What is ASP.NET?

Microsoft’s ASP.NET is a popular framework for online applications under an open source license. With its help, it is possible to make dynamic websites, online apps, and web services. That’s why learning what ASP.NET is can help you go a long way in technological development. If that is your intention, then you have come to the right place.

This article is about understanding ASP.NET and aims to give a full introduction to the subject. Here, we will talk about the most important parts of ASP.NET, such as its history, architecture, components, development process, and deployment options.

What is ASP.NET?

With the help of the open-source what is ASP.NET web platform, it’s easier to make online apps that use the .NET (dotNET) framework. Microsoft made it, and version 1.0 became available to developers in 2002 so that they could build dynamic online programs, services, and websites. The framework started from the ground up to work with the HTTP protocol, which is what every online application uses.

ASP.NET replaces the Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. It is a part of the .NET platform that adds extra tools and libraries for making things for the web, like websites and online apps.

The most recent version of this web application framework is ASP.NET Cross-Platform, which came out in 2016. Before, it was ASP.NET Core. In November 2020, Microsoft shortened the name, and the word “Core” disappeared altogether. This means that the name of future versions will just be “.NET” followed by a version number. Every November, a new version comes out. This means that .NET 5 came out in 2020,.NET 6 in 2021, and so on.

Microsoft will continue to fix bugs and add new features to ASP.NET, but in the future, the new cross-platform version will get the most attention.

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What is ASP.NET Core?

The previous name of latest version of the ASP.NET web framework is ASP.NET Core. ASP.NET Core is a free, open-source, and cross-platform framework for building cloud-based apps like mobile backends, online apps, and Internet of Things apps. Its architecture allows for deployment both on-premises and in the cloud.

Just like .NET Core, it was flexible while keeping costs to a minimum. Depending on the needs of the application, NuGet packages can also be used to add new, more complex features. This makes the deployment faster, uses less memory, makes it smaller, and makes it easy to manage.

Since ASP.NET Core is an open source framework that is maintained by Microsoft and the community, the framework’s source code can be contributed to or downloaded from the ASP.NET Core Repository on Github. The Core version 2.x works with both .NET Core 2.x and .NET Framework. ASP.NET 3.x, on the other hand, only works with .NET Core 3.x.

ASP.NET vs. ASP.NET Core

It is important to know the difference between ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core. ASP.NET Core is the next version of ASP.NET. It was redesigned from the ground up to be an open-source framework that works with multiple platforms. It works with Windows, Linux, and macOS. ASP.NET, on the other hand, can only work with Windows.

Model-View-Controller is the basis for both ASP.NET and the more powerful ASP.NET Core, which are both on the same platform. On the other hand, ASP.NET Core’s modular design is much better than ASP.NET’s. This lets developers choose only the ASP.NET Core modules they need for the project they are working on.

Because of this, developers who use ASP.NET Core can make web apps that work better and are easier to use. This is because code that isn’t needed was taken out, which doesn’t always happen when using the earlier version.

At the end of the day, the ASP.NET Core framework is a newer, better version of the original version. Still, this doesn’t mean that ASP.NET isn’t useful anymore. On the contrary, it could still be very helpful to developers.

The Workings of ASP.NET

It’s crucial to understand the way ASP.NET works to grasp what it really is. In this section, we will provide you with ample information on it.

The Primary Development Styles of ASP.NET

When one thinks about what ASP.NET is, one must know of its primary developmental approaches.

Web Forms

This is an event driven development framework. It works using a full set of controls that wrap HTML markup allowing for quick development. The style lets developers make applications that can access data in complex ways. In addition, it lets you make web applications because it gives you server-side controls and events. 

MVC

ASP.NET gives us a way to build dynamic websites using patterns and the MVC (Model View Controller) framework. With MVC, you have full control over the HTML markup, a clear separation between code and markup, and it’s easy to make tests. It lets you clearly divide roles, which gives you full control over markup and makes agile development a joy. In addition, it has a wide range of features that make it easy to make great applications quickly. 

Web Pages

ASP.NET can make web pages that adapt over time. It gives you a way to combine HTML and server code that is both quick and small. It’s helpful to add video and links to social networking sites. It also gives you extra features, such as the ability to make beautiful websites that meet the latest web standards.

All of these frameworks are good and have all the parts they need. We can use any of them to make web apps for us. These are also made with the .NET Framework, and they have a lot of the same basic features.

When it comes to making apps, we can use any kind of development method we want. The style should be chosen based on how much the programmer knows and how skilled they are.

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What is the ASP.NET Architecture?

The ASP.NET framework’s architecture consists of a group of important parts that are put together during the development process.

1. Language

The ASP.NET platform uses the programming language VB.NET, which is also known as Visual Basic, or C#.

2. Library

The ASP.NET framework includes the foundation libraries of the .NET framework. It also includes libraries that match the most common ways of designing websites. One of these libraries is called Model View Controller (MVC), and it lets you use the MVC design pattern to make web apps and websites. Using the Model-View-Controller design, you can build a web application with three different roles: the business layer, the display layer, and the input control layer.

3. Common Language Runtime

The platform on which your .NET applications run is the Common Language Runtime, or CLR for short. It is used to do important tasks like turning on objects, checking their security, putting them in the right place in memory, executing, and managing trash collection.

