Summary

ASP.NET is a new framework to write Web applications for the Microsoft .NET platform. ASP.NET supports a rich set of Web Forms controls. You can use these controls at runtime as well as design-time. In VS .NET, you can just drag these controls on a Web Form, set their properties and methods, and your application is ready to run on the Web.

You can also use ADO.NET components in Web Forms in the same way you use them in desktop applications. All ADO.NET components including the DataReader, DataSet, DataView, and DataCommand components work in the same way as they would in a desktop application. ASP.NET provides many data-bound controls you can directly bind to a data source with the help of DataSet and DataView. For example, DataGrid and ListBox are two common data-bound controls. You can use the DataSource property of these controls to bind to a DataSet.

The DataGrid is the most versatile control among all the Web controls. By using the DataGrid, you can write full-fledge database applications for your Web sites. The DataTable of the DataSet provides the programmer with a means of working with the data in these controls. A table is a collection of rows and columns. A DataTable represents a database table. With the help of the DataView class, you can bind a data table to a DataGrid or other data-bound controls.

The next chapter covers ASP.NET data-bound controls. You'll see some practical uses of these controls.