ISBN:1590596471Book Description
This book introduces a fast-track path to understanding Atlas, and how this technology can increase the power and functionality of your code while conserving time and effort. The book begins with a bare-bones introduction that explains how Atlas relates to Ajax.
Microsoft Atlas is a web-client framework that makes building Ajax-style applications easier. It provides a prewritten framework that gives you a structured environment in which to work. Atlas also provides you with an object model and standardized debugging to make development faster and simpler.
Ajax is a new way of combining a number of Web technologies including JavaScript, dynamic HTML, and a feature known as XmlHttp (which reduces the need for client browsers to constantly reconnect to the server every time new information is downloaded). But at the moment, people developing with Ajax have to write their code from the ground up, which is complex and time consuming.
The book guides you through a series of practical examples that demonstrate the Atlas framework and available controls. After reading this book, you'll be able to compile a seamless Atlas-based application of your own!
In anticipation of changes during development of the Atlas technology, the updated source code is posted for download on the author's blog, www.philotic.com/blog.
This book demystifies the Atlas technology and shows you how to work with it.
The first book dedicated to this revolutionary new technology.
Written by an experienced .NET author in collaboration with the Atlas development team.
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Reviews From AMAZON.COM
Great for Beginners
I found this book very easy to understand. If you are disappointed at the book "Programming Atlas" from O'Reilly, you may want to give this book a try.
This book is a much more interesting book to read.
Good Atlas Reference
This book contains a good balance of information regarding the three main ways to program Atlas: JavaScript, AtlasScript, and server controls. Most Atlas-related articles and books tend to focus on one or two of those methods, because that's what the author is comfortable with, but Foundations of Atlas nicely covers all three.
All examples demonstrate whatever they're trying to do using all three methods, so you can compare the methods, and indirectly start to determine which method works best for you.
There is no time wasted on "related technologies". This book is solidly about Atlas alone, which is wonderful. For that reason (among others) I feel like I got my money's worth.
I personally enjoyed the descriptions of all the various behaviors on each object type. I have not seen that subject covered in such a way anywhere else.
I think there are some errors, as pointed out in some of the reviews here, and there is also some outdated information, but I would frankly expect such things from the first book published about a product that is not even in beta yet. In no way are the errors or outdated information distracting.
Besides, I am not one to download book code samples and use them in my own programs. I read through code examples in a book as if I'm reading normal descriptive text, and then I apply the techniques, not the exact code. Does anyone really use generic code found in a book in their own programs?
I found the code examples to be very good, in that I totally understand how to create Atlas programs after reading the book, and that's the most important measure for me.
For one thing, I have never really understood AtlasScript before reading this book, but after reading it I understand completely.
There really isn't much to choose from if you want to buy an Atlas book. There are several books that mention Atlas in one chapter, but very few that are written just about Atlas -- maybe just this one and "Programming Atlas" (O'Reilly), which I did not like at all.
Someone looking to buy a book on Atlas technologies should definitely buy this book, regardless of a few errors. You will learn a lot about Atlas.