I purchased another (better) book, "SE Using ASP.NET", This book was excellent, but had a huge section on "the old way". Learning the differences between ASP and ASP.NET is neither relevent to a new student nor is it necessary for a veteran ASP developer.

I started over with "ASP.NET for Web Designers". For me, this book was very straight forward. A little on the beginner side, but then again, ASP.NET is (relatively) new. Who isn't a beginner?

This book instills confidence in myself and my students, that one CAN actually create a useful Web page (or site) with ASP.NET. The author lays an EXCELLENT ground work for Object Oriented Programming (What is an object?, etc.). So well and so simple, in-fact, that one of my students who has struggled for years with the concept, now "gets it" completely!

By far the best of the three books I've read so far on ASP.NET, but be aware: You will NOT learn all about the CLR. You will NOT learn all about the .NET Framework. What you WILL learn is a SOLID foundation upon which to build and gain confidence in your .NET skills by following examples that actually WORK!

Obviously a pre-requisite for learning any server-side technology is a solid understanding of XHTML (or HTML, at least).

I highly recommend this book to anyone new to server-side technology of ANY kind, or just new to the new .NET way of doing things vs. ASP.

PS. Peter Ladka has a wild sense of humor. Aside from being really useful, the book is a trip to read as well.