What exactly is the difference, if any, between ASP and ASP.NET?
I have been looking for a good reference book for ASP, but can only find ASP.NET on the shelves.
Does it matter?
What do I need to enable me to develop .NET? (with ASP I can just use NotePad)
Cheers,
HKThere's a HUGE difference between the two. Looking at just the language, in ASP you either use VBScript or JavaScript. With ASP.NET, you have the choice of ANY language which is .NET compatible, which basically means it can be compiled to run on Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR). VBScript and JavaScript are not .NET compatible.
From the looks of it, Visual Basic.NET and C# are the two early language leaders for programming in .NET. There have been a lot of changes to VB between VB 6 and VB.NET, but if you are somewhat familiar with VB, the change should not be too hard. C# has been described as a melding of C++ and Java -- "The power of C++ with the programmability of Java", or something like that. The syntax is much more C-ish than VB, but it has true OOP implementation. They also have J# which is supposed to be their stab at Java, but haven't heard too much about it.
Beyond the language difference, there are other benefits. The programs are actually compiled, not interepreted, so you have better performance. You also have the ability to run in debug mode (I know you'll like that). ADO.NET (the data layer) is supposed to have some really good improvements over ADO as well.
You don't HAVE to have any special tools to program in .NET. You can technicallyl still write in Notepad as long as you have the .NET runtime installed, which is a free 20MB+ download from MS. After you download and install, you can write a program in Notepad, and compile it using a DOS command. In reality, it better to go the IDE route. MS even has a free IDE called Web Matrix which is pretty full-featured. Of course, if you want everything, go with Visual Studio.NET, but you'll be shelling out some dough for that.
I always like to promote 4guysfromrolla when it comes to ASP/ASP.NET stuff, so here's their ASP.NET portal with tons of good info:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://4guysfromrolla.411asp.net/And">http://4guysfromrolla.411asp.net/And</a><!-- m --> about books...if you are going to stick with ASP, these two are pretty good and are still available:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861002610/qid=1067528943/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0159696-4005607?v=glance&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072122943/qid=1067529157/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/002-0159696-4005607?v=glance&s=booksNot">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s=booksNot</a><!-- m --> to mention that with ASP.NET you have access to 3400+ standard classes. That's a huge help.
To develop with ASP.NET you need the .NET Framework SDK, not only the runtime.cheers guys,
i'm sticking with ASP for now, but at least I know that there are some fundamental differences now, and I won't buy the wrong book
HK"The power of C++ with the programmability of Java"
I would say it the other way around.
JAVA is much more powerful, in my opinion, because of its extensive use of OOP (and that's just at the programmer level and I forget all the stuff I learned about its pointers and yadda yadda yadda)
C# is mostly C syntax.
So, if you look at it close-up (how you write certain functions) it's much more C-looking. BUT, if you zoom-out (look at how it works its classes and methods), it is more similar to JAVA.I am no expert here but would it not make more sense to invset the time in the platform that is going to be supported in 12 months time over the platfrom that is possibly on the way out?
ASP.NET would make more sense to me and have found the perfect book. I have never been a fan of the SAMS books but their learn in 21 days book is fantastic. Maybe it is just the author in this case.
I have been trying to learn ASP and ASP.NET for a while now and have never got anywhere. I picked up the SAMS book a week ago and have almost got through it all.
Next time you are down the bookstore have a look at this: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672324458/qid=1071115170/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4234339-3717706?v=glance&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books</a><!-- m -->
good luck with what ever choice you make KW.
I have been looking for a good reference book for ASP, but can only find ASP.NET on the shelves.
Does it matter?
What do I need to enable me to develop .NET? (with ASP I can just use NotePad)
Cheers,
HKThere's a HUGE difference between the two. Looking at just the language, in ASP you either use VBScript or JavaScript. With ASP.NET, you have the choice of ANY language which is .NET compatible, which basically means it can be compiled to run on Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR). VBScript and JavaScript are not .NET compatible.
From the looks of it, Visual Basic.NET and C# are the two early language leaders for programming in .NET. There have been a lot of changes to VB between VB 6 and VB.NET, but if you are somewhat familiar with VB, the change should not be too hard. C# has been described as a melding of C++ and Java -- "The power of C++ with the programmability of Java", or something like that. The syntax is much more C-ish than VB, but it has true OOP implementation. They also have J# which is supposed to be their stab at Java, but haven't heard too much about it.
Beyond the language difference, there are other benefits. The programs are actually compiled, not interepreted, so you have better performance. You also have the ability to run in debug mode (I know you'll like that). ADO.NET (the data layer) is supposed to have some really good improvements over ADO as well.
You don't HAVE to have any special tools to program in .NET. You can technicallyl still write in Notepad as long as you have the .NET runtime installed, which is a free 20MB+ download from MS. After you download and install, you can write a program in Notepad, and compile it using a DOS command. In reality, it better to go the IDE route. MS even has a free IDE called Web Matrix which is pretty full-featured. Of course, if you want everything, go with Visual Studio.NET, but you'll be shelling out some dough for that.
I always like to promote 4guysfromrolla when it comes to ASP/ASP.NET stuff, so here's their ASP.NET portal with tons of good info:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://4guysfromrolla.411asp.net/And">http://4guysfromrolla.411asp.net/And</a><!-- m --> about books...if you are going to stick with ASP, these two are pretty good and are still available:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861002610/qid=1067528943/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0159696-4005607?v=glance&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072122943/qid=1067529157/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/002-0159696-4005607?v=glance&s=booksNot">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s=booksNot</a><!-- m --> to mention that with ASP.NET you have access to 3400+ standard classes. That's a huge help.
To develop with ASP.NET you need the .NET Framework SDK, not only the runtime.cheers guys,
i'm sticking with ASP for now, but at least I know that there are some fundamental differences now, and I won't buy the wrong book
HK"The power of C++ with the programmability of Java"
I would say it the other way around.
JAVA is much more powerful, in my opinion, because of its extensive use of OOP (and that's just at the programmer level and I forget all the stuff I learned about its pointers and yadda yadda yadda)
C# is mostly C syntax.
So, if you look at it close-up (how you write certain functions) it's much more C-looking. BUT, if you zoom-out (look at how it works its classes and methods), it is more similar to JAVA.I am no expert here but would it not make more sense to invset the time in the platform that is going to be supported in 12 months time over the platfrom that is possibly on the way out?
ASP.NET would make more sense to me and have found the perfect book. I have never been a fan of the SAMS books but their learn in 21 days book is fantastic. Maybe it is just the author in this case.
I have been trying to learn ASP and ASP.NET for a while now and have never got anywhere. I picked up the SAMS book a week ago and have almost got through it all.
Next time you are down the bookstore have a look at this: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672324458/qid=1071115170/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4234339-3717706?v=glance&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books</a><!-- m -->
good luck with what ever choice you make KW.