Beginning ASP.NET 4.5 in VB

CHAPTER 17

Files and Streams

There’s a good reason that this book covered ADO.NET before dealing with simpler data access techniques, such as writing and reading ordinary files. Traditional file access is generally much less useful in a web application than it is in a desktop program. Databases, on the other hand, are designed from the ground up to support a large number of simultaneous users with speed, safety, and efficiency. Most web applications will rely on a database for some features, but many won’t have any reason to use direct file access.

Of course, enterprising ASP.NET developers can find a use for almost any technology. If this book ...