creating Web applications on the .NET framework

What is ASP .NET?

ASP 3.0 is the latest version of ASP, but there will never be an ASP 4.0 version. ASP .NET is the next generation ASP, but it's not an upgraded version of ASP. ASP .NET is an entirely new paradigm for server-side ASP scripting. ASP .NET is a part of the new .NET (dotnet) Framework. Microsoft spent three years rewriting ASP .NET from the ground up, and ASP .NET is not fully backward compatible with ASP 3.0. You can read more about the differences between ASP and ASP .NET in the next chapter of this tutorial.

NET Framework

The .NET Framework is the infrastructure for the new Microsoft .NET Platform. The .NET Framework is a common environment for building, deploying, and running Web applications and Web Services. The .NET Framework contains a common language runtime and common class libraries - like ADO .NET, ASP .NET and Windows Forms - to provide advanced standard services that can be integrated into a variety of computer systems.
The .NET Framework provides a feature-rich application environment, simplified development and easy integration between a number of different development languages. The .NET Framework is language neutral. Currently it supports C++, C#, Visual Basic, and JScript (The Microsoft version of JavaScript). Microsoft's Visual Studio.NET is a common development environment for the new .NET Framework.

New in ASP .NET
 Better language support
 Programmable controls
 Event-driven programming
 XML-based components
 User authentication, with accounts and roles
 Higher scalability
 Increased performance - Compiled code
 Easier configuration and deployment
 Not fully ASP compatible

Language Support
ASP .NET uses the new ADO .NET.
ASP .NET supports full Visual Basic, not VBScript.
ASP .NET supports C# (C sharp) and C++.
ASP .NET supports JScript as before

ASP .NET Controls

ASP .NET contains a large set of HTML controls. Almost all HTML elements on a page can be defined as ASP .NET control objects that can be controlled by scripts. ASP .NET also contains a new set of object oriented input controls, like programmable list boxes and validation controls. A new data grid control supports sorting, data paging, and everything you expect from a dataset control.

Event Aware Controls

All ASP .NET objects on a Web page can expose events that can be processed by ASP .NET code. Load, Click and Change events handled by code makes coding much simpler and much better organized.

ASP .NET Components

ASP .NET components are heavily based on XML. Like the new AD Rotator, that uses XML to store advertisement information and configuration. User Authentication ASP .NET supports forms-based user authentication, including cookie management and automatic redirecting of unauthorized logins. (You can still do your custom login page and custom user checking).

User Accounts and Roles

ASP .NET allows for user accounts and roles, to give each user (with a given role) access to different server code and executables.

High Scalability

Much has been done with ASP .NET to provide greater scalability. Server to server communication has been greatly enhanced, making it possible to scale an application over several servers. One example of this is the ability to run XML parsers, XSL transformations and even resource hungry session objects on other servers.

Compiled Code

The first request for an ASP .NET page on the server will compile the ASP .NET code and keep a cached copy in memory. The result of this is greatly increased performa

Easy Configuration

Configuration of ASP .NET is done with plain text files.

Configuration files can be uploaded or changed while the application is running. No need to restart

the server. No more metabase or registry puzzle.

Easy Deployment

No more server restart to deploy or replace compiled code. ASP .NET simply redirects all new

requests to the new code.

Compatibility

ASP .NET is not fully compatible with earlier versions of ASP, so most of the old ASP code will need

some changes to run under ASP .NET.

To overcome this problem, ASP .NET uses a new file extension ".aspx". This will make ASP .NET

applications able to run side by side with standard ASP applications on the same server.
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