A review on the book "Windows Azure and ASP.NET MVC Migration"

A few days ago I started and finished reading the book "Windows Azure and ASP.NET MVC Migration" and decided to write a review on it.

The book has been published by Wrox publication on July 2, 2013 and contains 224 pages, organized in 8 chapters. As the name implies, it’s about migrating ASP.NET MVC projects to the Windows Azure. The author is Benjamin Perkins who is a Microsoft employee, and has also contributed to a few other books which you can find them here.

In chapter 1, author talks about the difference between ASP.NET WebForms and ASP.NET MVC, and how to migrate. In continuation of chapter 1, we can learn how to create an ASP.NET MVC project and do some basic thing there in chapter 2.

In chapter 3 & 4 author talks about different performance techniques in ASP.NET MVC and introduces several external tools to check the performance.

Honestly until now, there was nothing too much about windows azure, and if you are an experienced ASP.NET MVC developer, you can quickly go through the text and review the materials and pass the chapters. But chapter 5 is where the fun gets started.

Chapter 5 is all about an introduction to windows azure and explaining general terms and rules and how to access to windows azure and so on.

Chapter 6 talks about comparing different execution modules in windows azure such as Website, Cloud Service, Virtual Machines and, etc. And also talks about how we could choose the best one which meets our specific requirements. Deploying a website to windows azure and connecting different source-controls is also discussed. There is a lot of other useful stuff in this chapter.

Now you deployed your web application to windows azure, this is the time to maintain it. Different type of administration tools and techniques for managing and monitoring websites are demonstrated in chapter 7.

Chapter 8 explains how to use remote desktop connection for Cloud Services and configuring diagnostics and other supporting stuff for web applications on windows azure.

Conclusion:

If you search through the internet about windows azure, you’ll find a lot of formal explanation regarding terms on windows azure such as IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, etc. These formal and general information are good enough for IT Professionals and Managers but not for Developers! Developers need more detailed and clear explanations.

In my opinion, there are several highlights in this book that makes it valuable to read:

1. Even though windows azure is changing and evolving in a fast pace but fortunately the information of this book is quite up to date.
2. Author is pretty knowledgeable in this area and has been able explain complex topics in a fluent manner and clearly. So reading this book is a lot of joy for interested developers.
3. There are lots of useful tips and points in this book which make it quite valuable.

 
In the end, I have to mention take it into account that, the book is only 244 pages and certainly is not a comprehensive reference for windows azure API!

If you are looking for a good and brief introduction to windows azure for .NET Developers, this book is for you.