As a an ASP developer and an IT Professional, I wanted to get up to speed on ASP .NET 2.0, so I picked up a copy of this book. I would not recommend it to others, as it is not very well written. Also, the examples are very GUI-oriented without deviating too much from Wizards and such. If you're more interested in being able to write ASP .NET 2.0 code by hand, and fully understanding how it all works this book is not very helpful. I also picked up a copy of Professional Asp.Net 2.0 (also from WROX) which, although more advanced, is easier to read and understand. This book (beginning ASP .NET) is only useful if you want a quick tour of what ASP .NET 2.0 Can do, and not even a full tour at that.
Programming with the C++ Standard Library can certainly be difficult, but Nicolai Josuttis's The C++ Standard Library provides one ...