front matter
preface
This is the 49th book I have written. I wrote my first book in 1996, and I would not have believed anyone who told me that I would still be writing over a quarter of a century later, or that books would become such an important part of my life.
I have a bookshelf on which I keep every book I have written. It is an act of pure self-indulgence, but I am proud of these books and what they represent. They span 2.5 meters on a single shelf (or 8 feet if you prefer) and they mark the chapters of my life: the book I wrote the year I married my beloved wife; the book I was writing when my father died; the book I finished while we moved house; the book I wrote after I retired. Each book reminds me of people and places going back 27 years.
Of all the books I have written, Pro ASP.NET Core is my favourite. This is the 10th edition, but I almost didn’t write it at all. I had already written a book about ASP.NET Web Forms and found it to be a frustrating process, so I wasn’t keen to write about the MVC framework and Microsoft’s attempt to modernize their web development products. My wife persuaded me to accept the publisher’s offer and I have never looked back. ASP.NET has evolved into ASP.NET Core, and each edition of this book has been a little bigger and a little more detailed.