Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB, Second Edition

VB and C# Programming Basics

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As you learned at the end of the last chapter, one of the great things about using

ASP.NET is that we can pick and choose which of the various .NET languages

we like. In this chapter, we’ll look at the key programming principles that will

underpin our use of Visual Basic and C#. We’ll start by discussing some basic

concepts of programming ASP.NET web applications using these two languages.

We’ll explore programming fundamentals such as variables, arrays, functions,

operators, conditionals, loops, and events, and work through a quick introduction

to object oriented programming (OOP). Next, we’ll dive into namespaces and

address the topic of classes—seeing how they’re exposed through namespaces,

and which ones you’ll use most often.

The final sections of the chapter cover some of the ideas underlying modern, ef-

fective ASP.NET design, including code-behind and the value it provides by

helping us separate code from presentation. We finish with an examination of

how object oriented programming techniques impact the ASP.NET developer.

Programming Basics

One of the building blocks of an ASP.NET page is the application logic: the ac-

tual programming code that allows the page to function. To get anywhere with

ASP.NET, you need to grasp the concept of events. All ASP.NET pages will

contain controls such as text boxes, checkboxes, and lists. Each of these controls