Section 1.6. Microsoft s .NET

1.6. Microsoft's .NET

In 2000, Microsoft announced its .NET. initiative (www.microsoft.com/net), a new vision for embracing the Internet and the Web in the development and use of software. One key aspect of .NET is its independence from a specific language or platform. Rather than being forced to use a single programming language, developers can create a .NET application in any .NET-compatible language. Programmers can contribute to the same software project, writing code in the .NET languages (such as Microsoft's Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C# and many others) in which they are most competent. Part of the initiative includes Microsoft's ASP.NET technology, which allows programmers to create applications for the Web. We discuss ASP.NET in Chapter 21, ASP.NET 2.0, Web Forms and Web Controls. We use ASP.NET technology in Chapter 22 to build applications that use Web Services.

The .NET. architecture can exist on multiple platforms, not just Microsoft Windowsbased systems, further extending the portability of .NET programs. One example is Mono (www.mono-project.com/Main_Page), an open-source project by Novell. Another is DotGNU Portable .NET (www.dotgnu.org).

A key component of the .NET architecture is Web services, which are reusable application software components that can be used over the Internet. Clients and other applications can use Web services as reusable building blocks. One example of a Web service is Dollar Rent a Car's reservation system.^[1] An airline partner wanted to enable customers to make rental-car reservations from the airline's Web site. To do so, the airline needed to access Dollar's reservation system. In response, Dollar created a Web service that allows the airline to access Dollar's database and make reservations. Web services enable computers at the two companies to communicate over the Web, even though the airline uses UNIX systems and Dollar uses Microsoft Windows. Dollar could have created a one-time solution for that particular airline, but then would not have been able to reuse such a customized system. Dollar's Web service enables many airlines, hotels and travel companies to use its reservation system without creating a custom program for each relationship.

^[1] www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp?CaseStudyID=11626

The .NET strategy extends the concept of software reuse to the Internet, allowing programmers and companies to concentrate on their specialties without having to implement every component of every application. Instead, companies can buy Web services and devote their resources to developing their own products. For example, a single application using Web services from various companies could manage bill payments, tax refunds, loans and investments. An online merchant could buy Web services for credit-card payments, user authentication, network security and inventory databases to create an e-commerce Web site.