Foreword

I never realized how satisfying it would be to read the final version of Darren’s book. Let me start with a little background to explain why that is.

The Web Parts team began working on the ASP.NET project almost four years ago. The vision was to provide a set of controls that allow end users to assemble a Web User Interface using the browser. The user would put the content he wanted in a web page by adding and removing “Web Parts.” He would have the ability to adjust the web UI using drag and drop.

You might think that once the Web Parts technology was released with ASP.NET 2.0, the job was done. However, our job won’t really be done until the Web Parts model is widely used and deployed. Thanks to our customers and to authors like Darren, we are moving ever closer to that goal. ASP.NET 2.0 Web Parts in Action is a fundamental tool for any ASP.NET developer who wants to leverage Web Parts to its fullest potential.

As we developed the Web Parts technology, an outstanding team of engineers routinely engaged in passionate discussions on how to build the features. One area to which we devoted a lot of time was making sure that Web Parts was extensible and would fit every need. ASP.NET Web Parts in Action brings out those points of extensibility, allowing you to exploit Web Parts in the best possible ways.