I posted this on the beginners forum, but nobody seems to know.

The more I learn about ASPX, the more it appears to be an upgrade of the VB 6.0 IIS Application project rather than an upgrade to ASP itself? Am I misunderstanding something? Could someone clarify the difference between these two for me?

Thanks,
Yehuda

Hi there,

I don't know too much about the VB 6.0 IIS Application projects, but from what I know about it, ASP.NET is completely different.

Just a few major differences:

1. ASP.NET allows you to write web pages in multiple languages, like VB.NET. C#, J#, JScript.Net etc.

2. By separating UI from Business Logic from Database, you can create reusable (Business logic and Data Access class) that can easily be reused in Windows Forms, Web Services, Console Applications, etc.

3. If I recall correctly, the VB 6.0 IIS Application projects were IE only (no??). ASP.NET will generate code that runs on kinds of browsers, like IE, Netscape, but on other devices as well. It doesn't expose all the cool functionality like validators to "downlevel browsers" (read : Non-IE), but at least you can access the functionality at the server.

4. ASP.NET is complete event-driven, allowing you to create more natural pages. Instead of checking the length of the value of a drop down option element, you can now hook into an ListBox_ItemChanged or whatever event. Makes for more logical, natural code, IMO.

5. ASP.NET can easily be extended by inheritance. Don't like the behavior of a text box? Simply derive from the base Text box, and add your required functionality.

Either I am underestimating VB 6.0 IIS Application projects, or you are underestimating ASP.NET.....

Go to http://www.asp.net/ for lots of info about ASP.NET. Also, http://msdn.microsoft.com is a good place to find out more about it.

Cheers,

Imar


---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.

Imar,

Thanks for taking time to answer me. There is no question in my mind that ASP.NET is more updated. It definitely expands the tool choice and the browser choice (as you pointed out). It just seems to me (and I am probably wrong, which is why I am posting this), that ASP.NET is not really the next version of ASP, but the next version of the VB 6.0 IIS application. This worries me because the application had serious problems with scalability and memory management (among other things). I am wondering if anyone else sees the similarities and has found the architectural difference or an article explaining why the two are not similar. So far I have not seen any issues with ASP.NET, but I have only worked with it on a small scale and am trying to find this answer before I commit to a large scale.

Thanks,
Yehuda

Well, AFAIK, there are a lot less scalability and memory issues with ASP.NET than ever before.

For example, using Caching you can greatly increase the performance of your sites. Caching is handled pretty much automatically behind the scenes, without too much intervention from your side.

The possibility to store Session state in a SQL Server or a State server might decrease the performance slightly (this is mostly noticeable when using SQL Server), but definitely will help to scale out your site. This also enables you to put your ASP.NET apps in a web farm which wasn't possible with classic ASP (when using Sessions).

Of course even with ASP.NET it's still possible to create slow performing applications (hey, tell me about it ;) ), so you may want to take a look at the following links to get an idea how to improve it. This is just a random collection of links on this subject. There is a ton of other info available.

IMO, ASP.NET is the next version of ASP, integrated with / targeted at the .NET Framework.

Cheers,

Imar


http://asia.cnet.com/builder/archite...9117064,00.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...n/PTuneNET.asp
http://www.windowswebsolutions.com/A...rticleID=25228
http://www.asp.net/whitepaper/whyasp...ndex=0&tabid=1


---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.