Review by Inderjit Singh

This book is aimed at getting you up to speed with Sharepoint from scratch quickly. It begins by outlining the business need for Sharepoint. A nice overall picture to have in understanding the value Sharepoint adds to an organisation.

Typical server farm set up is explained as well as figures on Sharepoint limitations, which will aid you in architecting a solution. Descriptions of how Sharepoint integrates with other services such as Single Sign On and Active directory are provided with setup instructions.
A good portion of the book outlines how to develop web parts, with good descriptions of the web parts functionality, including an explanation of connected web parts. A good start on how to use the Sharepoint object model is covered, outlining how to access some of the key Sharepoint objects like lists and current user information.

The book also lightly touches on using VS (Visual Studio) 2005 and a quick look at the differences from developing web parts in VS2003.

Pros:
Nice and light, not packed with code or an API library, but more explanation and good hands on labs at the end of each chapter. The explanations in each chapter are thorough and will help anyone new to Sharepoint.

Cons:
Not for developers who need to do more advanced development with Sharepoint. Would have liked it to have more on CAML and how to create custom templates rather than the front page modifications which un-ghost pages. Would have been nice to explain any work around to the Sharepoint size limitations or why they exist.

Conclusion
A perfect introductory book to read if you are new to Sharepoint development and administration, but you will need to be familiar with .NET development. A very good first Sharepoint book to have, but not for medium to advanced Sharepoint developers.