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Book Review: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide / Syngress Media Inc Messages   Related Types This message was discovered on ASPFriends.com 'aspngmob' list. Anil John Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book. Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in this book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about this book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions: - The book title. What specific technology does it focus on? - Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point? - Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book. Book: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide by Steve Milroy, Ken Cox, DotThatCom.com, Doug Safford, Laura Barker, Amit Kalani, Wei Meng Lee Publisher: Syngress Media Inc Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered. The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls. All code samples are in VB.Net Grade: Pass Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them. Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related. Grade: Fail Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls. Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant. I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities. Grade: Fail Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc. A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices. Grade: Pass Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point. But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing! Grade: Fail Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications. I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies. Grade: Fail Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product. At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT! Grade: Fail Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code. It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices. Grade: Pass That was about it. Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind. Anil -------------------------------------------------------------- - Anil John [Click here to reveal e-mail address] - http://www.Kylas.com - Connect with .net - Anytime. Anywhere. -------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about .net Mobile Development? Answers @ http://www.aspfriends.com/aspfriends/aspngmob.asp -------------------------------------------------------------- Reply to this message...        Srinivasa Sivakumar Anil: Did you ever review the Wrox MMIT book "ASP.NET Mobile Controls: Tutorial Guide: Adaptive Web Content for Mobile Devices with the MMIT" (ISBN: 1861005229)? Thanks, Srinivasa Sivakumar ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anil John" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> To: "aspngmob" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 9:52 PM Subject: [aspngmob] Book Review: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide / Syngress Media Inc Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book. Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in this book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about this book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions: - The book title. What specific technology does it focus on? - Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point? - Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book. Book: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide by Steve Milroy, Ken Cox, DotThatCom.com, Doug Safford, Laura Barker, Amit Kalani, Wei Meng Lee Publisher: Syngress Media Inc Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered. The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls. All code samples are in VB.Net Grade: Pass Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them. Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related. Grade: Fail Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls. Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant. I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities. Grade: Fail Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc. A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices. Grade: Pass Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point. But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing! Grade: Fail Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications. I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies. Grade: Fail Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product. At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT! Grade: Fail Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code. It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices. Grade: Pass That was about it. Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind. Anil -------------------------------------------------------------- - Anil John [Click here to reveal e-mail address] - http://www.Kylas.com - Connect with .net - Anytime. Anywhere. -------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about .net Mobile Development? Answers @ http://www.aspfriends.com/aspfriends/aspngmob.asp -------------------------------------------------------------- | [aspngmob] member Click here to reveal e-mail address = YOUR ID | http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspngmob.asp = JOIN/QUIT | http://www.asplists.com/search = SEARCH Archives Reply to this message...        Anil John Srinivasa, Not yet. I had a minor glitch with my Amazon order :( That one and the MS Press book are next on the list. Looking forward to reading your book :) Anil ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: "Srinivasa Sivakumar" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> Reply-To: "aspngmob" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:26:04 -0600 Anil: Did you ever review the Wrox MMIT book "ASP.NET Mobile Controls: Tutorial Guide: Adaptive Web Content for Mobile Devices with the MMIT" (ISBN: 1861005229)? Thanks, Srinivasa Sivakumar ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anil John" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> To: "aspngmob" <Click here to reveal e-mail address> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 9:52 PM Subject: [aspngmob] Book Review: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide / Syngress Media Inc Reviewing books is a very subjective process. The review is colored by personal reaction as your level of expertise runs up against who the authors and the editors expected as the prospective audience for the book. Given that my level of knowledge differs from another person who may be interested in this book, I will try to provide as much info as I can so that an interested party can make their own judgment about this book. To that end, I will assign a pass/fail grade to each chapter. The pass/fail grade will be assigned based on the following context and assumptions: - The book title. What specific technology does it focus on? - Are the examples and explanations clear and to the point? - Evaluation of the topics in the context of the title and intended audience of the book. Book: .