ASP Introduction

ASP.NET is a web application framework for programmers to build dynamic web sites developed and marketed by Microsoft.
An ASP file can contain text, HTML tags and scripts.
ASP.NET uses the HTTP commands and policies to set a browser-to-server communication.

What you should already know

Before you continue you should have some basic understanding of the following:

• HTML
• JavaScript/VBScript

What is ASP?

• ASP stands for Active Server Pages
• ASP.NET application codes can be written in C#, VB.Net, jScript & J#
• ASP is developed under Microsoft
• ASP is a program that runs inside IIS

ASP Compatibility

• To run IIS you must have Windows NT 4.0 or later
• To run PWS you must have Windows 95 or later
• ChiliASP is a technology that runs ASP without Windows OS
• InstantASP is another technology that runs ASP without Windows

What is an ASP File?

• An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
• ASP uses almost all HTML elements
• An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
• Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
• An ASP file has the file extension ".html"

How Does ASP Differ from HTML?

• When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
• When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine. The ASP engine reads the ASP file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file. Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML

What can ASP do for you?

• Dynamically edit, change, or add any content of a Web page
• Respond to user queries or data submitted from HTML forms
• Access any data or databases and return the results to a browser
• Customize a Web page to make it more useful for individual users
• The advantages of using ASP instead of CGI and Perl, are those of simplicity and speed
• Provide security - since ASP code cannot be viewed from the browser
• Clever ASP programming can minimize the network traffic