ASP.Net 3.5 – What’s New

Hello friends, we are still in the transition phase of .Net 1.1 to 2.0 and 3.5 has been launched. But fortunately there are not lots of architectural changes in ASP.Net 3.5 as we had seen in 2.0. So there is nothing to bother a lot this time while shifting from 2.0 to 3.5. So enjoy your way you have made for you.

A new version of the .NET Framework typically involves features that can be divided into one of the following categories:

• A Look at the New ASP.NET-Specific Features 

• An Overview of Framework Features Useful to ASP.NET Developers

• New Visual Studio 2008 Features

A Look at the New ASP.NET-Specific Features
ASP.NET 3.5 is a rather minor upgrade from ASP.NET 2.0; that is, there are not that many new ASP.NET-specific features in the .NET Framework 3.5.

There are three new features worth noting in ASP.NET 3.5:

• Integrated ASP.NET AJAX support,
• The ListView control, and
• The DataPager control

Prior to ASP.NET 3.5, Microsoft’s ASP.NET AJAX framework needed to be downloaded and installed as an extension. With ASP.NET 3.5, however, the AJAX-related classes are built directly into the .NET Framework, making it easier to get started building rich, AJAX-enabled Web applications with ASP.NET.

ASP.NET 2.0 introduced a number of new data Web controls, including the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls. The GridView displays a list of records in a boxy, grid-like table. The DetailsView and FormView each display one record at a time, the DetailsView in a grid-like output and the FormView in a more fluid layout using templates. The ListView control is an update to the old DataList and Repeater controls, displaying multiple records and providing functionality like the GridView, but allowing for a more flexible layout through the use of templates. The DataPager control operates as a sort of free-standing paging interface. In short, it renders a paging user interface – next, previous, first, last buttons, for instance – and is tied to a data Web control. The DataPager only works with those controls that implement the IPageableItemContainer interface, which (currently) includes only the ListView control.

Microsoft has also published videos (http://asp.net/learn/3.5-videos/) showing how to use the ListView and DataPager controls.

An Overview of Framework Features Useful to ASP.NET Developers
The main framework feature in the .NET Framework version 3.5 is LINQ, which stands for Language Integrated Query. LINQ makes SQL-like syntax a first-class citizen in VB and C#, allowing developers to work with data using code that looks like:

// C# example...
List<string> productNames = from p in products
where p.CategoryID = 1
select p.ProductName;

LINQ simply defines a syntax for working with data. There are built-in Object Relational Mappers (ORMs) that will create the underlying framework to generate LINQ statements that operate against a database, XML, or an object layer. Visit Scott Gu’s blog for a multi-part tutorial series on using the LINQ to SQL ORM implementation.

Visual Studio 2008 provides full-IntelliSense support when using the LINQ syntax. The LINQ syntax is possible due to a number of new features in the .NET Framework, including automatic properties, extension methods, and lambda expressions.

New Visual Studio 2008 Features
Visual Studio 2008 offers an improved developer experience through a number of new features, including an improved Designer, more modern CSS editing options, and enhanced JavaScript debugging and development support. Visual Studio 2008 can target web applications to the .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, or .NET 3.5 environments, meaning you can start using Visual Studio 2008 today to work on your ASP.NET 2.0 websites.

Let’s look at each of these new features individually.

In previous versions of Visual Studio, developers can choose to use the Designer or the Source view when editing the visual component of an ASP.NET page. The Designer provides a WYSIWYG display of the page, whereas the Source view displays the actual markup of the controls. Visual Studio 2008 offers a new Split screen feature, which shows the markup in one pane and the WYSIWYG display in another. When in Split mode, adding content to the Designer automatically updates the markup in the Source view. Unfortunately, the inverse is not true. If you enter new markup manually into the Source view, you either have to save the page or click a button to refresh the Designer view.

With Microsoft’s increasing commitment to AJAX, it comes as no surprise that Visual Studio 2008 offers much better JavaScript support. The design- and debug-time experiences have been greatly improved. When writing JavaScript through the Source view, developers are provided with the same level and functionality of IntelliSense support as they are accustomed to when writing server-side code. This includes IntelliSense support for both in-line JavaScript and for script referenced through external JavaScript files (i.e., script files referenced via syntax like <script language="javascript" src="fileName"></script>). You can even add IntelliSense “hints” to your JavaScript functions using XML comments, just like you can with C# and VB code.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Microsoft recently announced that they would be releasing the .NET Framework code the public. What’s especially cool is that you can point Visual Studio 2008 to a URL that contains the debugging symbols for the .NET Framework, at which point you can step into the .NET Framework code through the debugger. This should provide developers with a deeper understanding of what’s happening underneath the covers of the framework.

Enjoy other posts on related topic on my blog at http://nkp-servitium.blogspot.com/2007/07/visual-studio-orcas-features.html.