No FAQ on this: Differences in ASP and ASP.net

[AlaskanDad]

I was hoping there was an FAQ subject on this but didn't find one. Perhaps this could be the start.

I'm fairly familiar with ASP programming (1 year) but really have no idea what ASP.net does.

What are the major differences?
Why did we need a new language?
How difficult is it to change existing ASP to ASP.net?
What would I want to change my code?

Thanks in advance.

 

[crystalized]

There is a tonne of stuff out there that can explain this sooooooo much better than I can. Basically almost every book I have seen on asp.net has a section on what is different and new in it.

So far from my relatively new status I will tell you some of the things I like and don't like.
Likes:
1. Being able to write a class that handles a bunch of my logic, compile that class and use it in the page very easily.
2. Being able to separate the presentation from the code using Code behind (basically for each page you actually have 2 pages one is the aspx page the other is the aspx.cs or aspx.vb page)
3. Built in controls are mostly easy to use (and if you currently use any DTC's from visual Interdev you will find these are relatively similar in function although they are usually much more powerful)
4. User Controls, these are basically like building your own DTC's but they can be combinations of other controls. For example I have one user control that uses three of the built in text boxes and performs it's own validation. So I can put this control on a page, then I just have to call the controls methods and properties to work with it. This is excellent for anything that you may want to repeat on multiple pages.
5. Huge range of controls available just look on asp.net at the components section and you will even find some free ones.

Dislikes
1. Learning curve is steep but only because there is soooooooo much depth to the stuff you can do.
2. The help files take quite a bit of getting used to - at first they seem so useless because you don't know enough to understand them - but it does get better
3. Visual Studio still has some quirks that cause weird stuff to happen to your code on occasion.

Well I guess that is a start anyway! Crystal
crystalized_s@yahoo.com

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Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.

-Oscar Wilde