What is ASP.Net and Should You Learn It?
Breaking into the sphere of web development is not as technical or complex as many newbies believe. With so many development frameworks, programming languages and tools, and libraries, learning to develop for the web is much easier today than it was a few years ago.
Do you have your eyes set on learning web development? Whether you wish to switch careers or want to learn to build personal projects, one of the best ways to begin is to focus on a particular platform — such as ASP.NET.
ASP.NET is a popular web development platform. According to Statista, in 2021, ASP.NET was the eighth most popular web development framework with 15.74% of developers using it. Developers prefer it because of its versatility, in-depth documentation, and extensive support. As an open-source software, the platform receives constant and regular updates, and anyone can contribute to its development. The platform is also popular for the control it gives the developer over their code and the diversity of projects it can create.
This post will dive deep into what ASP.NET is, its best features, what the platform is used for, and why you should consider learning it. Whether you are new to coding or you already have some programming experience, this post is for you.
What is ASP.NET?
ASP.NET is an open-source web development framework used to build modern websites, web applications, APIs, and web services. The framework is a collection of tools, services, and components that web developers use to build dynamic websites and tools using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The ASP.NET framework was built on the .NET platform (Network Enabled Technologies) and was initially released in 2002 as an extension of .aspx. The framework is the successor to the Active Server Pages network developed by Microsoft for use in building dynamic websites.
An ASP.NET application runs on the HTTP protocol and recognizes HTTPS commands and policies to deliver dynamic web pages and services. The platform is a server-side framework that is versatile and intuitive enough to allow developers to code with any supported .NET language. The framework features pre-defined programming models and a comprehensive software infrastructure that supports development from scratch.
The ASP.NET Architecture
The ASP.NET framework’s architecture comprises three components: the language, library, and common language runtime.
a) The Language
ASP.NET supports code written in different languages. The primary languages it supports are VB.net and C#.
b) The Library
As a descendant of the .NET platform, ASP.NET includes a set of base libraries from the platform, such as system.web. It also uses libraries for common web development patterns, such as Model View Controller (MVC), which developers use to design and build websites and apps.
c) The Common Language Runtime (CLR)
Common Language Runtime (CLR) refers to the platform on which .NET programs are executed. The framework uses the CLR platform to run key activities, including garbage collection and exception handling.
What Are The Top Features of ASP.NET?
There is one main reason why ASP.NET grew to become one of the most widely used web development frameworks: it is profitable.
With each version release, ASP.NET featured enhanced capabilities and features to streamline and simplify development. Here are the most notable features of the ASP.NET framework that current and aspiring web developers should know.
1. High Performance
Performance must be on top of your list of features to check when considering a web development framework. On this front, ASP.NET wins hands-down compared to many other frameworks.
ASP.NET uses the ASP.NET Core and Kestrel web server to deliver high-performance, responsive, lightweight websites and web services. In addition, the framework supports asynchronous programming to deliver better performance than frameworks that rely on interpreters.
2. Language Independence
ASP.NET is a language-neutral framework. This means a developer is not limited to a particular language to build applications on the framework. Aside from C# and VB.net, a developer can use any of the 32 programming languages the framework supports to develop their applications.
3. Development Environments
Adept developers can build and deploy robust ASP.NET web pages, services, and hubs on a plain text editor. However, using an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Visual Studio and VSCode is the norm to simplify and speed up the development process. ASP.NET comes with a robust development environment with handy features such as component drag-and-drop.
4. Cross-Platform and Container Environment Support
Web applications built on ASP.NET can be deployed and run on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. Developers can also execute applications built on the platform in diverse environments such as Docker.
5. Web Sockets Support
ASP.NET is a server side development framework that uses sockets to enable server-client application communication. With the standard socket programming, developers can create web-based server-client applications that simplify the back-and-forth communication between the client browser and the server.
6. Localization and Globalization Options
Modern programming advocates for globalization and localization of services and applications during development. ASP.NET is designed to help developers customize application languages, date and time formats, currency, keyboard layouts, and number formats for diverse regions and countries. Developers merely have to configure resource files to adapt their web applications to work seamlessly in different markets worldwide.
7. Security
ASP.NET’s compatibility with .NET ensures the security of developed applications. Each application developed using the framework features a unique identification whose authenticity is verified on the .NET platform before execution. The framework will also assess the overall security of the operating system to ensure it is safe and secure using its default security features. Developers can rest easy knowing that their apps are safe and secure thanks to Windows built-in authentication and per-application setup features.
What is ASP.NET Used For?
At its core, ASP.NET is a web development framework that allows developers to use any language when building dynamic web pages, applications, and services. The framework offers three options for development: ASP.NET Web Forms, ASP.NET Web Pages, and ASP.NET MVC.
i) ASP.NET Web Forms
Web Forms is ASP.NET’s intuitive development environment allowing developers to build dynamic websites easily. This feature uses the familiar drag-and-drop and event-driven model to make developing web pages faster. In addition, web Forms offers a design surface on which the developer can work and hundreds of components and controls they can place on it. With ASP.NET Web Forms, developers can create highly functional and professional websites with sophisticated features such as UI-driven functions and data access.
ii) ASP.NET Web Pages
Combined with the Razor syntax, the ASP.NET Web Pages offers a fast and practical way to bind server code with client-side HTML to deploy lightweight but dynamic web pages. Web Pages streamlines the process of connecting a database to the pages, embedding media such as images and video, and linking to other websites and social networking sites. Websites developed with ASP.NET Web Pages are highly personalizable, professional-looking, and conform to modern web standards.
iii) ASP.NET MVC
ASP.NET’s Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework is a powerful way to put together dynamic websites using a familiar pattern that separates the core aspects of the website. The framework gives the developer complete control over markup for easy and agile development. MVC has many features to accelerate development and create sophisticated and professional web applications that meet modern web standards.
Why Learn ASP.Net?
ASP.NET is a powerful framework that anyone looking to learn web development should consider taking up. The framework allows anyone — even beginners — to build websites, web services, and web applications faster with a gentle learning curve. Here are some of the top reasons why you should consider learning ASP.NET.
1. With ASP.NET, you can develop high-performance web pages, REST APIs, web microservices, and even hubs that push content to connected clients in real-time with less code.
2. ASP.NET uses Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation. This is a way in which the computer executes code by compiling it at run time rather than before execution. JIT uses less memory to make applications run fast and allows developers to optimize the code while it is running.
3. You can develop applications and services for the web using a myriad of other programming languages. If you are already familiar with any object-oriented programming, learning to develop for the web with ASP.NET will be much easier and faster.
4. ASP.NET is optimized for easy database integration. Every website or web application needs a database; ASP.NET uses ADO.NET to streamline database integration and functionality for websites, web services, and web applications.
5. ASP.NET uses a code-behind file development approach. This allows the developer to easily separate presentation code and programming logic in their source code using code-behind classes.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to learn to develop websites, applications, and services for the web, there are many tools and frameworks you can use for development. ASP.NET is the ideal framework for anyone to learn, whether new to programming or looking for a more robust framework for speedier and more flexible development.
You can learn ASP.NET on your own using freely available online resources or take a coding bootcamp to learn all the framework’s development concepts the right way.
