Active Server Pages.NET

Active Server Pages.NET

ASP.NET is a programming framework built on the common language runtime that can be used on a server to build powerful Web applications. ASP.NET offers several important advantages over previous Web development models:

Enhanced Performance. ASP.NET is compiled common language runtime code running on the server. Unlike its interpreted predecessors, ASP.NET can take advantage of early binding, just-in-time compilation, native optimization, and caching services right out of the box. This amounts to dramatically better performance before you ever write a line of code. World-Class Tool Support. The ASP.NET framework is complemented by a rich toolbox and designer in the Visual Studio integrated development environment. WYSIWYG editing, drag-and-drop server controls, and automatic deployment are just a few of the features this powerful tool provides. Power and Flexibility. Because ASP.NET is based on the common language runtime, the power and flexibility of that entire platform is available to Web application developers. The .NET Framework class library, Messaging, and Data Access solutions are all seamlessly accessible from the Web. ASP.NET is also language-independent, so you can choose the language that best applies to your application or partition your application across many languages. Further, common language runtime interoperability guarantees that your existing investment in COM-based development is preserved when migrating to ASP.NET. Simplicity. ASP.NET makes it easy to perform common tasks, from simple form submission and client authentication to deployment and site configuration. For example, the ASP.NET page framework allows you to build user interfaces that cleanly separate application logic from presentation code and to handle events in a simple, Visual Basic – like forms processing model. Additionally, the common language runtime simplifies development, with managed code services such as automatic reference counting and garbage collection. Manageability. ASP.NET employs a text-based, hierarchical configuration system, which simplifies applying settings to your server environment and Web applications. Because configuration information is stored as plain text, new settings may be applied without the aid of local administration tools. This “zero local administration” philosophy extends to deploying ASP.NET Framework applications as well. An ASP.NET Framework application is deployed to a server simply by copying the necessary files to the server. No server restart is required, even to deploy or replace running compiled code. Scalability and Availability. ASP.NET has been designed with scalability in mind, with features specifically tailored to improve performance in clustered and multiprocessor environments. Further, processes are closely monitored and managed by the ASP.NET runtime, so that if one misbehaves (leaks, deadlocks), a new process can be created in its place, which helps keep your application constantly available to handle requests. Customizability and Extensibility. ASP.NET delivers a well-factored architecture that allows developers to “plug-in” their code at the appropriate level. In fact, it is possible to extend or replace any subcomponent of the ASP.NET runtime with your own custom-written component. Implementing custom authentication or state services has never been easier. Security. With built in Windows authentication and per-application configuration, you can be assured that your applications are secure.

Language Support

 The Microsoft .NET Platform currently offers built-in support for three languages: C#, Visual Basic, and JScript.

 What is ASP.NET Web Forms?

The ASP.NET Web Forms page framework is a scalable common language runtime programming model that can be used on the server to dynamically generate Web pages.

Intended as a logical evolution of ASP (ASP.NET provides syntax compatibility with existing pages), the ASP.NET Web Forms framework has been specifically designed to address a number of key deficiencies in the previous model. In particular, it provides:

The ability to create and use reusable UI controls that can encapsulate common functionality and thus reduce the amount of code that a page developer has to write. The ability for developers to cleanly structure their page logic in an orderly fashion (not “spaghetti code”). The ability for development tools to provide strong WYSIWYG design support for pages (existing ASP code is opaque to tools).

ASP.NET Web Forms pages are text files with an .aspx file name extension. They can be deployed throughout an IIS virtual root directory tree. When a browser client requests .aspx resources, the ASP.NET runtime parses and compiles the target file into a .NET Framework class. This class can then be used to dynamically process incoming requests. (Note that the .aspx file is compiled only the first time it is accessed; the compiled type instance is then reused across multiple requests).

An ASP.NET page can be created simply by taking an existing HTML file and changing its file name extension to .aspx (no modification of code is required). For example, the following sample demonstrates a simple HTML page that collects a user’s name and category preference and then performs a form postback to the originating page when a button is clicked:

ASP.NET provides syntax compatibility with existing ASP pages. This includes support for <% %> code render blocks that can be intermixed with HTML content within an .aspx file. These code blocks execute in a top-down manner at page render time.

 Code-Behind Web Forms

ASP.NET supports two methods of authoring dynamic pages. The first is the method shown in the preceding samples, where the page code is physically declared within the originating .aspx file. An alternative approach–known as the code-behind method–enables the page code to be more cleanly separated from the HTML content into an entirely separate file.

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