Asp.net

[Krazeh]

Thinking of starting to learn this after using ASP and vbscript for a couple of years, I was wondering if anyones had any experience with it and which language they'd recommend, C# or VB?

 

[Jonty]

C# (pronounced 'C Sharp') seems to be popular amongst most ASP.NET authors, although many other languages, such as VB.NET, are often used. To be honest, you are perhaps best off doing a little homework and then starting out in whatever language you feel most comfortable with. After all, one of the founding principles of the .NET framework is that the same results should be achievable regardless of what language you're writing in.

As for resources, http://www.asp.net is probably your best starting point for all things ASP.NET related. They also offer a rather cool ASP.NET Web Matrix Development program which makes building web services very easy indeed. Many people also like sites such as 4GuysFromRolla and C# Corner for tutorials and other useful links. Finally, the Microsoft Development Network has a myriad of articles on the .NET framework, the various .NET languages as well as a host of information on the idea behind web services.

Of course, there are a great many books on the .NET framework, and in particular on ASP.NET and associated languages. Personally, I'm sceptical as to the true value of these books, as it is rare that they will ever include anything not available for free on the web. That said, if you know that you learn best from having books around you, then by all means check out the recommendations from the above links (becareful that they're not trying to sell you their own products, though ).

Finally, I always find that you learn best when you can just sit down and play, learning from your mistakes as you go along. Yes, this takes more time, but in the end it can be very beneficial. Try following some tutorials, set yourself little projects, that sort of thing.

One last thing, you may wish to setup an account at http://www.brinkster.com They have paid options, but their main claim to fame is offering a free .NET-enabled hosting service. File uploads are via the web, as opposed to FTP, but you do get 30Mb of space, 0.5Gb of bandwidth per month, full ASP.NET support, no banners and a whole lot more. I believe the free option is called 'General'. They're one of the last good service providers left in this age of banners, popups and small print (you should note that this is just my opinion, neither I nor BW are affiliated with Brinkster).

One another final point (honest ), BarrysWorld's hosting service doesn't currently support ASP.NET in any form.

Help this is of some use, merry Christmas

 

[Krazeh]

Well when I learnt ASP I bought a couple of books from wrox which I was very impressed with, very simple to follow and covered an awful lot. Plus it's easier than searching the net everytime you need to look something up.
Think i'll take a look at those links and check out both languages then decide which i prefer and pick up a wrox book dealing with that language.

 

[Jonty]

Funny you should mention wrox, as I picked an article of theirs (online) concerning an .NET driven chat program. As you say, it was very good, not too technical but not too simplified. If you were to purchase any such reading material, then I suppose their line of products would certainly be worth considering.

Merry Christmas

Jonty

P.S. I edited my post with some information concerning Brinkster, I think you were replying when I was editting, so you may wish to skim the new info Have fun

 

[Krazeh]

Thanks for the info, brinkster should do nicely while i'm just messing about learning stuff.

And as you said wrox seem to get a very good balance between not too simple and not too technical, very good when you're learning and anything more complex isn't hard to find later on the net or in a book aimed at more advanced learning.