Classic ASP programmers switching to...

[Blue Apricot]

I have been doing Classic ASP for years, and I know it well. I didn't
jump on the .Net bandwagon way back when because at the time I was
doing primarily front end code, and so it wasn't wirth learning in my
"spare time". Now I want to learn ASP.Net, as I have some extra cycles
at work to do what I want.

Should I:

1. learn ASP.NET using Visual Basic?
2. learn ASP.NET using C#?

I am following videos from
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vwd/learning/#video -- which
I hope is a good resource.

From what I have read, the .NET stuff is very different from what I am

used to, so I was thinking maybe I might as well jump ship over to C#?
(I hear C programmers make more $$, too.) Or will sticking with VIsual
Basic, since I know VBScript pretty well, be a big benefit to me
learning?

Thanks for any advice,
Blue Apricot 416

 

[Mark Rae]

Should I:

1. learn ASP.NET using Visual Basic?
2. learn ASP.NET using C#?

You should learn both.

From what I have read, the .NET stuff is very different from what I am
used to,

It certainly is.

so I was thinking maybe I might as well jump ship over to C#?
(I hear C programmers make more $$, too.)

Learn both - you might find you earn even more...

Or will sticking with VIsual Basic, since I know VBScript pretty well,
be a big benefit to me learning?

None whatsoever. In fact, there's a school of thought which says that it
might actually be a disadvantage...

If you do decide to learn VB.NET, remember this above all else:

VB.NET IS NOT THE NEXT VERSION OF VISUAL BASIC!!!

There are some similarities in syntax, but that's about it. In fact, if
you've been doing web programming in ASP for a while, chances are you'll be
fairly good at JavaScript - you might actually find that C# has more in
common with JavaScript than VB.NET has with VB...

 

[Laurent Bugnion]

Hi,

There are some similarities in syntax, but that's about it. In fact, if
you've been doing web programming in ASP for a while, chances are you'll be
fairly good at JavaScript - you might actually find that C# has more in
common with JavaScript than VB.NET has with VB...

And that's going to be even more the case when C# 3,0 is out... (var,
extension methods...

Laurent

 

[Rad [Visual C# MVP]]

I have been doing Classic ASP for years, and I know it well. I didn't
jump on the .Net bandwagon way back when because at the time I was
doing primarily front end code, and so it wasn't wirth learning in my
"spare time". Now I want to learn ASP.Net, as I have some extra cycles
at work to do what I want.

Should I:

1. learn ASP.NET using Visual Basic?
2. learn ASP.NET using C#?

I am following videos from
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vwd/learning/#video -- which
I hope is a good resource.

used to, so I was thinking maybe I might as well jump ship over to C#?
(I hear C programmers make more $$, too.) Or will sticking with VIsual
Basic, since I know VBScript pretty well, be a big benefit to me
learning?

Thanks for any advice,
Blue Apricot 416

If you were a rebel and did asp with javascript, i would say do C#. If you
did it with vbscript, or you already know vb, then do it with c#. Minimize
your learning curve.

 

[Mark Rae]

And that's going to be even more the case when C# 3,0 is out... (var,
extension methods...

Yes indeed.

 

[Blue Apricot]

There are some similarities in syntax, but that's about it. In fact, if
you've been doing web programming in ASP for a while, chances are you'll be
fairly good at JavaScript - you might actually find that C# has more in
common with JavaScript than VB.NET has with VB...

That is very interesting because I actually consider my Javascript
knowledge to be better than my VBScript, although I did do my ASP in
VBScript. (LIke I said, I moved towards the front end for a couple
years, so more HTML, CSS and Javascript than anything else.)

Thanks,
Blue Apricot 416

 

[Mark Rae]

That is very interesting because I actually consider my Javascript
knowledge to be better than my VBScript, although I did do my ASP in
VBScript. (LIke I said, I moved towards the front end for a couple
years, so more HTML, CSS and Javascript than anything else.)

In which case, you might find C# more intuitive than VB.NET. You'll already
be familiar with:

placing a semi-colon at the end of each statement,
the for() and foreach() loops,
the case-sensitivity,
[] instead of () to reference individual items in arrays,
switch
etc

I'm willing to bet you could look at any C# code sample in the MSDN library
and have a pretty good idea of what it's doing...

Of course, having said that, the syntax of the various .NET languages really
is only the very beginning. Syntax is quite easy to learn because there's
really not that much of it. The big learning curve is the .NET Framework
itself - it's vast.

I would suggest you get to grips with ADO.NET first - it's quite unusual to
do any sort of ASP.NET development without at least some database
interaction...

