Media Release:

Mike Murach & Associates has just published a new book entitled Murach’s JavaScript and jQuery. It’s written for developers who want to know how to use jQuery to create web pages that deliver the dynamic interfaces and content that today’s users expect.

Because the code in the jQuery library is really JavaScript, this book starts off in Section 1 with “the least you need to know about JavaScript to get the most out of jQuery.” Without these JavaScript essentials, it’s very difficult to take a jQuery routine that you find in a book or on the web and adjust it for your specific situation. Yet many jQuery books minimize or even ignore this material. In contrast, this book gives you the JavaScript foundation you need to use jQuery well.

With that background, Section 2 quickly teaches you what you can do with jQuery and how to do it. Here, you’ll learn to enhance web pages with features like image swaps, collapsible panels, slide shows, carousels, and much more. And throughout this section, the jQuery selectors, methods, and event methods that you’ll use are presented in easy-to-reference summaries. That means you can quickly find the components you need when you’re creating or enhancing jQuery routines on your own. Again, you aren’t stuck just blindly copying someone else’s code.

After Section 2, you can go on to any of the other 3 sections in the book:

The jQuery UI section covers features for enhancing a user interface with widgets, interactions, and transitions.

The section on Ajax shows how to use Ajax with JSON to handle data and to add content from popular sites like Blogger, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Google Maps.

The jQuery Mobile section shows how to create web sites for mobile devices with the look-and-feel of native applications.

The book is done in Murach’s signature “paired-pages” format, where each topic is presented in a 2-page spread. The righthand page is a reference summary that gives syntax, screen shots, and bulleted guidelines, which the lefthand page provides the tutorial and additional perspective. This makes it easier to find needed information with less reading. And that saves time for both training and reference.

Murach’s JavaScript and jQuery is available directly from the publisher at www.murach.com and from all major retail stores.

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Here is a few useful ASP.NET links from around the web:

ASP.NET

• Friendly URLs in ASP.NET 4.5 Web Forms: A post by Ravi on using the Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls Nuget package to implement cleaner URLs.
• SignalR And Knockout In ASP.NET Web Pages Using WebMatrix: A post by Mike Brind on creating applications that can display updates to data held on the server in real-time using the powerful SignalR library.

ASP.NET Web API

• Asychronously streaming video with ASP.NET Web API: A post by Philip W. on using the new .NET HTTP programming model to stream videos.
• Making ASP.NET Web API Help Page work on self-hosted services: A post by Yao illustrating how to reuse code to support the generation of Help Page on self-host.

Media Release:

Mike Murach and Associates has just published a 2012 edition of their bestselling SQL book, now entitled Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers. It teaches how to create SQL queries and take advantage of powerful DBMS features (like views, stored procedures, functions, triggers, and cursors) the way the best professionals do.

This book has several features that have made it favorite of developers since its first edition back in 2002:

#1: It’s written for professional application developers

Most developers squeak by with minimal SQL skills, not realizing all the time and work they’d save by mastering SQL. Part of the reason for that is that many SQL books are written either for hobbyists or for database administrators (DBAs), so developers pass them by. But this book focuses on showing application developers the SQL that they need to harness the power of the database.

#2: It starts off with how to query a database, not how to design one

Many SQL books start off with database design and performance. But if you’re an application developer, the first thing you need to know is how to write queries. So that’s the focus of the first 9 chapters of this book. It starts with simple queries, then moves on to complex inner and outer joins, summary queries, and subqueries that do more of the database processing so that your applications can do less.

#3: It lets developers expand into database design as they want to

After the thorough course in querying, this book shows how to design and create a database. This material is helpful for developers who have to develop small systems on their own. And it provides a solid introduction to DBA skills for those interested in that career path.

#4: It teaches the advanced features that top developers need

To complete the developer’s expertise in SQL, this book covers powerful DBMS features like views, scripts, stored procedures, functions, triggers, cursors, transactions, locking, and security. It teaches SQL features for handling XML and BLOB values. And it shows how to use CLR integration to create database objects in applications using C# or VB code.

