Beginning ASP.NET MVC 1.0

Chapter 2. ASP.NET WebForms vs. ASP.NET MVC

The first chapter of the book presented a short overview of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern and introduced the main components involved in this popular software development pattern. You read about the model as the component responsible for data operations and business logic implementation, the view as the component to display the output, and the controller as the component to connect your model to the view. You also read about the pros and cons of the MVC pattern and how it can resolve common issues raised in today's development scenarios.

Here in Chapter 2 you are given a general background about the way that the MVC pattern is implemented in ASP.NET MVC. You also take a step forward and connect the theoretical concepts in the first chapter to your existing knowledge of ASP.NET, specifically ASP.NET WebForms and the main elements that contribute to the runtime workflow of an ASP.NET MVC application. In addition, this chapter discusses the pros and cons of ASP.NET MVC and contrasts its implementation with ASP.NET WebForms to show the main differences between the two. These topics are discussed in more detail throughout the book, but this chapter should ground you in some important core concepts.

Before stepping into the details, look at the main topics covered in this chapter:

• An overview of the history of ASP.NET WebForms and ASP.NET MVC and the process that led ASP.NET MVC to come into being

• The advantages and disadvantages of ASP.NET ...