Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: A great introductory read!
Comment: This book was a great introduction to the ASP.NET Ajax Extensions and Control Toolkit! Extremely well written. I especially appreciated the practical, real-world samples that were given throughout the book that actually worked.
If you are after further exploration and like to know how things work underneath the hood a bit more, I recommend Dino Esposito's book as a companion.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WOW. Amazing Clarity. Detailed Explanation. Easily Comprehendable. Comprehensive.
Comment: I have been reading this book for a while. While at Border's or B&N, I used to grab other ASP.NET AJAX books and used to read them too. But, no other bookes close to this books CLARITY and Detailed and Simple explanation. It starts from the absolute basics and chapter by chapter it brings the developers skill set at par with the pro's. Most ASP.NET developer's client-side scripting needs some work. This book understands it and addresses them in a very simple and elegant verbals.
I had been debating for a while which book to buy. After a lot of work, I decided to go for this book. And I am happy I made the right decision.
It also has the sneak peek of the CTP Futures too.
5+ Stars. Definite YES.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Average Book, Embarrassing Framework
Comment: Take this book and the ASP.NET AJAX Framework with two grains of salt, if you're serious about AJAX then learn JavaScript and look into the alternative AJAX Libraries like: jQuery, Scriptaculous, Dojo, Mootools, and YUI.
This book lacks objectivity and often suffers from hype. The authors came across as lacking proficient experience with the JavaScript language, or exposure to other AJAX Frameworks / Libraries, or sufficient experience using the ASP.NET AJAX Framework in real world situations.
Comments like: "we recommend that...", "because it makes no sense...", "you must understand X,Y,Z to run complex client-side code without writing a single line of JavaScript" were discouraging, and always left me hanging. Good books answer more than the "hows" - comments like "you must rely on a special..." are a cry for more research.
The book skims over the bigger picture of why the ASP.NET AJAX framework is implemented, or where its going. Instead it presented many examples of "how-to" implement the various ASP.NET AJAX constructs and patterns. It would have been nice to see some real world examples of why the ASP.NET AJAX client-side typing system is useful, or why the AJAX Framework's extended JavaScript objects are useful and how these contrast to what JavaScript already provides, or what happens behind the scenes when a class is registered through client-side code, or why the AJAX Framework prefers declarative syntax (XML) over imperative syntax, and to have some real in-depth discussions on performance implications.
In addition to these disappointments, the ASP.NET AJAX Framework itself has serious technical flaws, it's too heavy weighted (bloated) for practical use - aside from demos you won't see this framework used in the real world. It's a short lived framework, many of the other AJAX Libraries already offer superior performance and better user experience I was disappointed with the server-centric approach the ASP.NET AJAX Framework and this book take, and was disappointed to have JavaScript continually swept under the carpet as magic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Comment: Very well written. Great examples. In depth as well as plain spoken author. Much to learn and easy to learn. Recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book!
Comment: I haven't even finished reading the book, I am only on chapter 5 and will give this book 5 stars. Before starting this books I only knew how to use the ASP.NET AJAX controls and thought I knew something about AJAX. Come to find I knew very little. This book does an outstanding job cover the client centric development of AJAX rather than concentrating stricly on server centric AJAX development. I say if you are thinking about buying another AJAX book consider this one at the top of your list.
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