ASP.NET Pages in a Visual Designer

The declarative syntax of ASP.NET pages greatly simplifies the development of Web applications and complements the efficient execution model. In addition, server controls have rich design-time support in visual designers such as Visual Studio .NET, which further simplifies the design and authoring of ASP.NET pages.

Visual Studio .NET features a rich design-time environment that allows the page developer to start using ASP.NET quickly and brings together other aspects of Web application development, such as data access and site management.

Figures 2-5 and 2-6 illustrate various features of the Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment (IDE) that come into play in designing the user interface of .aspx pages and developing the code-behind files associated with pages.

Figure 2-5. The Visual Studio .NET IDE with the Web Forms designer in Design view

Figure 2-6. The Visual Studio .NET IDE and its code editor

Figure 2-5 shows the Visual Studio .NET Web Forms designer in Design view. In this view, the designer allows WYSIWYG editing of HTML content. It also creates instances of server controls as users add them to the page so that the controls participate in the design-time rendering of the page. The toolbox in the IDE provides a palette consisting of the standard ASP.NET controls and, optionally , any custom controls you develop for use while designing pages. The property browser presents the object model of the selected control and allows the page developer to customize its appearance and behavior by setting the control's properties. The designer also allows the page developer to associate event handlers with events raised by the server controls.

Figure 2-6 shows the code editor inside the Visual Studio .NET IDE. The code editor allows the page developer to implement code to handle events raised by server controls and other pieces of logic that make up the Web application. The source editor includes many features designed to enhance developer productivity, including IntelliSense functionality such as statement completion, auto-formatting, and syntax checking.