What is it?
ASP.net is Microsoft’s technology for creating web
applications.
The technology has evolved massively since the .net suffix was
added. Instead of HTML coding, you can write ASP.net applications
in most .net compatible languages, although Visual C# and Visual
Basic 2005 are the most often used. ASP.net pages are compiled,
overcoming the unimpressive performance limitation of “classic”
ASP.
There is much more off-the-peg functionality for the routine
parts of applications, and a large and growing community providing
code, either commercial or freely shared.
Where did it originate?
ASP 1.0 was distributed with IIS 3.0 in 1996. ASP.net replaced
version 3.0 of “classic” ASP in 2002, and ASP.net 2.0 was released
in November last year.
You no longer need to have IIS on the server while you are
developing with ASP.net.
What’s it for?
An ASP application is essentially a set of pages containing
controls. Most code processing is done on the server rather than
the user’s machine, and the HTML produced will work with any
browser. The ASP.net runtime takes care of state management,
reducing the need to write code as in classic ASP.
Master pages are used to create a common look and feel: changes
to the master page are automatically reflected in all pages. Other
ASP.net innovations include control-specific “skins” and “themes”,
which are collections of stylesheets and other files.
What makes it special?
With the emphasis on ease of development, some older skills are
on their way out of everyday use. A new set of data source controls
in ASP.net means developers no longer need an in-depth knowledge of
ADO.net. The controls include AccessDataSource and SqlDataSource.
Others for XML, object data, Excel and Exchange are available or
promised.
The need for coding has been further reduced with the inclusion
of ASP.net membership services, which provide the basis for
managing users, access and personalisation. Improved security
against the more common forms of attack from hackers is now built
in. Mobile support is built into all controls in ASP.net 2.0, so
there is no further use for the Microsoft Mobile Internet
Toolkit.ASP.net represented a huge increase in performance, ease of
use and choice of supported technology over classic ASP. ASP.net
2.0 comes with more built-in functionality to save coding.
How difficult is it to master?
Many of Microsoft’s tools support development with ASP.net.
Pages can be created with a text editor such as Notepad, Visual Web
Developer 2005 Express Edition (which can be downloaded free), or
Visual Studio 2005.
There are a number of ASP.net starter kits, and Microsoft also
offers Quickstart tutorials and video guides. Many community sites
also offer code, tutorials and support.
What systems does it run on?ASP.net runs only on recent
Microsoft servers, although there are plenty of ports to other
platforms, including the Apache Web Server. ASP.net pages work in
all browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari as well as
Internet Explorer.
Training
See Microsoft’s dedicated ASP.net site for tutorials, webcasts,
news and downloads and other getting started material, including
guides to building applications using a combination of ASP.net,
Atlas and Visual Web Developer.
The Microsoft Developer Network is less up to date. There are
books on ASP.net from Microsoft Press, O’Reilly, Wrox and
Wiley.
http://www.asp.net
Rates of pay
Junior ASP.net developers can expect to start on £23,000, rising
to more than £30,000 with ASP.net 2.0 experience.