I've had the pleasure of being able to review ASP.NET MVC in Action
in it's early access form. If you've not heard of this program,
Manning has a program called MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) which
allows you to purchase the book before it's published and gain access
to it in PDF form as the author makes the chapters available. In this
case, I've been reading parts of the book nearly a year before it will
be physically published in Sept 2009. I highly recommend checking that
out, as I've participated a number of times. In fact, I purchased C# in Depth, 2nd edition
over the weekend in MEAP. I have access to the 1st edition via PDF,
access to the 2nd edition in PDF, and will receive a hard copy when the
2nd edition is published. An excellent way to receive books in my
opinion. Anyway, on to my review of ASP.NET MVC in Action.
Being a book on a new technology, it's a given that the author took
the time to discuss the details of the framework. Every major
difference between ASP.NET and ASP.NET MVC is covered in detail. The
author presents the fundamentals of the framework in a very easy to
understand format. If you've never heard of the MVC pattern, you'll
find comfort in this book. In fact, the pattern is even discussed
outside of the Microsoft .NET implementation. These are common
expectations with a book on new technology, and the author was able to
deliver on all of them.
What makes this book standout to me, is the CodeCampServer
project mentioned throughout this book. The author created this open
source project, using ASP.NET MVC and a host of best practices. I had
actually been following the project before I knew the book was being
written. Being able to read about the technology, then quickly
download the source for the CodeCampServer project to see it in a
real-world application, is a real treat. It's rare to find a book that
extends beyond the text, that provides a real application you can use
to understand the points outside of the text. How do I structure my
ASP.NET MVC project in the real-world, outside of a book sample? How
does TDD apply to ASP.NET MVC? How does Dependency Injection fit in
the ASP.NET MVC framework? These are real questions that you'll ask
yourself, that most books wouldn't touch. With this book and the
CodeCampServer project, you'll find answers to those questions.
I'm very happy with this book. I would definitely recommend it to
anyone interested in ASP.NET MVC. Getting the "beyond the text" that
comes with the CodeCampServer is just icing on the cake, truly.