Page 13 - DCAP312_WEB_TECHNOLOGIES_II

Unit 1: Making Sense of .NET and Anatomy of an ASP.NET Page

1.3.1 Microsoft.NET Solutions Notes
• Single Programming Model: A related goal is to have development for the internet
environment look very much like development for other types of software. Likewise,
developing user interfaces in Windows Forms is very similar to developing them in
Web Forms. There are commonly used controls, such as Labels and Text Boxes, in both,
with similar sets of properties and method. The amount of commonality makes it easy to
transition between the two types of development and easier for traditional VB developers
to start using Web Forms.
• Distributed Systems: The Vision of Microsoft.NET is globally distributed systems, using
XML as the universal glue to allow functions running on different computers across an
organization or across the world to come together in a single application. In this vision,
systems from servers to Wireless Palmtops, with everything in between, will share the
same general platform, with versions of .NET available for all of them, and with each of
them able to integrate transparently with the others.
• Richer User Interface: Web Forms are a giant step towards much richer web-based
user interfaces. Their built in intelligence allows rich, browser independent screens to
be developed quickly, and to be easily integrated with compiled code. Microsoft has
announced an initiative for the future called the Universal Canvas which builds upon the
XML standards to transform the internet from a Read only environment into a read/write
platform, enabling users to interactively create, browse, edit and analyze information.
The universal canvas can bring together multiple sources of information anywhere in the
world to enable seamless data access and use. (The universal canvas will log on to the Ms
System of servers whenever the new device is turned on) Centrally controlled OS, Office
and Visual Studio.

• Easy Deployment: Executable modules in .NET are self describing. Once the Common
Language Runtime (CLR is explained in next sections) knows where a module resides,
it can find out everything else it needs to know to run the module, such as the module’s
object interface and security requirements, from the module itself. That means a module
can just be copied to a new environment and immediately executed.
• Support for Multiple Languages: The CLR executes binary code called MSIL (Microsoft
intermediate language), and that code looks the same regardless of the original source
language. All .NET enabled languages use the same data types and the same interfacing
conventions. This makes possible for all .NET language to interoperate transparently. One
language can call another easily, and languages can even inherit classes written in another
language and extend them current platform has anywhere near this level of language
interoperability.
• Extendibility: The completely object based approach of .NET is designed to allow base
functionality to be extended through inheritance (unlike COM) and the platform’s
functionality is appropriately partitioned to allow various parts (such as the just-in-time
compilers discussed in the next section) to be replaced as new versions are needed. It is
likely that, in the future, new ways of interfacing to the outside world will be added to the
current trio of windows Form, Web Forms, and Web Services such as universal Canvas.
• Portability of Compiled Applications: .NET allows the future possibility of moving
software to other hardware and operating system platforms. The ultimate goal is that
compiled code produced on one implementation of .NET (such as Windows) could be
moved to another implementation of .NET on a different operating system merely by
copying the compiled code over and running it.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 7