Developing ASP.NET Web Applications - An introduction to ASP.NET application development
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In the three topics that follow, you’ll find out what software you need for developing ASP.NET web applications, what the components of the .NET Framework are, and what development environments you can work in.
The software you need
The first table in figure 1-6 summarizes both the client and the server software that you need for developing ASP.NET applications. On your own PC, you need an operating system like Windows XP or Windows Vista, the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, and a browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer. You also need Visual Studio 2008 if you want to get the benefits from using that Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
If you’re using a server for your development, it will need a server operating system like Windows Server 2003 or later, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, and Internet Information Services. If you’re going to develop applications from a remote computer, it will also need FrontPage Server Extensions. And if you’re going to develop applications for the Internet, it will need an FTP server. In appendix A, you can get information about installing the software for both client and server.
Because most ASP.NET applications require database access, you also need a database server such as Microsoft SQL Server. For development work on your own PC, you can use SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, which is a scaled-back version of SQL Server that comes with Visual Studio 2008. But you’ll probably need SQL Server itself on the server for a production application.
If you’re developing production applications, you should also download and install other web browsers on your PC including Mozilla Firefox and Opera. That way, you can test your applications with a variety of popular browsers.
The second table in this figure shows that Visual Studio 2008 is available in several editions. Most professional developers will work with either the Standard Edition or the Professional Edition. But large development teams may use the Team System edition, which includes features designed for specialized development roles such as architects, developers, and testers.
A free alternative is Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition. This product is designed for individual developers, students, and hobbyists, and most of the features in this book will work with this edition.
The third table in this figure lists some of the most important new features of ASP.NET 3.5. Because each of these features is presented in detail later in this book, I won’t describe them here. But this table should show you that ASP.NET 3.5 provides some new features that you may want to use in your new applications.
Software requirements for ASP.NET 3.5 application development
Client | Server |
Windows XP or later | Windows Server 2003 or later |
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 | Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 |
A browser like Internet Explorer (6.0 or later) Visual Studio 2008 | Internet Information Services 6.0 or later Microsoft SQL Server or equivalent database FrontPage Server Extensions (for remote development only) |
Visual Studio 2008 Editions
| Description |
| Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition | Supports Windows and Web development using Visual Basic, C#, and C++. |
| Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition | Same as Standard Edition with several additional features such as additional deployment options and integration with SQL Server 2005. |
| Visual Studio 2008 Team System | The top-of-the-line version of Visual Studio, with special features added to support large development teams. |
| Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition | Free downloadable edition for web development in Visual Basic, C#, or J#. |
New programming features for ASP.NET 3.5
| Feature | Chapter | Description |
|---|
| Nested master pages | 9 | Lets you define the overall look of a web site with one master page and then define the look of individual portions of the web site with other master pages that refer to the main master page. |
| ListView control | 16 | Lets you display, sort, insert, update, and delete the data in a bound data source. Provides a highly-customizable interface. |
| DataPager control | 16 | Adds paging capabilities to the ListView control. The DataPager control is displayed separately from the control it’s used to page. |
| LINQ data source control | 18 | Provides for using LINQ (Language-Integrated Query) to query and update a variety of data sources. |
| AJAX | 25 | Provides for developing web pages that are more responsive to the user and reduce the load on the web server. |
Figure 1-6 The software you need for developing ASP.NET 3.5 applications
Next: The components of the .NET Framework >>
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 This article is an excerpt from chapter one of Murach's ASP.NET 3.5 Web Programming with VB 2008, written by Anne Boehm (Murach, 2008; ISBN: 1890774472). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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