exactly how they work together to provide Web services under the .NET Framework.

Matt Crouch uses a nifty technique for annotating his code. Rather than comment long listings extensively, or repeat sections later for commentary, he attaches a number to interesting lines in long listings. Then, in the commentary sections that follow the listings, he refers to lines by number (so-and-so happens in line 84 because we did thus-and-such in line 56, for example). The effect is like reading an analysis of poetry. The technique works well, except for the fact that you sometimes end up flipping back and forth between commentary and listing. Overall, this is a fine choice for someone familiar with VB 6 or old-style ASP who wants to learn about Microsoft-style Web services with the help of numerous code samples and careful commentary. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to create Web sites under the Microsoft .NET Framework. The author covers techniques for creating HTML interfaces with ASP.NET, shows how to build managed components for COM+, and explains how to create Web services under VB .NET. It's a comprehensive guide to Web services and HTML page generation for VB .NET programmers.