#5: Coding examples provide models for a wide range of SQL jobs

One key to mastering SQL is to have plenty of coding examples that show how the features work and what problems may occur as they’re used everyday applications. And these examples become more crucial as the code becomes more complex. So this book is loaded with practical examples that handle everyday SQL tasks and that can be used as coding models too. This example code can be downloaded for free from www.murach.com.

Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers is available directly from the publisher at www.murach.com and from all major retail outlets.

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Visual Studio 11 Beta, Team Foundation Server 11 Beta and .NET Framework are now available for download.

Check out Jason Zander’s blog post on the release announcement.

For a run-through of what’s new on the ASP.NET front, check out Scott Hanselman’s blog post.

It’s been an exciting first few months of 2011 and we’ve already seen several technology and tools releases from Microsoft.

Here is a collection of links related to these releases:

• ASP.NET MVC 3
• NuGet
• IIS Express 7.5
• SQL Server Compact Edition 4
• Web Deploy and Web Farm Framework 2.0
• Orchard 1.0
• WebMatrix 1.0
• Visual Studio 2010 SP1

ASP.NET MVC 2 is now available for VS 2008/Visual Web Developer 2008 Express with ASP.NET 3.5.

Check out the following document to discover what’s new in ASP.NET MVC 2.

http://www.asp.net/learn/whitepapers/what-is-new-in-aspnet-mvc/

You can download ASP.NET MVC 2 using Microsoft Web Platform Installer or from the Download Center.

• Download ASP.NET MVC 2 using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer
• Download ASP.NET MVC 2 from the Download Center

Note that the final release of VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 will have ASP.NET MVC 2 built-in; there’s no need for an additional install.

VS 2010 and .NET 4 release candidate is now available. You can download the RC from here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/dd582936.aspx

Initial feedback from the Twitter community seems to suggest that the RC is substantially faster.

Give it a go now!

Media Release

Mike Murach & Associates has just published a new book entitled Murach’s JavaScript and DOM Scripting.

This book is written for developers who want to know how to use JavaScript and DOM scripting to create websites that deliver the fast response times, dynamic user interfaces, and special effects that today’s users expect. Here are some highlights:

#1: Two books in one, it covers both JavaScript and DOM scripting
Most books cover either JavaScript or DOM scripting. But to create user-responsive sites, you need to know both.

So the first half of this book is a course in JavaScript essentials. Then, the second half is a course in applied JavaScript, showing how to use DOM scripting to build applications that run slide shows, use drop-down menus, rotate headlines, sort tables, and provide animation.

As a result, web developers can gain basic to expert skills using a single book.

#2: It provides a fast start
Section 1 is a crash course in JavaScript. In fact, by the end of chapter 3, developers will know how to code, test, and debug applications that include elementary DOM scripting. Then, the rest of the book builds on those skills to cover all the JavaScript and DOM scripting essentials.

#3: It shows how to create and use event-handling libraries for browser compatibility
One of the headaches of web programming is ensuring that the JavaScript code will work with all the popular browsers.

So this book shows web developers how to create their own event-handling libraries of browser-compatible code. That training also enables them to appreciate...and profit from...the extensive libraries of tested code that are included in the downloadable applications for the book.

#4: It shows 20 complete applications that can be used as models for new apps
The key to mastering client-side web development is to have plenty of applications that show how the features interact and what problems might occur in building a website. So this book shows complete code for 20 professional applications, ranging from forms validation to revolving slide shows.

These can be downloaded for free from the Murach website, so developers can experiment with them on their own.

#5: The paired-pages format lets developers set their own pace
Murach books have a distinctive format. Each two-page spread presents a single topic: the lefthand page explains the topic, while the righthand page shows the critical details, using syntax, code, screen shots, and how-to notes. Both beginning and experienced developers find that this format makes it easy to focus on the information they need, whether they’re using the book for training or reference.

