Introduction

ASP.NET 1.1, the latest version of Active Server Pages, is Microsoft's technology for building dynamic, database-driven Web sites.

ASP.NET is one of the most popular languages for building scalable, interactive Web sites. Several of the highest traffic Web sites on the Internet employ ASP.NET. Prominent examples include The Home Shopping Network, MSN, and the Microsoft site itself.

ASP.NET represents a radical departure from previous versions of Active Server Pages. If you have programmed with earlier versions of Active Server Pages and you have not been exposed to the new features of ASP.NET, prepare to be shocked.

Following are some of the significant new features of ASP.NET:

• ASP.NET uses compiled code written in Common Language Runtime languages such as Visual Basic and C#. Unlike previous versions of Active Server Pages, this version does not use interpreted scripting languages such as VBScript.

• ASP.NET pages are built out of server-side controls. Web server controls enable you to represent and program against Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) elements using an intuitive object model.

• ASP.NET includes a new technology called Web Services. You can use Web Services to access methods and properties and transfer database data across the Internet.

• ASP.NET is part of Microsoft's .NET Framework. You can access thousands of .NET classes in your code that enable you to perform such wondrously diverse tasks as generating images on-the-fly and saving an array to a file.

• ASP.NET includes page and data caching mechanisms that enable you to easily and dramatically improve the performance of your Web site.