Who is this Whidbey Guy? - The Power of Whidbey
(Page 4 of 4 )
Ooooh, the Power!
The power we're given over ASP.Net 1.x in simple XML configuration files is fantastic. But a somewhat hampering disadvantage lies in the fact that the very nature of the XML format behooves us to learn pages and pages of tags, each one with it's plethora of properties and attributes. And of course we forget the vast majority of the tags, and are headed right back to the documentation if we want to customize the security of our application for instance.
Obviously we're much more accustomed to working with graphical interfaces, not having to configure absolutely everything in raw text. Whidbey plans to cater to us in this regard, providing a much-needed MMC snap-in to work with the XML files. Phew, breathe a sigh of relief!
Another area identified as needing enhancement is caching. It was very interesting to see the very granular level of control we were afforded in ASP.Net 1.x, being able to cache pages, individual controls, and even collections or datasets! Well, one huge improvement we'll see is that now we'll be able to inherit from the CacheDependency class, and create our own unique cache dependencies. There's a pretty cool example on MSDN of creating a dependency based on an RSS feed. That's the kind of customizability (I still think I've made that word up) that developers enjoy, and now we'll have it.
Something else to look forward to, if you're using SQL Server 7 or higher, is SQL Cache invalidation. This is the means by which we can invalidate cached items based on changes within our database. And then one more update to anxiously await: Post-cache substitution. This will allow us to more-or-less bypass the output caching for strings that we wish to dynamically generate at run-time. Perhaps the least weighty of the three new cache toys, but useful nonetheless.
What's the Secret Code?
Both administrators and coders alike can look forward to new code compilation features. There is a new code-behind model, giving us the ability to have partial classes, defining different parts of a class in more than one file, all of them being combined by the compiler. One of the advantages here is a much more collaborative approach, it is now easier to share the development. Another major change in this model is that now Web Forms and the code-behind classes can both be compiled at run time. This signifies that we can make a small change and have it reflected, without rebuilding the entire project.
I think one of the biggest drawbacks in ASP.Net 1.x for me was the initial wait time involved in compiling the application when the first user hits your site. With Whidbey, we'll be able to circumvent that lag with In-place batch compilation. We can just browse to our site root with a special 'precompile.axd' handler, and your application is forced to compile.
Something very interesting, and especially beneficial to those of us who jealously protect their code, or 'intellectual property', is called precompilation for deployment. Through it we can create an executable version of our entire application, and distribute it without any source code. That's Microsoft for ya! I wonder how Open Source supporters feel about this feature...
Conclusion
The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard is: if you like ASP.Net, you'll love Whidbey. Microsoft if moving faster than a speeding locomotive with this platform, and it may seem difficult to keep pace, but it's no doubt worth it. I, for one, am looking forward to more information on the platform (but would much prefer to get the SDK).
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
