A gradual increase is noted in the number of local and small businesses going online. With more and more businesses having a virtual presence, it has become essential for developers to explore fresh ideas to make their clients’ websites or web applications unique. Some developers explore innovative ways to boost the user experience, whereas others rely on the web application development frameworks make their websites powerful and popular. In comparison to conventional web application development frameworks, ASP.Net is popular among programmers across the world due to its powerful yet easy-to-use features and functionalities.
Microsoft further upgrades ASP.Net regularly with advanced features to meet the latest trends in web development. The version 4.5 of the web development framework comes with a set of features that make it easier for programmers to build dynamic and interactive application that run on the internet. At the same time, a developer can use Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 to create the application without writing longer lines of code. Along with simplifying the web application development process, the latest version of technology also prepares programmers for the upcoming technological revolution.
Key ASP.Net Features to Meet the Latest Web Development Trends
1. Support for HTML5 WebSockets: The user experience of a web application hugely depends on the smooth communication between the web server and the client. Often programmers have to explore options to facilitate duplex or two-way communication between the web server and the client browser. HTML5 WebSocket is used widely as a protocol to perform such duplex communication. The upgraded versions of ASP.Net and IIS support the WebSocket protocol. However, the WebSocket protocol must be enabled in IIS 8.0 before using the features in application. Once the protocol is enabled in IIS, the programmer can initiate the client-server communication using IsWebSocketRequest property and AcceptWebSocketRequest() method.
2. Option to Bundle and Minify Files: Often users turn away from web applications that are slow. So web application developers look for efficient ways to control the number of requests sent to the server from the web browser, and the time required by the server to respond to each user request. ASP.Net 4.5 comes with a fresh feature that makes it easier for programmers to bundle and minify files neatly. The bundling and minifcation of CSS and JavaScript files will further contribute towards making the website perform faster. But a developer has to specify the URLs to the CSS and JavaScript files to avail this feature. Also, he has to follow specific naming conventions to bundle all these files from a folder, and serve these as a single request. The Bundle class and IBundleTransform interface can be used to customize the process of bundling these files and scripts.
3. Revamped Web Forms: Before the release of the updated version of ASP.Net, many programmers were skeptical about using Web Forms on their applications. Microsoft has integrated the MVC design with Web Forms to make it easier for developers to separate business logic and design. With the model binding feature, a programmer can bind a specific value in the client application to a model on the web server. The binding will further make validation on the server more efficient. In ASP.Net 4.5, a developer also has options to add ModelType property to the data controls. The new property enables him to specify the type of object that will be bound to the control. At the same time, the query can also be manipulated through the IQueryable object to avail designing features like sorting and paging. Also, the upgraded version of ASP.Net supports HTML5.
4. Creating Asynchronous HTTP Handlers: In comparison to traditional HTTP handlers, asynchronous HTTP handlers are more effective in supporting asynchronous processing of user requests. The older versions of the asp.net application development framework allowed you to create HTTP handlers. But ASP.Net 4.5 makes it easier for you to create asynchronous HTTP handlers. You also have option to use async/await keywords and Tasks to boost the overall performance of your web application. You can use the IHttpAsyncHandler interface to create the handlers. But the interface requires you to write BeginProcessRequest() and EndProcessRequest() methods to avail the advantages of asynchronous HTTP handlers.
Microsoft has further enhanced the efficiency of ASP.Net by providing robust support to a variety of open source technologies. A developer now has option to build robust web applications using JavaScript and HTML5. The combination of Microsoft .Net framework and other widely used open source technologies will prepare ASP.Net for the forthcoming technological revolution.
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Compared to classic ASP, ASP.Net is more potent. But in order to come up with high performance, reliable and robust applications, one must be well-versed with the proper means to leverage the power of this programming framework. Here, we bring to you some of the best practices that can be followed to make the most of ASP.Net.
1. Research and plan prior to development: Indulge yourself in some amount of research and find out how .Net can prove beneficial for you. There are a number of solutions offered by .Net at each level of app development. You must understand the positive and negative impacts of each approach that this development environment supports. Visual Studio offers a total development package coming up with a number of options that help in the implementation of the same logic. It is essential to carefully explore each option and determine the most-suited solution for the concerned task. Using layering, the application logic can be partitioned into data access, business and presentation layers. This not only helps in the creation of maintainable code, but also facilitates monitoring and optimization of each layer’s performance separately. Scalability and maintenance can be improved by reduction in the number of codes within the code-behind files.
2.String concatenation: Your application can record decreased performance if the string concatenation aspect is handled properly. String concatenation is done in two ways. First, you can consider addition of a new string to an already existing string. However, this operation can be quite expensive and time consuming. The second option comprises the use of StringBuilder Class which is a more efficient way for concatenation of strings.
3. Do away with round trips across the server: Do not go for unnecessary round trips across the web server. To avoid doing so, consider implementing Ajax UI in order to refrain from full page refresh and update only that segment of the page which requires change. For eliminating round trips you can also consider using client side scripts for validating client site, and this cuts down the number of round trips needed for processing user’s request.
4. Save viewstate only if the same is necessary: ViewState is mainly used by Server controls for retaining state solely on pages which post data across themselves. A concealed variable is used for transferring information to the client and reading back the same. ViewState becomes a redundant overhead in case of pages which do not require it. With the growth in size, the ViewState starts affecting the functional efficiency of garbage collection. Viewstate is not required when your page is not posting information over itself or you are not dealing with server control events or with each page refresh, you are repopulating controls.
5. Make a careful use of session variables: Session variables should not be loaded with an excessive amount of data. It should also be ensured that the session time out is sensible. This can utilize a considerable portion of server memory. Remember that data that is stored within the session variables is capable of existing for a long time even after the browser is closed by the user. A huge amount of session variables may affect the server. It is advisable to make the session state disabled, in case the session variables are not being utilized for a specific page or application.
6. Use Server.Transfer: The Server.Transfer method is a good option for redirecting between applications. If you use this method in a page where the Server.Transfer syntax exists, refrain from going for redundant client-side redirection. It is better to use Server.Transfer in place of Response.Redirect.
7. Make an appropriate use of server controls and keep away from using intensely nested controls: In spite of the stateless aspect of the HTTP protocol, server controls offer a high quality programming model capable of utilizing Viewstate for administering states within page requests. However, as server controls call for some fixed processing for establishing controls and child controls, the process becomes comparatively more expensive than static text or HTML controls. Hence it is best to use an inline representation for the user interface in place of server controls, when you do not require rich interaction.
The cost can also rise when you are using deeply nested hierarchies for creation of server control and child controls. You can avoid such nested hierarchies by going for separate designs that make use of inline controls or by utilizing a server control hierarchy that is flatter.
8. Select a suitable data viewing control for the solution: Significant tradeoffs can be obtained between performance and convenience, depending on the manner in which you wish to exhibit data within a Web Forms page. Always explore the advantages and disadvantages of the controls prior to using the same in your application. For instance, from amongst Repeater, Datalist and Datagrid, you can go for any one of the three controls for displaying data. But, at first you must carefully determine which control will prove the most beneficial for you.
The above-mentioned practices will indeed ensure that you develop high performance applications using ASP.Net. Apart from these, you can also try some other best practices such as leveraging a DataReader for efficient and fast data binding, optimization of code, pre-compilation of pages, using indexes and stored procedures, and so on. This would help you leverage the benefits of asp.net web development.
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