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hello, Mr. or Ms. Apricot,

1. learn ASP.NET using Visual Basic?
2. learn ASP.NET using C#?

You have heard correctly. ASP.Net is fully object-oriented, while COM, for
example is only pseudo-object-oriented. This means that there will be a
paradigm shift in terms of how you design your applications, from procedural
to object-oriented and event-driven. This will be no small task, but it will
be well worth the effort. There are some very good reasons for the change,
things that will only move more in this direction, so you will have to get
used to them eventually.

In fact, OOP has been around for over a decade, but it has taken quite a
while for the world of ASP to catch up with it, for a number of unimportant
reasons. The important thing is, ASP.Net is now fully up-to-speed, as is the
Microsoft .Net Framework on which it stands. You will need to familiarize
yourself with the .Net Framework, especially the Class Library, a huge
repository of namespaces and classes that you will employ. In particular,
the System.Web and System.Net namespaces contain most of the classes you
will be working with.

Because of its nature, you will need to familiarize yourself with new ways
of designing your applications. Fortunately, there's plenty of help
available from Microsoft and other sources. Here are some good starting
points:

General:

Microsoft MSDN Library Online:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp

Microsoft .Net Development:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp

..Net Framework Conceptual Overview:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zw4w595w(VS.80).aspx

Microsoft Patterns and Practices:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/

ASP.Net QuickStart:
http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/doc/default.aspx

Migrating from ASP to ASP.Net:
http://www.aspfree.com/c/a/ASP.NET/Migrating-from-ASP-to-ASP.NET/

As for your language, well, you've got quite a lot on your plate right now.
If you're familiar with VBScript, you might want to start out with VB, to
lighten your load. Of course, if you've done a lot of Classic ASP, you may
be well-versed in JavaScript, and C# has almost the same syntax as
JavaScript. Remember that both C# and VB.Net create the same code, so it's
really not that hard to get started with either. The most difficulty you
will have will be with (1) Application Design Principles, and (2) The .Net
Framework Library. Sometimes finding the classes you need is a daunting
task.

But remember, the only way to eat an elephant is one byte at a time!

Good luck!

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Logostician
http://unclechutney.blogspot.com

There is a madness to my method.

 

[Blue Apricot]

You have heard correctly. ASP.Net is fully object-oriented, while COM, for
example is only pseudo-object-oriented. This means that there will be a
paradigm shift in terms of how you design your applications, from procedural
to object-oriented and event-driven. This will be no small task, but it will
be well worth the effort. There are some very good reasons for the change,
things that will only move more in this direction, so you will have to get
used to them eventually.

In fact, OOP has been around for over a decade, but it has taken quite a
while for the world of ASP to catch up with it, for a number of unimportant
reasons. The important thing is, ASP.Net is now fully up-to-speed, as is the
Microsoft .Net Framework on which it stands. You will need to familiarize
yourself with the .Net Framework, especially the Class Library, a huge
repository of namespaces and classes that you will employ. In particular,
the System.Web and System.Net namespaces contain most of the classes you
will be working with.

Because of its nature, you will need to familiarize yourself with new ways
of designing your applications. Fortunately, there's plenty of help
available from Microsoft and other sources. Here are some good starting
points:

General:

Microsoft MSDN Library Online:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp

Microsoft .Net Development:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp

.Net Framework Conceptual Overview:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zw4w595w(VS.80).aspx

Microsoft Patterns and Practices:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/

ASP.Net QuickStart:
http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/doc/default.aspx

Migrating from ASP to ASP.Net:
http://www.aspfree.com/c/a/ASP.NET/Migrating-from-ASP-to-ASP.NET/

As for your language, well, you've got quite a lot on your plate right now.
If you're familiar with VBScript, you might want to start out with VB, to
lighten your load. Of course, if you've done a lot of Classic ASP, you may
be well-versed in JavaScript, and C# has almost the same syntax as
JavaScript. Remember that both C# and VB.Net create the same code, so it's
really not that hard to get started with either. The most difficulty you
will have will be with (1) Application Design Principles, and (2) The .Net
Framework Library. Sometimes finding the classes you need is a daunting
task.

But remember, the only way to eat an elephant is one byte at a time!

Good luck!

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Logostician
http://unclechutney.blogspot.com

Thank you for this detailed list, I really appreciate it.

I have been getting frustrated the last couple days, but all I can do
is give up or plow ahead. I am choosing to plow thanks to helpfull
people like you.

Much appreciated,
Blue Apricot 416