The Mainframe Programmer's Guide to .NET is designed to be a guide covering the entire .NET platform. In order to cover as wide of a scope as this book does, low-level reference type detail is conservatively included. Richardson's book carefully covers every aspect .NET. Starting with a complete list of .NET Retraining Prerequisites and a full chapter answering the question "What is .NET", the author skillfully takes the reader through the .NET Framework, Database Access, Windows, Web, and Web Services topics. Additional topics range from Printing with Crystal Reports, using XML, and HTML to advanced .NET topics like .NET Configuration and Security for Web Services. The Mainframe Programmer's Guide to .NET is certainly a complete guide for the Mainframe programmer. Each chapter provides valuable references for continued learning. Having been given a context, the informed reader is then encouraged to take advantage of the references for continued in-depth training.

Table of Contents:
One The Mainframe Paradigm Shift.- 1 Your Future with COBOL.- 2 What Is .NET?.- 3 .NET Retraining Prerequisites, Part 1.- 4 .NET Retraining Prerequisites, Part 2.- Two .NET Programming Essentials.- 5 Inside the .NET Integrated Development Environment.- 6 The Nuts and Bolts of .NET Programming.- 7 The .NET Framework.- 8 The .NET Common Language Runtime.- 9 Creating and Using Objects.- Three Reading, Writing, and Describing Data.- 10 A New Perspective Toward Data.- 11 Database Programming with .NET.- 12 XML in a Managed Environment.- Four Interfacing and Interacting with the User.- 13 Windows Forms, Web Forms, and No Forms.- 14 Adding Value to Your Interface.- 15 Managing Cache and State for ASP .NET.- 16 Reporting and Information Delivery.- 17 Deploying Your .NET Application.- Five Advanced .NET Technologies.- 18 Configuration for .NET Applications.- 19 Using Enterprise Services (COM+).- 20 Developing for the Enterprise.- Six Appendixes.- Appendix A Debugging and Testing.- Debugging.- Testing.- Summary.- To Learn More.- Appendix B A Sharp Primer: C# and J#.- Introducing Visual C# .NET.- Introducing Visual J# .NET.- Summary.- To Learn More.- Appendix C Religion, Landmines, and Distractions.- Distractions: Been There, Done That.- Summary.- To Learn More.- Appendix D Fujitsu’s NetCOBOL for .NET.- Product Features.- Product Documentation.- Summary.- To Learn More.