asp.net five steps to get started-basic application

Author: Rob Howard

November 12, 2000 to be archived on December 28, 2000

Welcome to the nothin´but asp.net column, I'll delve into some of the important new features of ASP.net, as well as some other. NET Framework Technologies.

In the first column, we'll discuss five steps to get started with asp.net. In future columns we will explore other outstanding features in asp.net such as deployment, state management, process model, controls, security, and more.

Step 1: Download and install the. NET SDK

ASP.net is provided as part of the. NET SDK and is a collection of all the technologies needed to create, build, and test applications based on the. NET Framework. To download and install the. NET SDK, go to the MSDN Online. NET Developer Center, and then click Download the. NET Framework SDK Beta 1. The download is approximately MB; however, there is an option to split the SDK into a series of small files for downloading.

Before installing ASP.net, you will need to install Internet Explorer 5.5, which you can download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.htm (English).

Note: The technical preview version of the SDK only supports Windows Server with Internet information Services (IIS) 5.0 installed, while the Beta 1 version supports Windows NT 4.0 and IIS 4.0.

Step 2: Install the Quick Start sample for the. NET Framework

If you have already installed the SDK, you should also install the Quick Start sample for the. NET Framework. The QuickStart samples included in the. NET SDK contain detailed examples of various asp.net features and other. NET technologies.

To install the QuickStart sample:

1. Open the SDK Overview link (. NET Framework SDK Overview), which was added to your desktop during the SDK installation process.
2. When the HTML page opens, click the. NET Framework Samples link.
3. Follow the installation steps to install the sample.
4. After the installation is complete, you can access the sample in http://localhost/quickstart/default.htm.
5. Finally, when browsing the default document, you can select the ASP.net link at the top of the page. This link contains a list of the ASP.net samples.

Step 3: Join the Aspng discussion list

As one of the leaders of the growing ASP.net community, Charles Carroll has been doing his best to host an e-mail based asp.net discussion list. In fact, this list of discussions has been around since the first day of the Professional Developer Conference (PDC) in early July.

This discussion list is the best choice for learning and publishing the knowledge of an increasingly rich asp.net developer. Charles examines and filters all the messages to make sure that the published articles are related to this list, so that the discussion is not divorced from the topic.

In addition to the community-side list, the Microsoft. NET Framework Team participates regularly in discussions and publishes sample code. The last time Scott Guthrie published a asp.net example of a dynamically generated image.

To join the discussion list, just visit http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspng.asp. On this page, you can find a complete list of e-mail discussion lists for different topics related to asp.net. The most active list is Aspngbeta, and we recommend that you join this list. Please select Aspngbeta from the list. You can also access http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspngbeta.asp (English) directly and select the options you want to receive e-mail distribution.

Step 4: Frequently asked questions

If I install the SDK and use ASP.net, will I interrupt my existing ASP application?

No. asp.net applications can run concurrently with existing ASP applications.

The file extensions used by ASP (such as. asp and. Asa) and the file extensions used by asp.net (such as. aspx,. asax,. ascx,. asmx, and so on) are completely independent and do not replace each other. Furthermore, the processing of the ASP.net application is performed by a separate ISAPI extension.

Note: Although ASP and asp.net applications can run concurrently, they cannot share application information even in the same directory. For example, the settings made in Global.asa do not affect the ASP.net application, and the settings made in Global.asax do not affect the ASP application. Similarly, application and session state information is not shared. A user in an ASP application cannot use session data that is added to the same user in an ASP.net application unless the user is re-created.

Do you need to use Visual Studio or other tools to create a asp.net page?

No need. Although Visual Studio.NET will provide an amazing design, coding, and debugging environment, it is not necessary to create an ASP.net application. ASP.net follows the same "save only" design principle as the ASP: any text-based editing program can be used to create asp.net applications. The page is automatically compiled when the ASP.net page is first accessed, and subsequent requests access the compiled resource.

Can asp.net run on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me?

No. You can actually use one of these platforms for development, but the ASP.net application must be running on a WEB server or running on Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 with IIS installed.

