The .NET Framework

The .NET in ASP.NET is not just a clever marketing scheme. The .NET refers to the Microsoft.NET framework, a structure and collection of objects common to all Microsoft .NET technologies. By centralizing all Microsoft technologies on the .NET framework, all development efforts have access to key compatibility, security, and system features.

For example, we've already touched on how the CLR environment manages and compiles ASP.NET code into MSIL and then compiles it into whatever native machine code the target computer requires. That model is not specific to ASP.NET but to all .NET technologies. Thus, the Java prime directive "Write once, publish everywhere" can truly be achieved with .NET.

Central to the .NET framework is that everything is treated like an object. Each object is organized into groups called namespaces.

For example, all database-related objects are grouped in the SYSTEM.DATA namespace. To use objects in the SYSTEM.DATA namespace, your ASP.NET page simply loads the namespace before using the objects. You'll find numerous namespaces throughout the .NET framework, and you can even create your own. For a full list of all .NET namespaces, see the .NET framework documentation included with the ASP.NET Software Development Kit.

The important point concerning .NET namespaces is that ASP.NET has access to all of them. Moreover, an ASP.NET page is an actual object based on the SYSTEM.WEB.UI.PAGE namespace. Therefore, an ASP.NET page has its own properties and methods that you can reference and manipulate. You can begin to see how extensive and powerful the .NET framework makes ASP.NET.