In this chapter we've looked at the new design tool, Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey," and some of the great features it offers, including some data binding scenarios, support for master pages, connections to databases, and so on. Rather than list all of the new features, we've concentrated on the ones that will have the most dramatic effect on development, making sites easier and quicker to construct. The second topic of this chapter was compilation and the underlying changes to ASP.NET. We've seen how the compilation system can free you from the "make file nightmare," allowing you to just save files and browse the application. Pre-compilation brings improvements in two areas: (1) performance, by compiling in-place to avoid the first-hit compilation, and (2) protection of intellectual property, by removing the source code. Now it's time to start looking in depth at the ASP.NET 2.0 features, starting with data source controls and binding. |