Step 5: Learn more about

In this step, I will try to outline some important resources for online, printing, and activities. If I get new information, I will continue to add new resources and activities.

IBuySpy Microsoft asp.net sample application

IBuySpy is a full-featured e-business application that details how to use ASP.net to create high-performance, scalable WEB applications. You can browse the sample application online, including the complete source code and documentation, or download the full C # or Visual Basic.NET version of the application.

asp.net host Service

Brinkster Inc. (English) is the largest free ASP Web hosting service provider, offering free asp.net host services. Each member that you join can get 5 MB of space for testing and learning asp.net. Membership for testing and learning provides developers with an opportunity to learn about this new technology. Brinkster provides free ASP host services for more than a year, in the Asp/asp.net host service Market in a leading position.

Community sites and Distribution lists

The ASP.net community (including people, events, discussion lists, newsgroups, and so on) is fantastic, not just one of the best places to get answers or solve problems, but there are also some sites that provide quick start samples online-meaning you can try asp.net without installing it.

• Http://www.aspfree.com (English) is one of the more comprehensive asp.net community sites, managed by Steve Schofield. Here you can find more than 10 articles about asp.net, and an online asp.net QuickStart sample. If you cannot install NET. SDK, this is a good choice for you to learn asp.net. As a bonus, you can also get online versions of chapter 1th of a Preview of ASP.net , published by Wrox Press.
• Http://www.aspng.com (English) is another more comprehensive asp.net related site. Aspng includes links to the following: Charles Carroll uploaded asp.net class and the ASP.net Workshop uploaded by the Stephen Walther. Finally, Aspng also includes a list of more active e-mail discussions. For information, see Http://www.asplists.com (English).
• Http://www.ASP101.com (English) several asp.net related articles, as well as threaded, web-based discussion asp.net forums.
• Http://www.asptoday.com (English) Wrox Press's online magazine has 10 articles about asp.net, ranging from ado+ to build server controls.
• Http://www.4guysfromrolla.com (English) 4GuysFromRolla includes articles and other related resources. The article covers the overview of ado+ and asp.net itself.
• Http://www.devx.com (English) Finally, Devx.com contains a more comprehensive list of asp.net and the available. NET related resources. From books, Web sites to activities, you can find something interesting here.

Books

Now there are three books that explain. NET:

• presenting C # provides an overview of the new language C # (one of the many languages supported by asp.net). If you want to learn C # quickly and easily, you may need this book.
• a Preview of asp+ covers a variety of content ranging from a brief introduction asp.net to creating a asp.net page, including Web services, data, and controls. In addition, it involves topics such as the move from ASP to ASP.net, the ASP.net object model, and how to use COM components in. NET. This book was published before Beta 1.
• a programmer´s Introduction to C # by Eric Gunnerson, a member of the C # team, delves into. NET Language C #.

Activities

If you would like to attend a meeting and watch a demo of the ASP.net and. NET Framework, the recommendations are as follows:

• Wrox (English)
  The Wrox European developer Conference will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 29. The meeting discussed various topics related to asp.net and. NET, and members of the. NET Framework team will attend this meeting. I hope you will attend the meeting.
  
  
• Insideasp (English)
  The insideasp meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida, from February 22 to 25th. The meeting only discusses issues related to the ASP and ASP.net communities. As with the Wrox meeting, members of the. NET Framework team will also attend the meeting.
  
  
• asp.net Crash Course (English)
  The four-day symposium will focus on how to build complex interactive HTML forms with Asp+ server controls. We will also introduce you to the latest version of Microsoft ADO--ado+. To understand the time and address of a meeting, see this web site.

Summarize

In short, connecting and running asp.net is very easy. Now, there are some very useful resources to help you learn this technology, and hope you can join the growing Community contributor team. In next month's article, we will discuss changes in session state management in ASP.net (a significant change in ASP).

If you have comments or suggestions for the column, please email to netcolum@microsoft.com.

Rob Howard is a asp.net program administrator for the. NET Framework team. Whenever he is free, he spends time with his family or flies to the east of Washington for a fishing trip.