Chapter 15: Deployment

Overview

The development process does not end when the source code is compiled and testing is complete. At that stage, the job of getting the application into the user’s hands begins. Whether it’s an ASP.NET application, a smart client application, or an application built using the Compact Framework, the software must be deployed to a target environment. The .NET Framework has made deployment much easier than it was in the past. The pains of registering COM components and writing new hives to the registry are all gone.

This chapter looks at the options that are available for application deployment, both from an ASP.NET perspective and from the smart client perspective. The following topics are discussed:

• Deployment requirements

• Simple deployment scenarios

• Windows Installer–based projects

• ClickOnce