This Wrox book by my DotNetNuke fellow colleague Mitchel Sellers is out and I got my copy yesterday. This 300-page book has 18 chapters and 5 appendixes that walk you through the process of creating a module.
I was glad to see that Professional DotNetNuke Module Programming is not just about writing code with DNN. Mitchel’s approach includes the preparation steps like setting up your development environment, understanding the terms used in the DotNetNuke world and several implementation details.
WSP or WAP? There are summaries of both and a comparison that will help programmers decide which model to use.
Updated Starter Kit details. The last time some info had been documented was when Shaun Walker created a blog post when it was originally released. Mitchell missed a small detail about the Dynamic templates. They can be used without any issues in any Visual Studio version, not just Visual Web Developer.
Database configuration. There are different approach to configuring the DB for DotNetNuke and Mitchel shows one of them. Perhaps next edition will see more alternative ones included. Until then, I hope Shawn Mehaffie documents the ones he’s been testing for several years now. But programmers can see from the information that it is one of the most simple steps.
I like Mitchel’s take on looking at the basic components of a module. They are grouped in a single chapter instead of being introduced in a scattered way around the book.
Localization is a first-class citizen in this book, not a side-thought. This shows the importance of one of DNN’s most important features.
Module Navigation and Communication coverage was too short for me. I believe that more should be written about this, because it is one of the areas that module developers invariably find themselves at odds after surmounting the initial learning slope. In DNN, the modular development model does not mean completely isolated pieces. To the contrary. The components of web applications that programmers will write sooner or later are going to need to interact - sometimes heavily –, with each other. Sadly, there’s not enough information anywhere else either.
AJAX and jQuery are briefly touched but it should be enough when put together with the wealth of information available about these two web 2.0 mainstays.
The recommended Best Practices of Chapter 18 will be useful for both beginners and experienced asp.net programmers that are new to DNN.
Based on DotNetNuke 4.9.0, this book is the best complement to the Module Developers Guide from the DotNetNuke website which is based on an earlier DNN 4 version. I know he was under pressure to complete this book and I think that Mitchel’s experience in teaching and writing makes this a great learning tool. The original author was behind schedule and was unable to finish it so it was handed to Mitchel who used a different Table of Contents and module example to write the book within a short time span.
The framework has progressed so much that no one single book will have every bit of information about it and that’s exactly what makes this an important addition to your DotNetNuke library.