ASP.NET 2.0 training - what's new for ASP.NET 2.0

ASP.NET 2.0 rewrites version 1.1 from start to finish - not so much an upgrade as a new software application. All the features which should have been in 1.1 are there in 2.0: master pages, easier datagrids, better HTML table design and so much more. Some changes are shown below - see also Visual Basic 2005 changes or Visual Studio 2005 changes. Specific changes include:

Change	Details
Master pages	You can now create master pages, which provide a template for your web site. So to make a change to your web site layout, you can just change its master page or pages.

Site navigation	You can automate the creation of navigation through your web site, using site maps (including breadcrumbs), menus and treeviews (an example of the last is shown below). These can be based on either a site map file or an XML file.

Data sources	It is now far easier to create links to databases - you simply create a data source, and assign this to the control by choosing it from a list. The first stage of the process is shown below, to give an idea of how easy all this now is.

Gridviews	Datagrids were good in ASP.NET 1.1, but some features such as sorting and paging were unnecessarily complicated. You can now create gridviews with almost no coding - just assign a data source and tick the sorting/paging check boxes!

XHTML	HTML pages are created by default in XHTML. The main difference is that you now have to use style attributes more - as the diagram below shows, ASPNET 2.0 frowns on old-fashioned HTML …

Validation improved	Validation controls were a great idea in ASP.NET, but practical problems stopped them being usable, Wise Owl felt. In ASPNET 2.0 the client script rendered for validation controls is browser-independent, and you can group validation controls into different segments of a page.

HTML editing tags	You can now see exactly which part of a page you are working with (just like in FrontPage 2003).

HTML changes preserved	Previously you wouldn't dare put comments like the one below in HTML in Visual Studio - they would just be moved around! Also, Visual Studio now preserves where you are on the page when you move between design and HTML (now called Source) view.

Quick deployment	Publishing a web site is now much easier, and has many more options - for example, you can choose to publish compiled code only.

More controls	There are many more controls, and the ones there are are more sensibly grouped. New controls include ones for file uploading, image maps, hidden fields and creating wizards.

Better debugging	You can now change code while you are debugging, and resume execution. Error checking is better - an example is shown below.

Better tables	ASP.NET 1.1 tables were woeful. This has all changed, so that tables now behave the way you would expect them to - as one example, pressing TAB in the diagram below would take you to the next cell!

Document outline window	You can now view a web page (or a Windows form) in outline view.

Partial classes	Because of a new concept called partial classes, there is now no hidden code in codebehind view, nor do you need those PROTECTED WITHEVENTS statements.