This book progresses logically from the conceptual (control execution lifecycle) to the practical (how HTTP handlers can simplify our lives). On the way, it actually builds on what you have learned before. For example, I have read a book on server controls (not naming names) that showed in one chapter how to use ViewState to persist properties, then abandoned it in subsequent chapters! So I was left thinking "huh, do I need to use this ViewState thing for simple properties, or not?". Not so in this book. They teach one thing, then continue to implement it in subsequent chapters, so that if you really feel comfortable with certain topics, you can jump into this book at any point and get something useful out of it. Amazing. A very good read, and achieves all this without talking "down" to you.