Information about the book:
Book Title: ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design
Book's Page: http://www.packtpub.com/application-architecture-and-design-for-asp-.net-3.5/book
Book Cover
Chapters: 9
Publisher: PACKT Publishing
Author: Vivek Thakur
Introduction:
Microsoft ASP.NET has quickly evolved to become one of the most famous platforms for developing web-based solutions. Since its first release with .Net 1.0, Microsoft has continuously added many out-of-the-box features and components, making web development easier for the end developer. As ASP.NET is part of the whole .Net Framework, it is gaining benefits of all features and technologies provided by the .Net Framework itself. With the introduction of LINQ, MS AJAX, WCF, WPF, and a lot of exciting new tools, the .NET framework has not only grown large but also flexible, in terms of the choices and options being offered to the developers.
About ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design Book:
ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design book is a small one (239) pages divided into 9 chapters. It is not a "pure" architecture and design guide. Rather, the goal is to show you how to design a web site in ASP.NET the correct way, focus on different design options, analyze and study what architectural options we have, and decide when to use which
architectural solution.
Although this book primarily aimed at beginner and intermediate developers, it is a good resource for experienced programmers as well. This book is not a theoretical guide on architecture and design patterns, or any other technology.
ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design at glance:
The book contains 9 chapters as the following:
Chapter 1 Introduction to Architecture and Design. This chapter focus on Understanding architecture and design from a practical point of view as well as architectural styles. It talks about what design patterns are, what are different stages for a project lifecycle and what is the difference between tiers and layers.
Chapter 2 1-Tier 1-Layer Architecture in ASP.NET. Start diving into ASP.NET code, this chapter shows through the use of examples the default N-Tier nature of web applications, why applications based on classic inline ASP are tightly coupled and What 1-tier 1-layer architecture is? It show how to use code-behind classes in ASP.NET as another layer in the UI tier and how Data Source Controls fit into the application architecture of ASP.NET web applications. However this chapter is not a guide on how to use Data Source controls. This chapter also shows how the 1-tier, 1-layer style is tightly-coupled and is not flexible or scalable.
Chapter 3 ER Diagrams, Domain Model, and N-Layer Architecture. After learning and seeing the basic layering of the monolithic 1-tier 1-layer architectural style in action in chapter 2 and understanding that this 1-tier 1-layer architecture is the default style in ASP.NET and Visual Studio 2005/2008. This chapter talks about how to overcome the limitation of this style by further break the application code into n-layers. This chapter will teach you the 2 layer style, understanding ER diagrams, what domain model is and what are UML relationships and basics of UML. It will go through 3 layer style and discuss the drawbacks or limitations of this model. It will also talks about object data source control and where it will fit in your application design.
Chapter 4 N-Tier Architecture. Talks about n-tier architecture in ASP.NET, why it is needed and how to implement it. It also explains Data Transfer Objects and how to use them with 4-tier and 5-tier web solutions.
Chapter 5 Model View Controller. The brand new feature in ASP.NET, the ASP.NET MVC. You will learn and understand what MVC design is, and how the ASP.NET MVC framework will help you quickly implement MVC design in your web applications. Through this chapter, you'll understand the basic ASP.NET web forms Page Controller Pattern and why MVC pattern is needed.
Chapter 6 Design Patterns. As you go through the previous chapters, you'll learn about different types of design patters. In this chapter you will learn how and when to use the most common design patterns in ASP.NET such as Factory, Dependency Injection, Singleton, and others with examples.
Chapter 7 SOA and WCF. This chapter discuss what is SOA (Service oriented architecture) and why it is need, explaining the advantages of SOA for a beginner. You'll learn about SOA and web services. And then you'll learn what WCF and how to implement SOA using WCF.
Chapter 8 Database Design. You'll learn how much a well designed database is important. You'll learn about logical & physical models, what is data integrity and how to make your database designed normalized.
Chapter 9 Localization. One of the important subjects about building web application is how to localize your application. This chapter discuss what is localization and globalizations, and what are the best practices to follow while implementing globalization. Bow to build localizable ASP.NET 3.5 web application using features of ASP.NET.
Personal Opinion:
The book is a great resource for beginners and intermediate ASP.NET developers. Personally I met many web developers (ASP.NET) who know nothing about basic web application architecture & design and design patterns. I wished that there is a single crash start resource where they can learn the solid basic about this subject. I can say I finally found this resource, it is the ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design book. Very well organized and take your through the basics step by step till you fully understand the difference between each style and where each style might fit.
May rate for this book is 4 out of 5.
Conclusion:
My recommendation for beginners ASP.NET web developers is to read this book, especially if they have no practical experience. This book is not ASP.NET How to! It is about the basics of how to architect and design ASP.NET 3.5 web based application, and what are the options available for that as well as the options provided by .Net Framework and VS.NET out of the box to ease this job.