Is ASP.NET the future of web applications

[Elias Politakis]

What I am failing to understand is how come and the whole world is treating
ASP.NET as the irresistable pie for web development, whereas you have a
server roundtrip for each mouse click on a form.

Sure Internet is not as slow as it used to be, especially with ISDN and ADSL
connections, but still it is not as fast as it should be in order to support
that technology...

Sometimes I wonder, what is wrong of having HTML bound ADO recordsets on the
client and using XML HTTP for fetching and updating data to and from an ASP
page. Why this model is not far better than ASP.NET ?

Consider, with the model described above, you download a data form (HTML)
once and then you have a roundtrip to the server each time you want to fetch
data from refined criteria or update them.. minimal roundtrips with binary
data travelling over the cable... no reduntand HTML or XML transfers.

My thesis is that HTML alone is good enough for the presentation layer of
data and ASP and XML could be used as the medium for data transfers - not
mixed content and data, promoted by both ASP and ASP.NET models.

Since it is possible to achieve separation of data from the content (data
inside ADO Recordsets bound to HTML tables) and a smooth and managable way
of data transfers through XML HTTP, why ASP.NET ?

Why since Microsoft gives us all the required tools and technology for
competitive (perfornace wise) web applications, promotes those two models
(ASP, ASP.NET) in their worst possible usage ?

And yet, the natives follow this trend..

Well some natives are getting restless.


EGP.

 

[Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)]

What I am failing to understand is how come and the whole world is treating
ASP.NET as the irresistable pie for web development, whereas you have a
server roundtrip for each mouse click on a form.

This is certainly one possibility, but you are not stuck with this. Using
the one click, one roundtrip model simplifies maintainability, certainly,
but you are not stuck with it. I tend to avoid this type of roundtripping in
my own apps. As you can create your own controls, you can even set up a
JavaScript for controls that alter other controls, without the round trip.

Sure Internet is not as slow as it used to be, especially with ISDN and ADSL
connections, but still it is not as fast as it should be in order to support
that technology...

Sometimes I wonder, what is wrong of having HTML bound ADO recordsets on the
client and using XML HTTP for fetching and updating data to and from an ASP
page. Why this model is not far better than ASP.NET ?

Still a roundtrip, and it uses a model that is not easy to secure, as the
code to access the server has to be downloaded to the client. In addition,
XML has to be installed on the client for it to work. In an Internet app, it
could cause user frustration; for Intranet, you are free to go whichever
direction you wish.

As you suggest this after talking about the Internet not being as slow, you
should note that the XML HTTP solution still requires getting info from the
server, even if the action is hidden from the user.

Consider, with the model described above, you download a data form (HTML)
once and then you have a roundtrip to the server each time you want to fetch
data from refined criteria or update them.. minimal roundtrips with binary
data travelling over the cable... no reduntand HTML or XML transfers.

My thesis is that HTML alone is good enough for the presentation layer of
data and ASP and XML could be used as the medium for data transfers - not
mixed content and data, promoted by both ASP and ASP.NET models.

The only problem with this form of thinking is the HTTP/HTML model is rather
restricted on what you can and cannot do. It is a widespread infant acting
like a teenager.

Since it is possible to achieve separation of data from the content (data
inside ADO Recordsets bound to HTML tables) and a smooth and managable way
of data transfers through XML HTTP, why ASP.NET ?

You are examining a microcosm inside the whole of Internet development. And,
in your instance, I see no reason, other than the dependency on software
which may not reside on the client, for not using XML HTTP when it makes
sense. Since you are free to write JavaScript in ASP.NET, you can still use
XML HTTP along with ASP.NET, however, so it is not an either or type of
question.

Why since Microsoft gives us all the required tools and technology for
competitive (perfornace wise) web applications, promotes those two models
(ASP, ASP.NET) in their worst possible usage ?

I think the author community is doing far more of this than Microsoft,
especially in the first round of books.

And yet, the natives follow this trend..

Well some natives are getting restless.

There are some things I would not recommend .NET for. From a business
standpoint, however, it is a no brainer. Once developers learn .NET, the
time to market is greatly reduced. I am on a project now that would take
more than 6 months in ASP. The schedule is 3 months. While .NET is still
going to be close, it is a much faster development environment.

Of course, you can have every control linked to an event, but that is not
the norm, at least not with experienced .NET developers. It is nice to have
the power to take a trip rather than download tons of info, but it is just
another tool in the arsenal. You would not use a hammer to screw in screws;
I see .NET in the same light. On the other hand, .NET is fully extensible,
so there are ways to get around some of the problems without a lot of return
trips.

The axiom: change is always frustrating, and not always for the best. Take
what you can with you and dump the rest.

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

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