Chapter 3: Getting Ready to Program with ASP.NET and Web Matrix


This is an unexciting but essential chapter about installing and configuring various pieces of software. In this chapter, I ll explain what options are available for creating, testing, and deploying your Web pages. I ll list the software you ll need to work with Web Matrix and Microsoft ASP.NET and describe how to obtain and install the software. I ll also mention some security issues that pertain to creating Web pages. The good news is that once you re finished with the software installation and configuration, you will be ready to fire things up and start playing.

Working with ASP.NET Web Pages

Working with your Microsoft ASP.NET Web pages involves three distinct processes: creating and editing the Web pages, testing the Web pages, and making the pages available to your friends, family, or the world at large.

To create and edit Web pages, you ll use Web Matrix, which you can run on your local computer. Later in this chapter, I ll explain how to install and configure all the software you ll need to create and edit the Web pages.

To test your Web pages, you ll need a Web server. (Remember that a Web server is a piece of software, not necessarily a stand-alone computer.) If the operating system on your computer is Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, or Windows .NET Server 2003, you ll be able to run Internet Information Services (IIS), Microsoft s Web server program, on your computer. You might even be able to host a publicly accessible Web site right from your computer. If you re running Windows XP Home Edition, you can t run IIS; however, you ll be able to run a special Web server built into Web Matrix. You can use this Web server to test your pages on your local machine. It can t be used as a real Web server to serve pages to other computers, but it s great for testing when you don t want to (or can t) use IIS.

Finally, you ll want others to be able to access your pages. To make your Web pages available, you can either host a site yourself or copy your Web pages to a hosting site after you ve tested them on your own computer. We ll look at these options in detail in the next section.




Microsoft ASP. NET Web Matrix Starter Kit
Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix Starter Kit (Bpg-Other)
ISBN: 0735618569
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 169
Authors: Mike Pope

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