Hello! My name is Scott Mitchell and I am a web developer who has been working with Microsoft’s ASP and ASP.NET technologies since 1998 when I founded the popular ASP resource site 4GuysFromRolla.com.
I work as a freelance writer, trainer, and consultant from San Diego, California. If you are in need of my services, please check out my experience, skillsets, and rates. Reach me at mitchell@fuzzylogicinc.net.
This About Me Web page contains information on the following subjects:
Professional Experience
My primary experience lies in Web development with Microsoft technologies. My experience illustrates itself in my writing, speaking, teaching, and consulting accomplishments. You can also view my prior work experience.
Writing Accomplishments
I’ve authored eight books on ASP and ASP.NET, along with a book geared for those interested in creating their first website.
I’ve also authored more than 1,000 articles for 4GuysFromRolla.com, as well as a number of magazine articles and online articles for Microsoft’s ASP.NET Dev Center on MSDN and www.asp.net.
A complete list of my writing accomplishments can be seen below:
| Books / DVDs | |
|---|---|
| Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours (July 2010) My latest installment in the Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 24 Hours series tackles the latest version of ASP.NET, version 4. This book walks the reader through key ASP.NET concepts and shows how to build useful, real-world websites using ASP.NET. Readers learn how to build data-driven websites and get experience using master pages, Ajax, Membership, and site maps. The accompanying CD includes Visual Web Developer 2010, a lightweight, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn web development tool, and all projects developed in the book’s examples are available on the CD and online. | |
| Teach Yourself ASP.NET 3.5 in 24 Hours (June 2008) If you are looking for a fun and fast-paced way to learn ASP.NET, pick up a copy of my latest book, Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 3.5 in 24 Hours. This book walks the reader through ASP.NET fundamentals and shows how to build useful interactive web pages using ASP.NET. By the end of the book, you will be building data-driven, AJAX-enabled web pages! The accompanying CD includes Visual Web Developer 2008 Express, a lightweight, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn web development tool, and all projects developed in the book’s examples are available, too. | |
| Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours (March 2006) If you are familiar with creating HTML web pages but aren’t familiar with creating dynamic, data-driven web applications, you should consider learning ASP.NET. And Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is the perfect learning tool. The Starter Kit provides the unbeatable combination of programmer/author Scott Mitchell and the step-by-step learning method of the best-selling Sams Teach Yourself series. The accompanying CD includes Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, a lightweight, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn web development tool, and all projects developed in the book’s examples. | |
| Create Your Own Website (Using What You Already Know) (1st Edition: October 2004, 2nd Edition: October 2005, 3rd Edition: Sept. 2006, 4th Edition: August 2008) With the ever-increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, more and more individuals are creating their first Web sites. Many more would like to but are either unaware of how to get started or feel that they do not possess the computer expertise required to accomplish such a feat. The purpose of this book is to show readers that creating a Web site is, (a) Easy, and (b) Fun. Building Web sites do not require that you be a computer whiz. Creating Your Own Web Site shows readers how to quickly and easily build a Web site using their personal computer. Specifically, this book examines creating five different types of Web sites: Family Web Sites Hobby Web Sites Community Web Sites Informational Sites eCommerce Sites. In October 2005 the second edition of this popular selling book was released. The second edition includes chapters on creating an eBay Storefront, creating your own blog using Blogger, and sharing and ordering photos online with Snapfish. In September 2006 a third edition was released. The third edition added a chapter on the popular social networking site MySpace.com. In August 2008 a fourth edition was released. The fourth edition added chapters on using Facebook and YouTube. | |
| Beginner’s .NET XML Web Services DVD (August 2004) Web services are a set of standards that define how a computer can expose select data or functionality to client applications via the Internet and are increasingly becoming more commonplace as a means for business partners to share information. The 14 lessons in this 8 hours two-disk DVD set begins with an examination of the core Web service standards, and then quickly moves into showing you how to create and consume Web services in Microsoft’s .NET Framework. There are in-depth lessons for each of the core Web service standards: XML, SOAP, and WSDL. Scattered throughout each of these chapters are extensive demos, depicting how to build, deploy, and access Web services using Microsoft’s Visual Studio .NET. The DVD also contains a thorough examination of a real-world, end-to-end Web service application. This DVD also contains lessons on the Web Service Enhancements, or WSE, including a look at Microsoft’s WSE Toolkit. In particular, the DVD presents an overview of WSE, the WSE Toolkit, and provides demos of sending attachments and providing UsernameToken authentication. | |
| Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 24 Hours (June 2003) Are you interested in learning ASP.NET? Are you relatively new to Web development? If so, my latest book, Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit is the book for you! This book is perfect for the person who needs to learn ASP.NET quickly and effectively in a relatively short amount of time. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been developing Web applications for years, or are just getting started – this book explains ASP.NET in lucid detail for readers of all experience levels. |
Conferences
| In Depth ASP.NET MVC Training (September 2011) Presented two talks over the course of a full day on ASP.NET MVC 3 and Razor. The first talk examined the ins and outs of ASP.NET MVC. The second talk examined more advanced ASP.NET MVC topics. |
| LADOTNET Master Series: ASP.NET MVC3: Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices (August 2011) In conjunction with the Los Angeles .NET Developer’s Group presented a full day, hands-on lab, and training event on best practices for ASP.NET MVC 3 and Razor. Attendees were given a simple, pre-built ASP.NET MVC application. Then, over the course of the day, we looked at ways to improve the application, from using AutoMapper to crafting our own custom ActionResults and ActionFitlers. |
| LADOTNET Master Series: ASP.NET MVC3 (May 2011 and June 2011) In conjunction with the Los Angeles .NET Developer’s Group presented a full day, hands-on lab, and training event on ASP.NET MVC 3 and Razor. Attendees explored MVC fundamentals, stepped through the process of building an ASP.NET MVC application, and learned how to implement common web application scenarios, such as: creating master/detail reports; working with forms, and building Create/Read/Update/Delete screens (CRUD). |
| In Depth ASP.NET Training (September 2010) Presented two talks over the course of a full day. The first talk examined how to get started using ASP.NET MVC. The second talk explored building responsive web applications using Ajax, jQuery, and ASP.NET. |
| SoCal Code Camp – San Diego (June 2010) In this free, two-day conference, I presented two talks. The first examined how to use ASP.NET Routing to decouple the URLs used by a website from the physical ASP.NET pages. The second talk introduced and explored the key aspects of ASP.NET MVC. |
| ASP.NET 2.0 BlackBelt Training (February 2007 / April 2007) I presented a full-day talk that covered a variety of real-world tips, tricks, and techniques for building data-driven ASP.NET 2.0 web applications. Over the course of the day, I built a fully-functional web application that involved creating an application architecture, implementing logging of unhandled errors, using Membership to manage user accounts, using Themes and Skins, and so on. |
| SoCal .NET Technical Summit – ASP.NET Tips & Traps (September 2006) In this one-day conference, I presented a talk on an assortment of tips and traps in ASP.NET 2.0. These tips and traps were divided into four main topics: caching, performance, client-side enhancements/issues, and design-time enhancements/issues. |
| SoCal Code Camp – San Diego (June 2006) In this free, two-day conference, I presented two talks. The first examined the site navigation in ASP.NET 2.0. The second stepped through the entire, end-to-end process of building a blog engine application in ASP.NET 2.0, including creating the data model, building a tiered architecture, and implementing the website front-end. |
| SoCal Code Camp – Fullerton (January 2006) In this free, two-day conference, I presented two talks. The first examined the HTTP pipeline for ASP.NET pages, looking at how to serve custom types of content with HTTP Handlers and how to respond to request-level events using HTTP Modules. The second one examined the RSS standard and the role of syndication. Examined techniques in both ASP.NET 1.x and ASP.NET 2.0 for syndicating and consuming RSS content. Showcased the open-source ASP.NET control. |
| .NET 2.0 University – A Look at ASP.NET 2.0 (September 2005, January 2006) In this one-day conference on .NET 2.0, I presented a talk examining new features of ASP.NET 2.0. The talk showcased the provider model, adaptive rendering, MasterPages, and many of the new ASP.NET 2.0 Web controls, including the Site Navigation, DataSource, Login, and GridView controls. |
| SoCal .NET Technical Summit – Working with HTTP Handlers and Modules (May 2005) Examined the HTTP pipeline for ASP.NET pages, looking at how to serve custom types of content with HTTP Handlers and how to respond to request-level events using HTTP Modules. Dissected two live demos: an HTTP Handler for color-coding code snippets and an HTTP Module for logging unhandled exceptions. |
