Hi,
I got this book (C#) on Monday and by Tuesday was approaching clinical depression and questiong my own self worth. Then I found this forum and knew that I was not alone, that the truth was out there.

Put simply I cannot get this off the ground when I follow the book chapter by chapter. My frustrations are summed up perfectly by buzzterrier :

"The coding examples are excellent, but the nuances of namespaces, directory structure, and how they all inter-relate with a VS.Net solution is totally left out."

Even since finding this forum it's taken me all of yesterday and today to :

1: read through all of the releveant forum posts.
2: read through the supplemental documentation people have recommended
3: get the "ThePhile" sample code up and running

But now I have to go back and pour thru the book again, cross reference it with the supplemental documentation and maybe, possibly, someday get a clear understanding of the architecture they are using.

So, my request is simple - can either of you (or anybody else) provide a step by step walkthrough of how to achieve what is laid out in the 1st 5 chapters in terms of the directory structure, projects, child projects, namespaces, etc?

I'm not on the glom for cheap code, I've done my time. Over the last 3 months since delving into .NET I've used and implemented solutions from :

Build Your Own ASP.NET Website Using C# & VB.NET
by Zak Ruvalcaba ISBN: 095792186

Beginning C# Web Applications with Visual Studio .NET (Wrox)
David Cazzulino ISBN: 1861007329

I found them great but they only went so far. What led me to this book was the promise of modular, reusable code and what seems to be an excellent implementation of Forms Authentication using the IPrincipal Interface.

Kind Regards,
Mark

Mark,

It sounds like you made remarkable progress to get those 3 things done in 2 days! You might be underestimating yourself. This project is intended for experienced ASP.NET developers, but even so, it normally takes much longer to do what you've done in 2 days.

Regarding your question about directory structure, this is an area that seems to confuse a lot of people. You need to understand exactly what is in a solution file (.sln), and the project files. Look inside these with Notepad - it will help to clear things up. Also, lots of people don't feel comfortable with both VB.NET and c#, but I think it's very helpful if you install both of these projects and compare them for differences and similarities. The guy who did the VB.NET port did a great job, and he reorganized some of the files and folders so it makes more sense. Check the .doc file he wrote that's included in the VB.NET code download - this is meaty and you might not understand it all at first, but you can study it in pieces and you'll learn a lot. For those of you who prefer c# (as I do), you don't need to focus on the syntax of the VB language in order to understand most of the changes he made in the VB version of the project.

I hope you read my messages about namespaces in this forum because namespaces are a very simple concept. It really nothing more than a way to qualify names to help avoid conflicts.

A step-by-step walkthrough is not easy to do because it takes lots of time to document a lot of detail in this manner. The book would have been about 3 times bigger if they documented it this much. I think lots of people would like to see more comprehensive coverage, but some people don't like big and heavy books. It's always a trade-off to find just the right level of detail.

Here's a big secret - I don't remember if I've mentioned this before in this forum, but the reason why this book is so good is because they don't give you 100% of everything you need. They give you some essential bits and pieces, and you are encouraged to put those pieces together. The process of putting it all together is frustrating at times, but it really is the best way to learn. Once you make it through this book, assuming you've been working on the project as you go through the book, it will give you a great deal of hands-on experience that you won't get in simpler books. The real goal is to build your problem-solving skills, and not just your "book knowledge".

Eric

Englere,
Thanks for taking the time. Seems to me you have built up enough good karma from this forum alone for 10 afterlives!

I will certainly check out the documentation on the VB port and thanks for the tips on inspecting .sln files.

I appreciate fully what you say about taking a DIY approach to the missing bits and pieces of this book. However, I still feel it’s a bit ironic that the book on the one hand dedicates itself to good OO practice and the construction of reusable Modular code all of which save time but on the other hand will eat up your time trying to decipher how it’s done!

Anyway – when I said I was looking for a “Step by Step” I should have been clear that I meant this only in relation to :

1. Setting up the Directory Structure (Through windows or IIS)
2. Setting up the projects in VS

Or a combination of both if needed. It’s easier to get the contents of the directory structure correct by inspecting the download code. But getting the actual structure/framework of the application right - that’s the big issue.

Thanks again.
Mark

I think you've found that the book really isn't a step-by-step guide on how to create a medium-complexity web site.

People need to inspect the download code in order to understand the project, because the book doesn't have all of the code. The book only has examples of specific code routines, and it was not intended to have all of the code.

In a way I like the fact that they don't take us by the hand. People can work through things the best they can, and when they have problems they can ask specific questions in this forum.

Eric