This book is targeted to several developers:

• Those starting out completely new with ASP.NET

  The text includes enough back story to explain the Web development saga even if you've developed only desktop applications.

• Those migrating from either ASP.NET 1.x or even classic ASP

  The text explains how ASP.NET 2.0 is different from ASP.NET 1.x. The text also includes references explaining differences between ASP.NET and classic ASP.

• Those wanting to consume ASP.NET how-to knowledge in digestible pieces

  Most chapters stand independently. You don't have to read the chapters in any particular order to find the book valuable. Each chapter stands more or less on its own (with the exception of the first chapter detailing the fundamentals of Web applications—you may want to read it first if you've never ventured beyond desktop application development). You may find it useful to study the chapters about server-side controls together (Chapters 3, 4, and 5), but it's not completely necessary to do so.