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide by Steve Milroy, Ken Cox, DotThatCom.com, Doug Safford, Laura Barker, Amit Kalani, Wei Meng Lee Publisher: Syngress Media Inc Chapter 1: Introduction to the wireless web and the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit This was a rather long chapter (58 pages). It starts out with a general introduction to the various mobile devices and the their limitations regarding connectivity, screen size, memory and processing power. Along the way some rather interesting information on items such as Connectivity options and a basic introduction on how WML is delivered to Microbrowsers are covered. This was well written and I rather liked the background that was covered. The next section of the chapter gets into the actual Mobile controls themselves with sample code snippets. The controls cover the gamut from the general input controls to list and validation controls. All code samples are in VB.Net Grade: Pass Chapter 2: Introduction to the Microsoft .Net Framework A fundamental assumption that I made when reviewing a book that is focused on Mobile .NET is that the reader already knows what the .NET framework is and also that the MMIT is an extension of ASP.NET. In short, I am assuming that the reader is already familiar with both of these ideas/technologies and does not need it repeated to them. Well, this chapter does just that. It covers everything from getting and installing the framework to explaining what a web service is. I personally found this chapter redundant. Getting an introduction to the what the framework is was NOT something I was looking for in this book. In addition, there was no attempt to slant the explanation to anything remotely mobile related. Grade: Fail Chapter 3: Learning ASP.Net Covered the ASP.NET architecture and the web controls. Items covered ranged from the usage of a DataGrid(!) to Validator controls. Again, I found this chapter redundant. I am NOT looking for an intro to ASP.Net in a book that is supposed to talk about .net mobile capabilities. Grade: Fail Chapter 4: Using Mobile Device Emulators A very detailed chapter that talked about the various mobile emulators that are out there, where to get them, installation and configuration instructions etc. A very valuable chapter for any mobile developer that is targeting multiple devices. Grade: Pass Chapter 5: Developing mobile applications using the MMIT This chapter was a disappointment for me. Given the chapter title, I really was expecting to get into the guts of the mobile controls at this point. But only superficial examples are given. A majority of the information in this chapter seems to be a rehash of the MMIT documentation on MSDN. One of the more powerful controls that is present in the MMIT is the objectList. Beyond a written description of what it is, NO further information is provided. Very disappointing! Grade: Fail Chapter 6: Data Access with ADO.NET One of the beauties of the MMIT, is that you can use all of the same data access technology that you use with Web forms and windows forms. Given that, I again found this chapter redundant in the context of Mobile applications. I do NOT need an explanation of the ADO.NET object model, not to mention info on how to update/delete using ADO.Net. It did not teach me anything new that was relevant to my reason for getting the book in the first place, namely learning about Mobile .net technologies. Grade: Fail Chapter 7: End-to-End Microsoft Mobile Solutions This chapter went into great detail about how to install and configure the Microsoft Mobile Information Server and how to configure Exchange 2000 to work with this product. At the end of reading this chapter, I was ... confused. I had no idea why this chapter was in a book that was titled .NET Mobile Web Developer's Guide. Yes, the Mobile Information Server is a Microsoft technology that does allow you to deploy a mobile solution that allows you to read your exchange inbox from a phone and various other capabilities. BUT, it has nothing to do with MMIT! Grade: Fail Chapter 8: Creating a Mobile Movie Ticket Purchasing Application I liked this chapter!. It gave extensive documentation on System/Process flow, Database schema, components that were built to abstract data access as well as a UI storyboard for the application. Then it got into the code. It is a rather straight forward application, but the supporting design documentation made it very useful from a developers perspective especially as there was discussion of the code and design tradeoffs. In addition, it also provided extensive screenshots of how the app would look in a variety of devices. Grade: Pass That was about it. Based on my personal criteria, 3 out of 8 chapters passed. As mentioned above, your needs in what you are looking for in a book might vary, but hopefully I have provided enough info for you to make up your own mind. Anil -------------------------------------------------------------- - Anil John [Click here to reveal e-mail address] - http://www.Kylas.com - Connect with .net - Anytime. Anywhere. -------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about .net Mobile Development? Answers @ http://www.aspfriends.com/aspfriends/aspngmob.asp -------------------------------------------------------------- | [aspngmob] member Click here to reveal e-mail address = YOUR ID | http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspngmob.asp = JOIN/QUIT | http://www.asplists.com/search = SEARCH Archives | [aspngmob] member Click here to reveal e-mail address = YOUR ID | http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspngmob.asp = JOIN/QUIT | http://www.asplists.com/search = SEARCH Archives -- --------------------------------------------------------- - Anil John [Click here to reveal e-mail address] - http://www.Kylas.com - Connect with .net - Anytime. Anywhere. --------------------------------------------------------- -- Reply to this message...     System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid System.Windows.Forms.DataGrid Ad MBR BootFX Best-of-breed application framework for .NET projects, developed by Matthew Baxter-Reynolds and MBR IT

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