It adds more tools to .NET that will make the life of a web developer easier. This is in addition to the three main parts that come with the framework. One of them is called Razor, and it is a syntax for making web pages that use templates. When building dynamic web pages in C#, this syntax for templates is used a lot. It lets people use master pages and templates to make web pages with information and values that change over time.

You can use Microsoft Visual Studio as your integrated development environment when you work with ASP.NET. It has a source code editor, a debugger, a compiler, and a designer. All of these tools can be accessed through a single interface.

Why You Should Use ASP.NET

ASP.NET is a great choice when it comes to building applications and websites for a number of reasons. Some of the most important benefits are a fast download speed, low cost, and support for a large number of languages. Other online development platforms, like those that need to be installed and set up separately, take more time to install and set up than ASP.NET does because it is built into the well-known Windows server environment. Because ASP.NET is used by so many people, it makes it easy to find online information and qualified professionals.

Efficiency

Those and apps made with ASP.NET could be faster and more efficient than, say, websites made with PHP. When an ASP.NET application is compiled, its source code is turned into object code. The next step is to run the object code. This step in the compilation process takes a little bit of time, but it is only done once. Once the compilation is finished, the code can be quickly run by the .NET platform an infinite number of times.

Compilation

The machine doesn’t immediately run code that has been read and interpreted. Instead, the code has to be read and understood first before it can be run. Most of the time, compiler code is faster and more scalable than interpreted code, and it can do everything that interpreted code can do. PHP, JavaScript, and Ruby are all examples of interpreted programming languages.

During the compilation process, there is also a validation check to make sure that all of the code is correct. If, for example, a method called GetUser is changed to GetEmployee, then every reference to GetUser in the rest of the program will cause an error when the program is compiled. This makes it easy to find the problem and fix it. With an interpreted language, this problem wouldn’t be found until the code was run and checked, which would take a lot longer. It takes a lot of time to test every possible scenario by hand in a big application. When code is updated, it also takes a lot of work to build and keep up extra code that tests for every possible situation.

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Cost

When making a website, the price of the software is an important thing to think about. In the past, developers had to buy expensive software called an integrated development environment (IDE) in order to build apps.

Most code can be made these days with tools that are free to use. To write ASP.NET code, you can use a simple text editor, one of several free programming text editors, or the widely used Microsoft Visual Studio program. Visual Studio Community Edition is free to use for non-business purposes, and you can get it from the Microsoft website. Businesses with more than five developers must buy a license to use Visual Studio, but the price is about the same as for other professional integrated development environments (IDEs) for other platforms. Microsoft also gives everyone, including businesses, access to a free version of Visual Studio Code, which is a lighter integrated development environment (IDE) and editor.

Websites need more than just an integrated development environment. They also need web application server software and a hosting server. Microsoft IIS is where most ASP.NET apps are stored (Internet Information Server). IIS is available for free and works with all versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Most of the time, it costs more to host a website on a Windows server than on a Linux server that does the same job. Most of the time, PHP, JavaScript, and Ruby programs written in PHP are run on Linux servers. But since ASP.NET Core came out in 2016, ASP.NET apps no longer have to be hosted on IIS. Instead, they can now be hosted on Linux, MacOS, and Windows as well as Windows.

Database Compatibility

One of the most important decisions to make when making a web application is what kind of database to use. All of the most common databases, like Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres, MongoDB, and CouchDB, can be used by applications built with ASP.NET. Even though more complicated installations of Microsoft SQL Server may need more expensive software licenses, the free Express version of Microsoft SQL Server is enough for most websites. All of the other databases we’ll talk about below are open source and free to use.

Object Oriented

Object Oriented ASP.NET websites are made with languages like C# and VB.net, which are ways to write code. Object-oriented programming gives you a structure and a set of patterns that you can use again and again to organize and reuse source code. C# is a first-class programming language that consistently ranks among the most popular and in-demand languages in the world. In contrast, VB.net is a holdover from Microsoft’s old Visual Basic product and has mostly fallen out of favor with developers. VB.net is an older version of Microsoft’s Visual Basic.

Active Support

Microsoft, which is the biggest software company in the world, is still developing and promoting ASP.NET even though it can be used for free and is licensed under an open source license. Microsoft has put a lot of money into their development platforms, their community of developers, and the help they give to the companies that make the software that runs these apps. Since this is the case, you won’t have to worry about your software falling behind any time soon.

FURTHER READING:

1. 17 Computer Programming Languages that You Should Learn in 2022

2. Top 5 Best Android App Development Languages for 2022

3. Top 7 Web Development Languages To Use In 2022

Conclusion

We hope that this article on what ASP.NET is has proved to be beneficial to you and your business. In fact, there are many reasons to read and acquire information on ASP.NET, still. Even though the latest version of ASP.NET called ASP.NET Core is quite proficient, many developers still use the older version because it has many features that are still useful today. Users don’t have to worry about it being out of date because Microsoft keeps it up to date and gives it a lot of support.

If you use ASP.NET to make web apps, you don’t have to spend a lot of time or energy setting up a development environment. You can do it quickly and well. Also, since the platform will continue to be maintained, you can be sure that your apps will be safe and won’t go out of date soon.