Shelley Powers - Author
July 15, 1999
Shelley Powers is the author of the book "Developing ASP
Components" published by O'Reilly Associates. She has also authored/co-authored
numerous other books that include "Java 1.1 Unleashed" and "The power guide
to Dynamic HTML." She talks to Manohar about her latest book, her interests and ASP
in general.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Manohar Kamath: Welcome to Active Server Corner,
and congratulations on your latest "Developing ASP Components" book. This is
probably your first book by yourself, yes?
Shelley Powers: This is my second book where I was sole
author: I also wrote IDG's Power Guide to Dynamic HTML.
In a world of "me too" books, how does it feel
to be the author of the first book on ASP components?
Actually, it's fun, but it's also a bit intimidating to have a
book that's the first of its kind. I now feel personally responsible for ASP component
development as a whole and tend to put in a lot of extra time "adding" to the
book by writing Bonus articles on topics I didn't cover, or only covered lightly. I also
try and include how-to's on developing ASP components in other languages and tools, such
as Perl and Delphi -- anything remotely related to ASP components and that isn't covered
that well anywhere else.
What inspired you to write the book, apart from the point
I heard you got a million dollars in contract? :)
Is that million dollars virtual money...kind of like with the
kind we get with Monopoly? ;-)
I love to write, and write every spare moment I have. When I'm
not working on a book I'm writing articles on all sorts of topics for my Web site, Dynamic
Earth.
I especially like working on computer books, particularly those
covering newer and beta technologies. I'm not just being a writer then, I'm being a bit of
a detective, finding things out very few people, if any, know. Developing ASP Components
fit all my criteria for writing -- it's a technology I'm interested in and have worked
with, its fairly new (especially ASP components), little has been written about the
technology, and most of it was based on products all going through betas. What can I say,
a perfect challenge, and a fun book to work on.
It's also been an incredibly fun book to support.
I have had people asking me to show them to create ASP
components for a long time. I think you are helping a lot of people by this book. Was this
your mindset when you started the book?
When I started working on Developing ASP Components, you could
count on two hands the number of pages of documentation on working with ASP components at
the Microsoft site. There was some material on this topic elsewhere on the Web, but
amazingly little that I could see. This book practically screamed to be written.
Especially since I thought it was a perfect blend of two technologies: ASP and COM-based
objects.
Why O'Reilly?
That million dollars we talked about earlier... No seriously,
O'Reilly doesn't beat a subject to death, their editors are really terrific to work with
-- as well as being very technically knowledgeable -- and the company's books are not
fluff. They don't stress "cute" over "content".
ABOUT ASP
ASP is a young but promising technology? What do you
think is it's greatest strength?
ASP is one of the easiest of the server-side development
techniques that I have worked with. Add to this the power of being able to extend the
technology with ASP components, what's not to like?
Do you foresee designing and developing components
becoming easier with Windows 2000?
Yes, No, Maybe. How's that for an ambiguous answer?
Existing components will continue to work in Windows 2000 for the
most part, but you have better integration between COM, transaction control and the OS
environment (COM+), and you have the thread-neutral apartment threading, which is going to
be interesting to work with. There are also a lot of new technologies you can access with
your COM-based components, such as ADSI. More toys, but more time to learn how to use it
all correctly.
Anything about ASP that you want to change? Could you
give us your ASP wishlist?
Since Microsoft has come out with the thread-neutral apartment
threading model, I'm a happier camper. If I wished for anything, it would probably be a
little more stability in products and object models once Windows 2000 et al is released.
OTHER STUFF
What are your writing plans for the future? Anything ASP
related?
I'm writing the second edition for Developing ASP Components. It
is purely Windows 2000-based, and will cover all sorts of new technologies and product
releases (here we go again). I'm also working on another component-based book for O'Reilly
at the same time.
What is YASD all about? Seems like you are an
environmentalist.
YASD's Dynamic Earth focuses on science, all kinds of science,
including the environment (yes, I am an environmentalist). I love to learn new things, and
happen to believe that most people like to learn new things. So, anytime I see something
interesting that is science or technology related, I write about it and post the article
to Dynamic Earth.
I write on everything from hurricanes to ASP (natch), from giant
squid to adopting homeless pets, and from particle physics to Dynamic HTML. Whatever
strikes my fancy.
I also happen to think the Internet and the Web are perfect for
those wanting to learn new things, so I try to include links to interesting sites within
my pages. The best compliment I have had was when someone told me they visited my site and
ended up losing hours of time because they were exploring my content and visiting the
related sites and didn't know so much time had passed.
Thanks for talking with us. Best wishes for your future
plans!
Thanks for interview! Was fun! |
