Chapter 8: Introducing .NET Data Management


Overview

We've looked at the basics of Microsoft's new .NET Framework and ASP.NET in particular. It changes the way you program with ASP, adding a whole range of new techniques that make it easier to create dynamic pages, web services, and web applications. However, there is one fundamental aspect of almost all applications that we've not yet explored. This is how we access and work with data that is stored in other applications or files. In general terms, these sources of information are called data stores . This chapter looks at how the .NET Framework provides access to the many different kinds of data store that you may have to interface with.

The .NET Framework includes a series of classes that implement a new data access technology that is specifically designed for use in the .NET world. We'll look at why this has come about, and how it relates to the techniques used in ASP. In fact, the new framework classes provide a whole lot more than just a .NET version of ADO. Like the move from ASP to ASP.NET, they involve fundamental changes in the approach to managing data in external data stores.

While data management is often assumed to relate to relational data sources such as databases, we will also explore the other types of data that are increasingly encountered today. There is extended support within .NET for working with Extensible Markup Language ( XML ) and its associated technologies. Apart from comprehensive support for the existing XML standards, .NET provides new ways to handle XML. These include integration between XML and traditional relational data access methods .

So, the topics for this chapter are:

  • The various types of data storage used today and into the future.

  • The need for another data access technology.

  • An overview of the new relational data access techniques in .NET.

  • An overview of the new techniques for working with XML in .NET.

  • Choosing an appropriate data access technology and a data format.

Let's start with a look at the way data is stored and accessed today.




Professional ASP. NET 1.1
Professional ASP.NET MVC 1.0 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
ISBN: 0470384611
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 243

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