The Future of ASP
December 4, 2000
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is probably one of the most exciting things about .NET
from a developer's perspective. ASP has been totally redone from the
ground up. ASP.NET files will end with the .aspx extension (that is
mainly so your existing .asp pages can still work fine). ASP.NET
provides a number of great things, including improved browser
compatibility with HTML server-side controls, easier configuration
and application deployment, cleaner code and ease of use. In the
following paragraphs we will take a look at some sample ASP.NET
code.
HTML Server-Side Controls
ASP.NET has taken great strides to make compatibility issues a
thing of the past. Every seasoned developer knows the nightmare that
is making sure your page works on every browser for every platform.
Most of us want to pretend these problems do not exist, but we all
know they do. The solutions thus far have been either A) to build
sites that dynamically detect a user's browsers and output a page
appropriately or B) to build multiple versions of the same site.
Frankly, both are obnoxious, though solution A is a much more
desirable solution - it is just harder to get to work. Previously you
would use the browser capabilities component, but if it isn't up to
date, you can forget good results.
ASP.NET brings to the table some Server-Side Controls that will
save you coding time and create cross-browser compatible code. What
does it mean to have a server-side control? Actually, not much, other
then the fact that the code has
HTML elements that run on the server
rather then being rendered client side. In other words, let's say you
have a form tag, like the following: <form name="myform"
action="somepage.aspx" method="post">. Now, anything that
occurs with that form when the page is visited is a client side
operation. However, add runat=server to the tag like so:
<form name="myform" action="somepage.aspx" method="post"
runat="Server"> and suddenly the form tag is a server
control. Now, when the page is visited the server handles the tag
rather then the client - which only deals with the visual display. No
doubt, that makes next to no sense, so let's take a look at a
practical application - saving state.
If you have ever used ASP for form handling, you will find relief
in server-side controls. This is a sample of today's form handling
with ASP - specifically saving state, or making sure that form fields
retain their values if the user makes a mistake or if there is an
error.
<%
if (Len(Request.Form("fname")) > 0)
OR (Len(Request.Form("lname")) > 0) then
Dim fname, lname
fname = Request.Form("First_Name")
lname = Request.Form("Last_Name")
ConfirmMsg = "Your name is: " & fname & " " & lname
end if
%>
<html>
<head>
<title>ASP Form Sample</title>
</head>
<body>
<% if ConfirmMsg <> "" then %>
<h2><%= ConfirmMsg %></h2>
<% end if %>
<form action="thispage.asp" method="post" name="Input_Form">
First Name:
<input type="text" name="fname">
<br>
Last Name:
<input type="text" name="lname">
<br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit Form">
</form>
</body>
</html>
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NOTE: the if statement: "if (Len(Request.Form("fname")) > 0)
OR (Len(Request.Form("lname")) > 0) then" was broken for
display purposes. In use it should be placed on one line.
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Now, that is not so bad, but imagine if you had an employment
application online with many more fields, writing out all that code
becomes painstakingly boring as you well know.
Server-side controls put an end to that, completely. Let's take a
look.
What is .NET?
The .NET Revolution
A Server With Memory
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