Hello, I want to learn ASP.net but I don't know where to begin, so I thought I would check on Wrox books. Is this book a good choice to begin learning? I am a little confused since there is a 2.0 which most people talk about, but there is also a 3.0. Also, is it necessary to have Visual Studio to learn ASP.net? I currently have Microsoft Expression Web which supposedly supports this programming mode. Thanks for all help in advance. :D

You've got a couple of options here. Yes, Microsoft Expression Web supports ASP.NET, although it only has limited tools for helping you create it. The book Beginning Expression Web:
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTit...470073152.html
has several chapters (look at around chapter 10 and later in the table of contents) covering working with ASP.NET in Expression Web.

Your other option is to get the FREE Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express Edition which will pretty much let you learn ASP.NET 2.0 using almost all of the same tools you'd get in Visual Studio. To learn ASP.NET 2.0 that way, you want a book like:
Beginning ASP.NET 2.0 with C#:
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTit...470042583.html

To answer the question about 2.0 sv 3.0:
ASP.NET 2.0 is currently the most recent released version. The "3.0" you are referring to is the much older "ASP 3.0" that came prior to .NET. Many people also refer to it as "classic ASP." While it's still good for some people already using it, it's about 8 years old now and you wouldn't want to start learning on such an old version.

Hope this helps.

Jim Minatel
Senior Acquisitions Editor
Wiley Technology Publishing
WROX Press
Blog: http://wroxblog.typepad.com/
Jim's Book of the week: No book this week - Donate to the Red Cross!

OK, thanks for your help Jim; you really have cleared up most of all this tangled up mess for me. I know HTML, CSS, and some Javascript. The problem is that I have forgotten a lot of my javascript because of focusing on school and other things. I was thinking about reading another javascript book to refresh my mind after I'm finished with my current CSS Mastering book, and then I will dive into learning ASP.net 2.0. Do you think my current skills are enough to start learning or should I read about something else before? Thanks!

Your current skill set should be more than enough to start learning asp.net 2.0 with either book I suggested. Good luck and please stop by the forums whenever you get stuck.

Jim Minatel
Senior Acquisitions Editor
Wiley Technology Publishing
WROX Press
Blog: http://wroxblog.typepad.com/
Jim's Book of the week: No book this week - Donate to the Red Cross!