Chapter 1. Architecture

ASP.NET introduces a slew of new features for the Web application developer, including compiled server-side code, a technique called code-behind to separate server-side logic from client-side layout, an extensible server-side control model, a well-designed and easy-to-use data binding model, xcopy deployment, and support for form validation on both clients and servers. More than all that, however, ASP.NET gives us unification: a unification of languages, tools, libraries, deployment models, system design, and diagnostics. Web application developers no longer need to differentiate between components used by their pages and components used elsewhere in their architecture. They no longer have to deal with a script debugger to diagnose problems in their pages. They are no longer subject to the often mysterious subtleties of untyped scripting languages and can now use whatever .NET language they prefer in building their pages. Building Web applications is now like any other software development on the .NET platform.

In this chapter, we introduce the architectural foundations of building Web applications with ASP.NET. We look at the new compilation model used to process requests , how to build code-behind classes, how the shadow copy mechanism enables xcopy deployment, and the new directives and intrinsics available.