In this session we will learn about ASP.NET.
- What is ASP.NET?
- What is a Web Application?
- What other technologies can be used to build web application.
- What are the advantages of web applications?
- How ASP.NET web application work.
What is ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a web application framework developed by Microsoft to build dynamic data driven web applications and web services.
ASP.NET is a subset of .NET framework and a framework is a collection of classes.
ASP.NET is the successor to classic ASP(Active Server Page).
What is a Web Application
A web application is an application that is accessed by users using a web browser.
Example: To search something on the internet I fire up a browser and I type google.com, so google.com for example is a web application or I want to do some internet banking work. And I fire up a browser I type in Barclays.co.uk meaning Barclays is a web application there. So any application that is typically accessed using a web browser is called a web application. Here are some:
- Google Chrome.
- Mozilla Firefox.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Apple safari.
- Netscape Navigator.
What other technologies can be used to build web applications
ASP.NET is not the only technology available to build web applications. There are alternative technologies as well:
- PHP
- JAVA
- CGI
- RUBY ON RAILS
- PERL
And there are many others as well which I have not listed here.
What are the advantages of web application
There are some advantages of web application.
- Web Application just need to be installed only on web server, whereas desktop application need to be installed on every computer, where you want to access them.
- Maintenance, support and patches are easier to provide.
- Only browser is required on the client machine to access a web application.
- Accessible from anywhere, provided there is internet.
- Cross Platform
How ASP.NET Web Application Work
- Web application work on client/server architecture.
- On the client all you need is a browser, that can understand HTML.
- On the server side, the Web application runs under Microsoft Internet Information Server(IIS).