ASP.NET, a Web development platform in the Microsoft .NET Framework, is explained in this book for experienced developers who have programmed in ASP or Visual Basic before. Because .NET is a new framework, the book begins with VB .NET and C# syntax, the basics of object-oriented programming, and the philosophy of the .NET framework. The rest of the book covers developing ASP.NET applications, working with data, Web services, and advanced ASP.NET. A final section, about 110 pages, offers reference material on HTML server controls, Web controls, and configuration files. MacDonald is an MCSD developer and author of several books on .NET programming. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Matthew MacDonald is a science and technology writer with well over a dozen books to his name. He's particularly known for his books about building websites, which include a do-it-from-scratch tutorial (Creating a Website: The Missing Manual), a look at cutting-edge HTML5 (HTML5: The Missing Manual), and a WordPress primer (WordPress: The Missing Manual). He's also written a series of books about programming on and off the Web with .NET, teaches programming at Ryerson University, and is a three-time Microsoft MVP.
This was a good reference circa 2002-2006. I now consider it an outdated software programming book and have donated my copy to Better World Books.
ASP.NET has evolved greatly since the 2002 Release 1, with version 5 part of the Microsoft .Net Core merged into the .NET Core product (.NET Core 2.0 released 8/14/2017)