Why does the world need yet another web framework?
This is the question that is most likely on your mind-or perhaps it’s what you were thinking when you
saw this book sitting on the shelf. We each asked ourselves this many times over the last few years.
Indeed there are many frameworks out there today flavored with every buzzword the industry can think
of. In short: it’s easy to be skeptical. Yet as we, the authors, delve deeper into the latest and greatest web
framework, we’re each starting to realize just how far the industry has come in the last 10 years.
Rob began programming for the web with Classic ASP in 1997 and was giddy with excitement.
When .NET came out he remembers running around his office, stopping everyone from working
and explaining that the world just tilted on its axis.
We all feel the same way about ASP.NET MVC 2. Not because it’s “something different,” but
because it offers developers the ultimate chance to “do it their way.” You don’t like the way the
platform renders the View? Change it! Just about every part of the ASP.NET MVC 2 Framework is
“swappable” — if the shoes pinch, get different shoes. Don’t like ties? Why not a bow-tie? You’re
totally in control.
ASP.NET MVC 2 is a web framework that comes with a bunch of conventions to make your life
easier when you follow them, but if you don’t want them, the Framework is quick to step out of your
way so you can get your work done in the way you like it done.

Professional ASP.NET MVC 2
This book is going to go into the “out of the box” experience you’ll have with ASP.NET MVC 2,
but more importantly we’ll learn practical ways that you can extend ASP.NET MVC 2 with your
own magic — then hopefully share that magic with others.
Because of this extensibility and attention to “doing it your way,” we’re happy to embrace Yet
Another Web Framework and hope you are willing to come along with us for the ride.