Introduction

When I first heard about Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0, I knew that creating ASP.NET 2.0 applications would be a very different sort of experience from development in previous generations of ASP.NET. Scott Guthrie, Microsoft product unit manager in Web Platforms and Tools, introduced ASP.NET 2.0 by stating that the primary goal was a 70 percent reduction in the amount of code developers must produce. I am not certain that a 70 percent code reduction is possible in all cases, but for most Web Forms applications, the amount of code is certainly reduced by at least 50 percent.

It is with that in mind that this book was written. As I worked with early versions of ASP.NET 2.0, I was impressed by how much could be done with very little code. Especially noteworthy is the reduction in code possible for handling database access. Also, database access is more flexible than it was in previous versions of Microsoft Visual Studio, even with the reduced need for code. Just as ASP.NET 1.x allowed developers to conveniently describe text boxes and validation rules declaratively, ASP.NET 2.0 allows developers to perform most databaserelated tasks by using declarative syntax inside ASP.NET 2.0 markup files.

As with previous versions of ASP.NET, nothing prevents you from creating ASP.NET 2.0 applications with any standard text editor. However, I expect that because of improvements to Visual Studio 2005, most developers will use it for Web Forms development with ASP.NET 2.0. This book uses Visual Studio 2005 for all examples.

Who Is This Book For?

As I wrote this book, I had in mind two groups of developers. In the first group are new developers who are just starting out with ASP.NET Web Forms development. For these developers, I have included information on how to take full advantage of the tools offered by Visual Studio 2005 to develop Web Forms applications.

The second group consists of experienced developers who are moving to Web Forms applications after having developed Windows applications or services. Even developers experienced in other areas can find themselves at a loss when confronted with new tools and technologies. These developers have many of the same needs as completely new developers when it comes to using the new tools offered by Visual Studio 2005, although they might find much of the code easier to understand.

Although the book is not a complete introduction to HTML and cascading style sheets, I have included sections on both of these Web technologies. Developers in either group who have experience with these technologies can skip these sections.