Murach’s JavaScript and DOM Scripting is available directly from the publisher at www.murach.com and from all major retail outlets.

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Media Release

Mike Murach & Associates has just published a new, C# edition of their popular ADO.NET book.

Entitled Murach’s ADO.NET 3.5, LINQ, and the Entity Framework with C# 2008, it covers what today’s C# developer needs to know to create database applications the way the best professionals do. Here are some highlights:

#1: For rapid application development and prototyping...
This book shows how to use the ADO.NET tools, like data sources and the DataGridView control, that enable developers to create working database applications in a minimum of time, with a minimum of coding.

#2: For serious production applications...
This book shows how to go beyond the RAD tools, using heavy-duty ADO.NET coding and object data sources to build 3-layer applications that consist of presentation, business, and database classes.

#3: For incorporating LINQ into Windows and web applications...
This book has a 6-chapter section that’s a short course in LINQ, the .NET 3.5 feature that provides a consistent way to query different types of data. This section covers LINQ to Objects, LINQ to DataSet, LINQ to SQL, LINQ data source controls for web applications, and LINQ to XML.

#4: For database programming with the Entity Framework...
This book gets developers going with the Entity Framework, the .NET 3.5 feature that may change the way you do database programming. EF provides a flexible model for mapping the business objects in an application to database objects, and it generates a lot of the code that has to be written from scratch otherwise. A 4-chapter section shows how to create an Entity Data Model and work with it using LINQ to Entities, Entity SQL, and Entity data source controls for web applications.

#5: For training and reference: The “paired-pages” format...
This book uses Murach's standard format to present the content in 2-page spreads, pairing a page of explanation with an illustrative page of syntax, screen shots, coding examples, and bulleted guidelines. Developers report that this lets them read less to get information faster, whether they use the book for training or reference.

Murach’s ADO.NET 3.5, LINQ, and the Entity Framework with C# 2008 is available directly from the publisher at www.murach.com and from all major retail outlets

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Media Release

Mike Murach & Associates has just published a new edition of their popular ADO.NET book.

Now entitled Murach’s ADO.NET 3.5, LINQ, and the Entity Framework with VB 2008, it covers what today’s Visual Basic developer needs to know to create database applications the way the best professionals do. Here are some highlights:

#1: For rapid application development and prototyping...
This book shows how to use the ADO.NET tools, like data sources and the DataGridView control, that enable developers to create working database applications in a minimum of time, with a minimum of coding.

#2: For serious production applications...
This book shows how to go beyond the RAD tools, using heavy-duty ADO.NET coding and object data sources to build 3-layer applications that consist of presentation, business, and database classes.

#3: For incorporating LINQ into Windows and web applications...
This book has a 6-chapter section that’s a short course in LINQ, the .NET 3.5 feature that provides a consistent way to query different types of data. This section covers LINQ to Objects, LINQ to DataSet, LINQ to SQL, LINQ data source controls for web applications, and LINQ to XML.

#4: For database programming with the Entity Framework...
This book gets developers going with the Entity Framework, the .NET 3.5 feature that may change the way you do database programming. EF provides a flexible model for mapping the business objects in an application to database objects, and it generates a lot of the code that has to be written from scratch otherwise. A 4-chapter section shows how to create an Entity Data Model and work with it using LINQ to Entities, Entity SQL, and Entity data source controls for web applications.

#5: For training and reference: The “paired-pages” format...
This book uses Murach's standard format to present the content in 2-page spreads, pairing a page of explanation with an illustrative page of syntax, screen shots, coding examples, and bulleted guidelines. Developers report that this lets them read less to get information faster, whether they use the book for training or reference.

Murach’s ADO.NET 3.5, LINQ, and the Entity Framework with VB 2008 is available directly from the publisher at www.murach.com and from all major retail outlets.

###

Buy the book