If you are a beginner or hobbyist programmer with very little experience using the ASP.NET Web Pages Framework and Microsoft WebMatrix, Introducing Microsoft WebMatrix is a gentle, tutorial-based introduction to using the Microsoft WebMatrix to perform common tasks when building simple websites.
The book starts by giving you an overview of the WebMatrix Stack - ASP.NET Web Pages Framework, SQL Server Compact, IIS Express, and the WebMatrix IDE. It then takes you through a tour of the WebMatrix IDE and briefly discusses basic server-side programming using Razor and ASP.NET Web Pages.
Most of the book is a tutorial-based cookbook on using the Microsoft Web Helpers to tackle common problems when developing websites with each chapter dedicated to a specific helper. The book walks you through using the WebImage Helper, Video Helper, LinkShare Helper, WebMail Helper, Facebook Helpers, PayPal Helpers, etc. Once you get a feel for the various Microsoft Web Helpers it introduces you to creating your own helpers.
Nestled between the chapters on the Microsoft Web Helpers are chapters showing you how to do database programming against SQL Server Compact. It discusses common tasks of querying the database and issuing CRUD commands to insert, update, and delete data in the database.
Overall, the book does a good job of introducing WebMatrix and using the Microsoft Web Helpers to develop functionality in simple websites. If you are very much a beginner or hobbyist developer looking to create very simple websites using Microsoft WebMatrix and the ASP.NET Web Pages Framework, this book is focused on you.
Before I would spend the money on this book, however, I recommend you first glance at the tutorials on the ASP.NET Website at: http://www.asp.net/web-pages. These free tutorials cover a lot, if not all, of the material mentioned in the book.
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I was provided access by O'Reilly Publishing to an electronic copy of Introducing Microsoft WebMatrix for review purposes.