Microsoft's .NET is a collection of new technologies that are revolutionizing Windows-based software development. A major theme of .NET is the idea of Web services, allowing software to communicate directly with other software using Internet technologies. The .NET Framework and Visual Studio.NET, two more core aspects of this initiative, provide a multi-language environment in which developers can create Web services and other kinds of applications. .NET My Services, yet another aspect of .NET, offers a new kind of platform for creating a new class of applications. Taken as a whole, the .NET technologies will change the way nearly every Windows application is built.

Understanding .NET: A Tutorial and Analysis offers developers and technical managers a concise guide to the new landscape of Windows development. Margin notes, detailed diagrams, and lucid writing make this book easy to navigate and to read, while analysis sections explore controversial issues and address common concerns. The book's independent perspective and straightforward descriptions make clear both how the .NET technologies work and how they can be used.

Key topics include:
* An overview of .NET and its goals
* Web services technologies, including the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and more
* The .NET Framework's Common Language Runtime (CLR)
* C# and Visual Basic.NET
* The .NET Framework class library
* ADO.NET
* ASP.NET
* .NET My Services

The key to using a new technology is understanding it. Understanding .NET will help you make the right decisions and make the most of this reframework.