What is ASP.net?

The Microsoft .NET Framework

Microsoft’s .NET framework is an infrastructure in the .NET platform that provides an environment for building, deploying and running web applications and services.

Microsoft’s .NET platform boasts of easy to use and implement programming paradigms which enables reduced code, declarative programming model and better server control hierarchy. The .NET framework encompasses larger class library and better support for development tools.

Composition of the .NET Framework

The .NET framework is composed of programming languages, server and client side technologies and integrated development environments. Programming languages in the .Net framework include Visual Basic (VB.NET), C# (pronounced C sharp) and J# (pronounced J sharp). ASP.NET, Windows Forms and Compact Framework are included in the server and client side technologies. Visual Studio .NET (VS.NET) and Visual Web Developer forms Microsoft’s Integrated Development Environments (IDEs).

What is ASP.NET? ASP.NET or ActiveServerPages.NET, codenamed ASP+ while it was in development, is a brand new Microsoft technology to enable web developers to create robust, powerful and lightning quick dynamic server side scripted pages. ASP.NET requires Microsoft Internet Information Services Web Server or IIS to run. IIS ships with almost all NT based Windows versions including Windows 2000/XP/Vista, although it is not preinstalled.

An ASP.NET file is similar to a HTML file and it can contain HTML, XML and scripts. Scripts within an ASP.NET file are executed by the server, hence the term "server side scripting technology". An ASP.NET file has .aspx extension, while Classic ASP had just .asp extension.

When a client (typically a browser) requests for a resource on the web server, the server sees what the request is for – html, images, other files or an ASP.NET file. If it’s a file other than an ASP.NET file, the server sends back the requested resource to the client as it is and if the file is an ASP.NET file, the server passes the request to the ASP.NET engine (present on the server itself). The ASP.NET engine parses the file and executes the scripts within it.

What is Classic ASP?

Classic ASP was Microsoft’s previous version for supporting server side scripting technology. It was one of the fastest ways to create quick and dirty dynamic pages. Classic ASP is very popular among developers even as of now. Classic ASP however had a few shortcomings related to code sizes, code clutters, debugging, extensibility and reusability. The last version for Microsoft’s Classic ASP was 3.0.

The Microsoft .NET Framework

Microsoft’s .NET framework is an infrastructure in the .NET platform that provides an environment for building, deploying and running web applications and services.

Microsoft’s .NET platform boasts of easy to use and implement programming paradigms which enables reduced code, declarative programming model and better server control hierarchy. The .NET framework encompasses larger class library and better support for development tools.

Composition of the .NET Framework

The .NET framework is composed of programming languages, server and client side technologies and integrated development environments. Programming languages in the .Net framework include Visual Basic (VB.NET), C# (pronounced C sharp) and J# (pronounced J sharp). ASP.NET, Windows Forms and Compact Framework are included in the server and client side technologies. Visual Studio .NET (VS.NET) and Visual Web Developer forms Microsoft’s Integrated Development Environments (IDEs).

What is ASP.NET?
Before understanding what is ASP.NET. Lets understand what classic ASP was.

Classic ASP

Classic ASP was Microsoft’s previous version for supporting server side scripting technology. It was one of the fastest ways to create quick and dirty dynamic pages. Classic ASP is very popular among developers even as of now. Classic ASP however had a few shortcomings related to code sizes, code clutters, debugging, extensibility and reusability. The last version for Microsoft’s Classic ASP was 3.0.

ASP.NET or ActiveServerPages.NET, codenamed ASP+ while it was in development, is a brand new Microsoft technology to enable web developers to create robust, powerful and lightning quick dynamic server side scripted pages. ASP.NET requires Microsoft Internet Information Services Web Server or IIS to run. IIS ships with almost all NT based Windows versions including Windows 2000/XP/Vista, although it is not preinstalled.

An ASP.NET file is similar to a HTML file and it can contain HTML, XML and scripts. Scripts within an ASP.NET file are executed by the server, hence the term "server side scripting technology". An ASP.NET file has .aspx extension, while Classic ASP had just .asp extension.

When a client (typically a browser) requests for a resource on the web server, the server sees what the request is for – html, images, other files or an ASP.NET file. If it’s a file other than an ASP.NET file, the server sends back the requested resource to the client as it is and if the file is an ASP.NET file, the server passes the request to the ASP.NET engine (present on the server itself). The ASP.NET engine parses the file and executes the scripts within it.