Chapter 1 The ASP.NET Programming Model

Overview

ASP.NET is a Web development platform that provides services, a programming model, and software infrastructure necessary to build enterprise-class applications. Although largely syntax compatible with its popular predecessor Active Server Pages (ASP) ASP.NET is a revolutionary new programming framework designed to enable the rapid development of Web applications. As part of the Microsoft .NET platform, ASP.NET provides a component-based, extensible, and easy-to-use way to build, deploy, and run Web applications that target any browser or mobile device.

ASP.NET is the culmination of Web development technologies that rapidly followed one another in the past ten years one building on another, and each filling the gaps of its predecessor. As a result, ASP.NET is currently the most technologically advanced, feature-rich, and powerful platform for building distributed applications transported by the HTTP protocol.

While amazingly growing in popularity and successfully being employed in thousands of real-world projects, ASP.NET 1.1 is only the first step of a clearly longer road. The more one works with ASP.NET, the more he or she realizes that even more is needed. ASP.NET simplifies a number of tasks and is sort of a programming paradise, especially for developers coming from classic ASP, Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) programming, or other Web platforms. ASP.NET 1.1 just whetted the appetite of the developer community. Thus, after the first months of working with and assessing ASP.NET, members of this community started asking and wishing for more well, actually much more.

ASP.NET 2.0 is a major upgrade to the platform, even though it doesn't introduce any new or revolutionary programming paradigm. At first sight, there's no radically new approach to code design and implementation, and there's no new syntax model to become familiar with. Nonetheless, ASP.NET 2.0 is a milestone on the Microsoft Web development roadmap for application architects as well as for developers. Many of the constituent classes have been reworked, and some underwent face-lift operations. Several new controls have been added for the sake of productivity, and a bunch of new and enhanced system modules now make the run-time pipeline more customizable, flexible, robust, and secure. As a result, new practices emerge as best practices, new programming techniques are available to architects and lead developers, and new system features provide native solutions to known issues with earlier versions. To maximize the benefits of using ASP.NET, you should first look at the overall model the components, programmability, and infrastructure.

A close look at the overall model is exactly what this chapter provides. To start out, let's examine some basic concepts of the ASP.NET platform and its programming model.