Using ASP.NET 2.0 for Website Creation

“Web application development has come a long way in a fairly short period of time.” A quote like that surely won’t send anyone into shock anytime soon because it’s accepted as fact. From basic, static HTML pages to totally data-driven and data-centric Web applications, the demands on a Web developer are much more complex and demanding than they were just a few years ago. The advent of social networking sites like MySpace, which is written in ASP.NET 2.0, interactive mapping sites, and sites streaming full motion video has required the Web developer to adapt and change with the times. One of the best tools to use to build these types of Web applications is Microsoft’s ASP.NET 2.0. In this article I am going to delve into some of the more interesting features of ASP.NET 2.0 and show you how you can begin using ASP.NET 2.0 on your next Web project.

ASP.NET 2.0 offers features that every ASP.NET developer will find useful, including:

• Multiple project types
• A wide variety of Web controls
• Project folders to help organize files
• Enhanced code-behind model
• Master pages and themes
• Site navigation features
• Enhanced data access features
• Membership and personalization
• Portal architecture including Web parts
• Site administration tools

Creating a Web Site

With the release of Visual Studio 2005 SP1, Microsoft offers Web site developers a choice between two different project types: the Web Site and the Web Application. The Web Site project really is not a project at all since Visual Studio 2005 solution and project files are not created. In the Web Site model all pages and code are stored in a directory, much like the traditional ASP model. When it comes to deployment, the easiest approach is to copy all of your files to your Web server and everything compiles on demand. You could also use the aspnet_compiler.exe utility to precompile your site into a binary file and deploy to your Web site.

The Web Application project is an implementation of the type of Web project available in Visual Studio 2003 and consists of a solution (.sln) and project files (.vbproj). It is the result of Microsoft listening to the ASP.NET 2.0 developer community and responding to the needs of the community. It provides the benefit of generating a single assembly in the local /bin folder ready for deployment. This model also makes it easier to incrementally deploy changes made to your site. If you are converting a Web application from Visual Studio 2003, this is the project model you are going to want to adopt. I use this model with most of the Web applications I develop.

To create a Web site with the Web Application project model, launch Visual Studio 2005 and from the File menu option choose New Project… and the New Project dialog box will appear (Figure 1). Choose ASP.NET Web Application, the name of the project, the location, and the name of the solution if you select to have one created or specify if you want the new project added to the current solution. Click OK and Visual Studio will create the solution (.sln), the project (.vbproj since I selected Visual Basic), a default.aspx page, and a Web.config file.

To create a Web site with the Web Site project model, launch Visual Studio 2005 and from the File menu option choose New Web Site and the New Web Site dialog box will appear (Figure 2). Choose ASP.NET Web Site, the location of the Web site, the language used, and lastly, the name of the Web site.