ASP.NET

ASP.NET is the latest version of Microsoft's Active Server Pages technology (ASP).

What you should already know
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
· WWW, HTML and the basics of building Web pages
· Scripting languages like JavaScript or VBScript
· The basics of server side scripting

What is ASP?
ASP is a server side scripting technology that enables scripts (embedded in web pages) to be executed by an Internet server.
· ASP is a Microsoft Technology
· ASP stands for Active Server Pages
· ASP is a program that runs inside IIS
· IIS stands for Internet Information Services
· IIS comes as a free component with Windows 2000
· IIS is also a part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
· The Option Pack can be downloaded from Microsoft
· PWS is a smaller - but fully functional - version of IIS
· PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD

What is an ASP File?
· An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
· An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
· Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
· An ASP file has the file extension ".asp"

How Does it Work?
· When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
· When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine on the server
· The ASP engine reads the file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file
· Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML

Before you study ASP .NET, it would help to have a basic understanding of Microsoft's ASP technology.

What is ASP+?
· ASP+ is the same as ASP.NET.
· ASP+ is just an early name used by Microsoft when they developed ASP.NET.

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 .NET Framework. Microsoft spent three years rewriting ASP.NET from the ground up, and ASP.NET is not fully backward compatible with ASP 3.0.

.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is the infrastructure for the Microsoft .NET platform.
The .NET Framework is an 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 (Microsoft's version of JavaScript).
Microsoft's Visual Studio.NET is a common development environment for the .NET Framework.


Differences between ASP and ASP .NET
ASP .NET has better language support, a large set of new controls and XML based components, and better user authentication.
ASP .NET provides increased performance by running compiled code.
ASP .NET code is not fully backward compatible with ASP.

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 performance.

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.


Installing ASP.NET
ASP.NET is easy to install. Just follow the instructions below.

What You Need
A Windows Computer
ASP.NET is a Microsoft technology. To run ASP.NET you need a computer capable of running Windows.

Windows 2000 or XP
If you are serious about developing ASP.NET applications you should install Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional.
In both cases, make sure you install the Internet Information Services (IIS) from the Add/Remove Windows components dialog.

Service Packs and Updates
Before ASP.NET can be installed on your computer, it is necessary to have all relevant service packs and security updates installed.
The easiest way to do this is to activate your Windows Internet Update. When you access the Windows Update page, you will be instructed to install the latest service packs and all critical security updates. For Windows 2000, make sure you install Service Pack 2. I will also recommend that you install Internet Explorer 6.
Read the note about connection speed and download time at the bottom of this page.

Remove Your Beta Version
If you have a Beta version of ASP.NET installed, we recommend that you completely uninstall it. Or even better: start with a fresh Windows 2000 or XP installation.
Install .NET
From your Windows Update you can now select to install the Microsoft .NET Framework.
After download, the .NET framework will install itself on your computer - there are no options to select for installation.
You should now be ready to develop your first ASP.NET application!

The .NET Software Development Kit
If you have the necessary bandwidth to download over 130 MB, you might consider downloading the full Microsoft .NET Software Development Kit (SDK).
We fully recommend getting the SDK for learning more about .NET and for the documentation, samples, and tools included.

Connection Speed and Download Time
If you have a slow Internet connection, you might have problems downloading large files like the service packs, the SDK and the latest version of Internet Explorer.
If download speed is a problem, our best suggestion is to get the latest files from someone else, from a colleague, from a friend, or from one of the CDs that comes with many popular computer magazines. Look for Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, Internet Explorer 6, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.