Chapter 1. Getting Started
Learning ASP.NET 3.5 will teach you everything you need to know to build professional quality web applications using Microsoft’s latest technology, including ASP.NET 3.5 and AJAX. ASP.NET is Microsoft’s tool for creating dynamic, interactive web pages and applications. Using plain vanilla HTML, you can make a web page that has some great content, but it’s static—the content doesn’t change, no matter what the user does. You can even use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to make it the most visually impressive thing on the Web, but if what you really need is for users to be able to leave comments, or browse your inventory, or buy things from you, then HTML alone won’t get it done.
That’s where ASP.NET 3.5 comes in. Within these chapters, you’ll find out how to do all the great tricks that you see on the most popular commercial web sites. Order forms? We’ve got that. Interact with a database? You’ll do that, too. Dynamic navigation tools? It’s in here. Personalized appearance that the user can customize? No problem.
The best part is, you’ll do it all with minimal coding. You can make ASP.NET pages in your favorite text editor if you want, but that’s a bit like using a hammer and chisel to write the Great American Novel. If you use Visual Studio 2008, or its free counterpart, Visual Web Developer, adding many features to your page is as simple as dragging and dropping. The tools generate most of the code for you. If you’re an old-school type who cringes at the idea ...