| ASP.NET Connections (March 2005) I presented three sessions during this four-day conference: Working with Client-Side Script Examined techniques for injecting client-side script from server-side code. Examined a base page class that provided methods for accomplishing common client-side tasks. Looked at upcoming ASP.NET 2.0 features for working with a client-side script. Syndicating and Consuming RSS Content Examined the RSS standard and the role of syndication. Examined techniques in both ASP.NET 1.x and ASP.NET 2.0 for syndicating and consuming RSS content. Showcased the open-source ASP.NET control. Working with HTTP Handlers and Modules Examined the HTTP pipeline for ASP.NET pages, looking at how to serve custom types of content with HTTP Handlers and how to respond to request-level events using HTTP Modules. Dissected two live demos: an HTTP Handler for color-coding code snippets and an HTTP Module for logging unhandled exceptions. |
| Day of .NET Conference – Creating Accessible ASP.NET Web Sites (April 2004) This talk looked at Section 508 and WAI guidelines for creating accessible Web sites. It demonstrated techniques for extending the base ASP.NET Web controls to make them conform to accessibility guidelines mandated by the U.S. Federal government. |
| .NET Developer Conference & Expo – What Makes .NET Different? (March 2002) This talk examined the key differences between .NET and pre-.NET. Specifically, it focused on the fundamental differences between ASP.NET and classic ASP, demonstrating the numerous benefits ASP.NET offers over its predecessor. |
Consulting Projects
| EXYM Corporation (August 2003 – Present) I have been working with EXYM, providing ASP.NET consulting services, since August 2003. This has included building a rich, multi-featured application used by multiple hospitals and clinics for managing patient-related information, from informational collection and retrieval to scheduling activities, to billing. |
| Creative Advantage, Inc. (March 2005 – 2008) I have been working with Creative Advantage, providing ASP.NET consulting services, since March 2005. This work has included building a localized survey application architecture using custom questions and scoring models. Included development of survey taker and administrator reporting features. |
| Custom DataGrid Applications (IngeniousSoft, February 2004 – Present) Provided an advanced, Web-front data entry system using by taking advantage of the features inherent in the ASP.NET DataGrid Web control. Data entry system included batch updates/edits/inserts, bidirectional sorting, filtering, searching, and multiple interdependent inputs. |
| Medical Publication Aggregator (University of California – San Diego Medical Center, July 2004) The UCSD Medical Center needed a way to index publications authored by faculty. This project involved creating an aggregator program that periodically queried a public database of medical publications, aggregating the publication information in a local database. |
| Mass Email Tool (California School District, May 2003) This project involved building a mass email tool that allowed the California School District to selectively send form-letter emails to a user-defined subset of teachers and parents based on a variety of criteria. The end product utilized Advanced Intellect’s aspNet Email component to send email messages. |
| WebForums.NET (July 2001 through March 2002) Starting in July 2001, I began working on an online ASP.NET messageboard site dubbed WebForums.NET. My intent was to market this product, but in January 2002, Microsoft expressed interest in acquiring the source code and rights to the application. In March 2002, Microsoft officially acquired the rights to WebForums.NET and, with some additions and feature enhancements, released the ASP.NET Forums in July 2002. This forum software, which can be downloaded for free, powers a number of Microsoft Web sites – such as The XBox Forums – as well as hundreds of non-Microsoft Web sites. |
Prior Work Experience
For the majority of my professional career, I have worked for myself.
In fact, immediately after completing my undergraduate education, I started my own business as an independent writer, trainer, and consultant.
Prior to graduation, though, I worked at two companies: Empower Trainers & Consultants and Microsoft.
| Software Engineer – Microsoft (Internship: May 1999 through August 1999) In 1999 I worked as a summer intern at Microsoft’s Redmond campus. I worked with the Office Release Group, a team of seven individuals that were responsible for facilitating the Microsoft Office build process. During my time at Microsoft, I created an internal tool from the ground up. This Web-based tool allowed Office developers and testers to subscribe to various events in the Office build cycle. Upon completion of an event, those subscribers would automatically receive an email indicating that the event had transpired. (Upon graduation I was offered a job with Microsoft’s Hotmail group, but turned it down to pursue self-employment.) |
| Consultant – Empower Trainers & Consultants (January 1998 through August 1998) At Empower I worked on a number of consulting projects for small to medium-sized businesses. The two longest projects involved developing an all-purpose intranet application to streamline everyday business processes for Technology Education Network, and building an eCommerce site for Swingster, Inc. I also worked on some internal intranet projects for Empower, including a time-tracking application and report generation tool. |