The book explains how to design and implement .NET 2.0 applications. It addresses platform, hosting, and database requirements, as well as architectural design techniques that can be used to create applications.

Architects, designers, and developers who are new to enterprise development and who want to get a broad view of .NET 2.0 will appreciate this book. In addition, students will benefit from it, because it gives a good overview of this technology. The book is intended to show techniques available through Microsoft’s technologies. As the authors mention, their intention and motivation is to provide a big picture view of the world of developing .NET 2.0 applications. The book gives an overview of the most important parts of an enterprise application and shows best practices that the authors have learned over the years by designing such applications. This book intends, as the authors promise, “to bridge the boundaries so that the readers can build better applications for their customers or companies.”

In chapter 1, the authors introduce the different possibilities for an enterprise application design. They give an overview of enterprise application integration (EAI) and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Moreover, they describe the methods for conceptual modeling using unified modeling language (UML) and object role modeling (ORM). Chapter 2 presents the software possibilities using the Microsoft platform, and it points out where Microsoft’s servers are best suited. Chapter 3 describes cluster techniques. Chapter 4 focuses on the Windows server operating system and shows how network load balancing and the Microsoft cluster service can be used. In chapter 5, the authors present the enterprise application architecture. Web services are discussed in chapter 6. In chapter 7, the authors again take a closer look at SOA and discuss how it can differ from component-based applications. This chapter compares the two models, the traditional and the new SOA, to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each. Chapter 8 presents Internet information services (IIS) and how ASP.NET can be used. In addition, the authors show how to tune and secure IIS. Chapter 9 briefly describes data storage using SQL server, including its architecture, performance, and security features. Finally, chapter 10 concludes with a sample application that gives readers an idea of how to implement an enterprise application, combined with many really useful tips and tricks.

In this book, the authors present different ways of using .NET 2.0 and also give an overview of different software techniques. Moreover, they offer a good mix of software design principles, intended for both beginners and experienced developers who want to get an overview of enterprise development based on Microsoft’s platform. Although the title of the book already points out that the book focuses on .NET 2.0, it would have been great if the authors compared the concepts more with related technologies (such as Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)). The book shows different elements to take into account when designing an enterprise application in .NET 2.0, and the authors describe some topics with a surprisingly high level of detail. The presentation of each chapter is systematic and the examples are well designed.

To summarize, the book provides a good overview of all aspects of enterprise .NET 2.0 application architecture design and development. As the authors promise, it helps architects, designers, and developers write enterprise applications that are reusable, scalable, and customizable. Therefore, I highly recommend it to all experts who want to dive deeper into the world of .NET 2.0.