Where's the best place to start with C# and ASP.net ?

A

Alan Silver

Hello,

I am an experienced VB/ASP/COM/SQL developer. I am about to embark on a
new web application which is going to be hosted on Windows 2003 Server
(previously been using NT4 Server). As this includes the .NET framework,
I thought it might be a good opportunity to look into ASP.NET and see
what it has to offer. I would like to go with C# rather than VB.NET.

I have spent the past couple of hours searching the web for info and
have got a bit confused !! There's just so much out there.

In short, does anyone know of a good quality resource (web site, book,
etc) on C# in ASP.NET that will be suitable for me. Bear in mind that I
have loads of experience with ASP and COM (whether that is a good or bad
thing in this context). I just need something that gets me straight in
developing. I don't want to have to wade through acres of theory before
getting my hands dirty. I'll learn the theory as I go along.

I have looked at http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/ which
seems quite good, although quite a few of the examples didn't work !!
They told me that I needed the .NET framework installed on my machine. I
thought the whole ASP.NET thing was on the server. If so, why do I need
..NET on my client machine ? If this really is a requirement to use
ASP.NET properly then I'll just drop the idea now. There simply too many
people who don't have .NET yet. This web application needs to be
available to all.

Any and all comments greatly appreciated.
 
A

alec maclean

Alan,

The .NET Framework is required on a developer's PC in order for the local
IIS to process aspx code (regardless of source language used).

For end-user purposes, yes, the framework will reside only on the server
(unless you get into sending winforms over http, but that's a different
discussion).

Basically, using Visual Studio, the WebMatrix, or another editor tool (e.g.
see SharpDevelop at http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/) will require
you to have the framework locally.

End users only need a suitable browser (IE, Firefox, whatever - though note
<em>some</em> features are only supported by IE5+).

From the perspective of a moderately experienced ASP programmer trasitioning
to asp.NET, I have found it a mixed bag. Some things took me a while to get
my head round, but after writing a major app as my teeth-cutting excercise
(on top of changing jobs and taking on more responsibilties - gulp!) I can
say that the feature set is pretty good. Of course, there's plenty of
support here in the newsgroups and elsewhere in websites as you've seen.

Regards,
 
A

Alan Silver

alec maclean said:
Alan,

The .NET Framework is required on a developer's PC in order for the local
IIS to process aspx code (regardless of source language used).

For end-user purposes, yes, the framework will reside only on the server
(unless you get into sending winforms over http, but that's a different
discussion).

I presume this is in answer to my last question about the framework not
being on my computer. If so, why was it that I couldn't run the ASP.NET
sample on the http://samples.gotdotnet.com/ site ? Surely that shouldn't
have been a problem.
Basically, using Visual Studio, the WebMatrix, or another editor tool (e.g.
see SharpDevelop at http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/) will require
you to have the framework locally.

But if I develop on my 2003 Server box, presumably that will have this
already. I'm setting up a separate machine with this OS to test this all
out, so I will do the work there.
End users only need a suitable browser (IE, Firefox, whatever - though note
<em>some</em> features are only supported by IE5+).

From the perspective of a moderately experienced ASP programmer trasitioning
to asp.NET, I have found it a mixed bag. Some things took me a while to get
my head round, but after writing a major app as my teeth-cutting excercise
(on top of changing jobs and taking on more responsibilties - gulp!) I can
say that the feature set is pretty good. Of course, there's plenty of
support here in the newsgroups and elsewhere in websites as you've seen.

Thanx very much. Is this the best newsgroup or is there another more
suitable ?
 
A

Alan Silver

Kevin Spencer said:
How about downloading the free .Net SDK, which includes references on both
C# and VB.Net?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9B3A2CA6-3647-4
070-9F41-A333C6B9181D&displaylang=en

Thanx for the link. What exactly is in the SDK ? MSDN doesn't really
explain it much and I would like to know what it is before I go for
108Mb download for the SDK, plus another 24Mb for the redistributables,
then another 48Mb for the latest update !!

Also, what, if any, of this will be present on a fresh installation of
Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition ? I am in the process of setting up
a test machine for this. There's no point in downloading stuff that's
included.

Thanx for the reply. If you have any tips for other resources for me I
would appreciate it.
 
K

Kevin Spencer

Sure thing, Alan. "SDK" stands for "Software Developer Kit" and basically,
an SDK consists of documentation, articles, tutorials, and other helpful
information. I use the .Net SDK every day.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.
 
A

Alec MacLean

I presume this is in answer to my last question about the framework not
being on my computer. If so, why was it that I couldn't run the ASP.NET
sample on the http://samples.gotdotnet.com/ site ? Surely that shouldn't
have been a problem.

Yes, the samples on the aspnet samples site should have worked (on their
site) regardless of what you have on your PC. Sorry, I don't know why they
didn't work for you.
But if I develop on my 2003 Server box, presumably that will have this
already. I'm setting up a separate machine with this OS to test this all
out, so I will do the work there.

I see what you mean. With ASP.NET, you can do this simply by creating the
project on the target dev server. Server-side debugging is supported, but
there are a set of additional prerequisites to comply with before it will
work. This is documented in the VS-help files. You will probably have to
install further components above those supplied with the standard 2003
server.
 
A

Alan Silver

Kevin Spencer said:
Sure thing, Alan. "SDK" stands for "Software Developer Kit" and basically,
an SDK consists of documentation, articles, tutorials, and other helpful
information. I use the .Net SDK every day.

OK thanx. I'll have a look.
 
A

Alan Silver

Alec MacLean said:
I see what you mean. With ASP.NET, you can do this simply by creating
the project on the target dev server.

Ah, that's what I suspected. Thanx for the clarification.
Server-side debugging is supported, but there are a set of additional
prerequisites to comply with before it will work. This is documented
in the VS-help files. You will probably have to install further
components above those supplied with the standard 2003 server.

Hmm, trouble is, I don't have VS. I was going to look at WebMatrix,
being a free ASP.NET system. Would that enable debugging ?

Thanx
 
A

Alec MacLean

Hmm, trouble is, I don't have VS. I was going to look at WebMatrix,
being a free ASP.NET system. Would that enable debugging ?

I suspect not - unless you can install the debugging components seperately
(I doubt they are available for free).

I would guess this is one of those situations where MS have created the
requirement for you to buy their tool in order to get all the features you
want for Enterprise-equivalent development.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
473,744
Messages
2,569,484
Members
44,904
Latest member
HealthyVisionsCBDPrice

Latest Threads

Top