ASP.NET 3.5 Website Programming: Problem-Design-Solution

Chapter 9. E-Commerce Store

In this chapter, we'll implement a simple working e-commerce store for The Beer House, to enable users to shop for mugs, T-shirts, and other gadgets for beer-fanatics. In addition to the existing patterns and knowledge we have covered in this book the store gives us a chance to extend the application of AJAX and custom profile objects. We'll also drill down into e-commerce-specific design and coding issues as we implement a persistent shopping cart, and we'll integrate a third-party payment processor service to support real-time credit card transactions. At the end of the chapter you'll have a complete e-commerce module that you can easily adapt to suit your own needs.

Problem

The Beer House wants to extend its brand and turn the website into a direct revenue stream instead of just a promotional vehicle. Many bars and restaurants sell branded products to customers, which is both profitable and actually provides valuable free advertising. Nothing like customers who are willing to pay you to promote your business!

This chapter covers the design and implementation of an e-commerce store — this option was chosen for our demo website because it's a good example of nontrivial design and coding, and it gives you a chance to examine some additional ASP.NET technology in a real-world scenario. Building an e-commerce store from scratch is one of the most difficult jobs for a web developer, and it requires a good design up front, including accounting for security, ...