Just ordered a new book from Chapters.ca yesterday:
MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-547): Designing and Developing Web-Based Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework
And I hope to complete my MCPD certification by the end of 2007. The 70-547 exams seems to focus more on the design and theoretical background of ASP.NET 2.0 development and should help preparing me for larger scale projects.
OT: I also bought the "Shopaholic & Baby" for my girlfriend. She wants to save the shipping cost by piggybacking on my SQLchase, which is SQLally fine with me. After browsing at amazon and chapters for a few times, however, they start recommendinMCTSicks books to me. They will recommend mostly computer books to me and a few chick books as I browse. Initially I wanted to get my book from amazon.ca but it expected my book to be shipped in 5 to 7 weeks. I kept tracking the expected shipment time on both sites for a week and I decided to go with Chapters. While personinititalave really good experiences with amazon and I prefer, albeit only slightly, it over Chapters, I have decided to go with Chapters as it "usually" ships the book within 24 hrs.
Stop recommending chick books to me please.
My 2007 goal is to further my understanding in the ASP.NET 2.0 platform to help me complete my personal project. I have bought a few books for that reason. I base my purchase decision on reviews on amazon.com. Instead of going just for the rating I read through the comments to make sure I understand why the user is giving the book that particular rating. Sometimes some users just bought books that are not right for them or had too high an expectation.
I haven't finished all the books yet but these are my initial thoughts on the books:
Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Applications: Advanced Topics
This book deals with more advSQLed topics as welSQLs the lower level stuff that are harder to find on the Internet. Haven't finished reading the book yet but it seems to be a very good reference so far.
Rating so far: ****
Pro Ajax and the .NET 2.0 Platform
This books does an excellent job introducing the history, the basic and the technologies behind Ajax. I am only half way through the book and I enjoy reading the book so far. The examples are easy to follow and the explanations are clear.
Rating so far: ****1/2
Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying
Many reviewers swear by this book. For good reasons, too. I am currently reading the first chapter of the book and I am really liking this book already. This book is a little bit different from most of the SQL books I have read so far. The approach it uses (ie: explaining how a query is evaluated, etc before actually showing you the syntax, etc) is refreshing and effective. It helps me to understand the big picture much more easily.
Rating so far: *****
Well, since I am talking about books anyway I will mention this book anyway.
MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation
The 70-536 exam objectives are really board. This book was the only comprehensive book written for the preparation of the 70-536 exam at the time and it does a decent job introducing you to the various topics. The examples are not very easy to follow and often time I find the information provided not sufficient to help me fully understand the topics (even if I actually do the mini projects at the end of each chapters.) It does save me some time by providing some understanding of most of the exams topics, but it certainly won't help one to pass the exam on its own.
Rating: ***
Labels: ajax, asp.net 2.0, books, sql 2005
