Visual Basic Programmer

Website Development

Why use ASP.NET?

ASP.Net is Microsoft's latest Web development platform that provides the structure and services necessary to develop maintainable Web applications of any size.

Creating dynamic, high-performance Web applications has never been easier. ASP.Net has introduced many (some say too many) enhancements and improvements that makes it a compelling platform. It provides effective, scalable, and fast Web development with little coding.

Displaying data, validating user input, and uploading files are all easy. ASP.NET pages work in all browsers – including Chrome, Netscape, Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Visual Basic Programming

Visual Studio.NET adds the productivity of Visual Basic-style development to the Web. Web Forms and controls provide a Rapid Application Development (RAD) platform for creating Web applications. The programmer can visually design ASP.NET Web Forms using familiar Drag and Drop techniques, statement completion and colour-coding. There is support for uncomplicated debugging and deployment of ASP.NET Web applications.

The move to ASP.NET is easy (well, as easy as it can be) for the Visual Basic.Net Programmer – there is the same VB development environment and the same VB programming model.

The problems of Classic ASP

Microsoft introduced classic ASP (Active Server Pages) in 1996. Classic ASP script is an interpreted script and consists of unstructured code that is difficult to write, debug and maintain. The complexity of a classic ASP application increased dramatically as applications grew in size. This was due to the unpleasant mix of code, content and formatting. The resulting spaghetti code was difficult, if not impossible, to maintain.

As a consequence, development and maintenance costs were high.

The nightmare of debugging and maintaining ASP has been replaced by a much simpler paradigm. What was previously prohibitively expensive and complex can now be accomplished with relative ease.

The Features of ASP.Net

ASP.Net:

• Improves development productivity with the separation of code from presentation.
• Reduces development times with strongly typed objects.
• Server controls reduce the amount of code required.
• Improves performance using compiled code.
• Improves reliability with the .Net Framework of common programming language library routines.
• Eliminates the cost of highly trained, multi-disciplined ASP programmers.
• Allows the creation of Websites that are consistent and attractive.

This all adds up to a dramatic reduction in development and maintenance costs.

And the negatives?

• There is still the odd bug or two.
• The product feature range is just too vast!
• Documentation has improved, but due to all the improvements, it is hard to work out what is valid and what is obsolete.

On the other hand, no one has complained about a lack of features, for a long, long time!

Companies using ASP.Net

The scalability of ASP.Net allows it to be used by large companies. The millions of ASP.Net applications include Dell, Match.com, Monster.com, Costco.com, NHS Choices, HSN.com, London Stock Exchange, newegg.com, myspace, bing, 3M, Getty Images and Lego.