Well, I got this book about three days ago, and it's pretty nice. It's very thick, and there is a lot of very good information in it. It covers a wide range of System.Web namespaces, and goes into some of the System.Data namespace, but it neglects something as important as the System.Web.Mail namespace. I guess it's hard to include everything in one book, but something are more important than others, and I think that the ability to send email is one of them.
Overall, I think I am really going to like this book, but I am going to be aware that there are some things left out of it.

It's interesting to note that all of the reviews on this site are prior to the second edition publishing date. I have read a completely different book. I find no mention of IBM proprietary classes or xml4j. Open source API's are used throughout for examples and while there is no mention of my personal favorite XML API, JDOM, it does cover newer topics like JDK 1.4, XSLT, XML Messaging, Web Services and XML databases well.

The book is literally filled with code, every page. A CD is included for all that source and it includes lots of evaluation and open source tools and API's to save you download time. All of that code leads you to want to use this book as a "cookbook" but don't overlook the text. There is serious experience and expertise revealed here.

This book contains the smallest and simplest example of SOAP messaging I've come across. Still several pages, but what are you going to do? For a book with this many authors, nine on the cover, it "cuts to the chase" very well and zeroes in on what a developer needs to use these new technologies to create Web Services and simpler XML applications.

I had written a review on the 1st edition of this book, regarding it as an outdated early effort. Having read through the second edition and seeing that Amazon placed my earlier review on the 2nd one, I had to pull it down in all fairness to this updated version. I have to say that this book is now THE reference on XML from a Java standpoint. It starts with the basics of XML parsing with DOM and SAX and gradually progresses towards more advanced topics such as XSLT transformations and integrating XML with servlets, JSPs, and Enterprise JavaBeans. It even covers the more recent web services UDDI and WSDL apis. The book is written in a down to earth style filled with code examples and based on one of the most widely used XML processors. This book can be of use both to beginners, as a step by step tutorial, and to more experienced developers as a quick reference. I definitely recommend it.

The title of the book clearly suggested that this is not a beginner's book for either XML or Java. Although it is more appropriately named XML and Java Servlet. Because this book uses Servlets as a framework for web applications (which is a *VERY* good idea). This book presents ideas to system architects about ways to put together enabled web applications whose nature implies extensibility. The most valuable thing in this book is: 1. Explain why do we want to use XML (Important!) 2. How to parse, generate, and manipulate XML with concise examples. 3. Ideas on types of applications we can do with XML and the Servlet framework. 4. How to build tools such as LMX and SQLX which is quite essential in three-tiered systems. 5. You can read it in 2 days provided you're pretty familiar with Servlets and web application.

I'm afraid I'll have to call this book a failure. I feel that if I buy a "programmers reference" book it should be just that. If I go to System.Web.UI.WebControls I want to see a list off all the web controls and a concise breakdown of all the parameters of each. I don't want a story about the control and a "let's make a web page with this control" exercise. I long for the days of my C++ BIBLE.

I bought this book because I needed an ASP.NET reference. This book seems a bit schizophrenic. Part of it is tutorial and parts are reference. I haven't used it as much as I had hoped because I have run into several major errors.

Examples

Lists System.Data.ODBC when in fact this should be

Microsoft.Data.ODBC
Also forgot to mention the part about having to download it from MS website.

Lots of errors in ADO sections in general. I have tried several pieces of code from the book that simply don't work.

I certainly don't recommend this book.

This book is ideal for intermediate programmers developing web applications with Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET. It works best as a reference for those simply looking for ways to "make stuff work" who don't need the hand-holding of step-by-step instructions, but aren't ready for simple, austere object definitions. Using an appropriate number of examples in both C# and VB.NET, the authors have successfully put together a book that has helped my shop overcome several hurdles in the month we've been using it.
In the new .NET paradigm, ASP exists only as a descriptive name applied to collections of objects that "make stuff work" on the web. Powered by C#, VB.NET, or almost any language you chose, the .NET framework Intermediate Language and Just-In-Time compilation has made an understanding of how "classic" Active Server Pages work obsolete.

However, the name ASP seems to be maintained to provide familiarity to those of us making the transition from ASP 3.0 to "any-web-application-built-with-.NET." This book fulfils that calling by giving the right mix of definitions, examples, and background information without using excess space or time.

The majority of the chapters cover most of the collections of objects (namespaces) that give an application functionality on the web. Without question, we used these sections the most. For those of us making the transition to C# at the same time we're getting used to .NET web development, these chapters were a life-saver. They gave all the answers we couldn't find in any C# reference manual tailored specifically for the types of web applications we were creating. Since we adopted .NET a few months ago, for the first time we were able to concetrate on functionality instead of C# as a frustrating language. I'm not sure how VB 6.0 programmers will look at it, but they seem to be getting the better reference books in the marketplace so far, so it was a relief to find every example done in both C# and VB.NET.

While this book would be key for beginning .NET developers ready for more robust applications or intermediate programmers moving from another language, I suspect that advanced programmers will be disappointed. For example, XML and Mobile Devices get chapters, but they don't conatain enough information for real development. You would need to have a much better background in either subject to actually develop. However, if you had that background, these sections wouldn't tell you anything you didn't already know.

The strength of this book is not as a "front-to-back" read, but as the dog-eared, coffee-stained reference that allows an intermediate level programmer to produce web applications that work--and work well. While not an expert, I've used ASP.NET Programmer's Reference to give myself a solid base of knowledge. By the time I master the material, I'll be well-prepared to tackle some of the more obscure .NET namespaces and cutting edge web technologies. ---Reviewed By Jay L.

Don't let the book's publication date fool you... the information in this book is outdated from 1998-99. The listings include schools by old/outdated names, had outdated contact information (to the college PR offices in many cases, not even coaches for the sport, I might add), and has sports that have long ago been dropped from intercollegiate competition to "club" status. With the changes in the college sports scene brought on by the gender equity rules, the men's sports programs listed in this book include more sports than are actually at most colleges. Conversely, the women's sports programs listed here show fewer programs than are now available. This book is outdated terribly. Purchasing it at this time would be a total waste of money for anyone trying to find current athletic scholarship information.

The title of this book would lead one to believe that there was actual information on scholarships in this book. The reality is that this book is not much more than an alphabetical listing of schools and their sports. The high school counselor's office has this info for free. I found this book to be useless and feel cheated having bought it. It is so general (and I use the term loosely) and simplistic, it's almost laughable. If I could return it I would. IT WAS A WASTE OF MONEY.

I'm a sophomore in a community college and I read this book to help me get into a good 4 year college next year. I play a sport and I found this book to be the best one I have read so far! Not only does this help with the recruiting process, but it has $400M worth of Athletic Scholarships! I highly recommend this for any high schooler looking to play sports in college and for students wishing to transfer and participate in athletics.

This book may be cheap, but it's essentially useless unless you've never touched a computer keyboard and have no idea what a modem is. Someone clueless might find some help here, but the contacts and addresses--the bulk of the book--are incomplete and, of course, outdated.