All alone in a sea of information...
The response to Part 1 here was better than I could have possibly expected. I was given a very simple answer to what I thought was a complex problem based on what every ASP.NET help site out there told me. What my ASP.NET book told me was a page and a half of code to do, a helpful reader (mick_k) showed me was really just one line. I'm a huge fan of collaboration and seeking out knowledge and advice from a community... it makes everyone's life so much easier when they hit a roadblock.
After the little piece of advice from mick_k, I was able to get a large chunk of my current task done. Now however I'm facing a new problem in my transition from PHP to ASP.NET but this time it has nothing to do with the languages or technology. In fact this is purely an information problem. Namely, where do I go for help?
With PHP, the official site is an amazing resource for how to get functions and commands to work right. Each and every bit of the language has an online manual entry that gives the syntax, the programmer manual definition plus a few REAL examples of how it could be implemented. Then on every entry there is space for user comments where people share their own solutions and implementations. The official reference is a bounty of information that is much more practical than academic. Then there's the flood of online PHP help and resource sites out there. PHPBuilder.com is one of my all-time favorites for its forums and great code library.
The same does not hold true for the ASP.NET, C# or VB.NET MSDN sites. It's all a programmer reference that shows the syntax in cryptic programmer-ese that scares away the casual coder or complete newcomer. Even the official forums and "community" site GotDotNet.com are of limited use. the ASP.NET forums are moderated, you can't even post a question or respond to a question without someone reviewing it and approving it. Makes it take forever for simple questions to be addressed. Their community site supposedly has tons of sample code, but the interface is so cumbersome and the descriptions so vague, that you really have to work hard to find anything related to what you need.
In terms of books for the two. I have the PHP Bible for PHP4 and ASP.NET Unleashed 2nd Edition for ASP.NET. Both have been highly recommended by their respective communities as the best books for anyone learning the language and looking for a good reference book. I can honestly say that ASP.NET Unleashed 2nd Edition does not do the job as well as the PHP Bible does. For one, it assumes you know the chosen underlying programming language (this is a failing of ASP.NET IMO) and doesn't really explain how to work between normal pages and ASP.NET. ASP.NET is great and all, but there are many times you'll likely have to move around with static pages too. The language and writing style of PHP Bible is also infinitely more readable.
Why is it that PHP, a free language and server implementation that has but a small company (Zend) backing it has so many better resources of information that ASP.NET, a language that is supported by Microsoft and ties in to their biggest development initiative in recent memory (.NET) is harder to find good information on? Is it the added layer of complexity when working with ASP.NET that prevents this? In order to do what I'm doing right now I also needed a book on C# to program the logic behind the scenes. C# sites are even harder to come by.
Online resources are incredibly important for developers both new and old. They should be easy to find, and comprehensive in the information they present. To those of you who have worked on either side (PHP or ASP.NET) What are your favorite resource sites and books? What was the greatest help to you when you were first learning?
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