In Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft has taken this idea a stage further: not only does the code look similar, but the GUI looks similar too. Visual Basic .NET's familiar form-based interface is used for the development of web applications as well as for desktop programs. If you want to, you can create a web application without ever seeing a line of HTML code, and you can do so with all the facilities for testing and debugging that Visual Studio .NET provides to programmers of all types.
In this book, we'll take what you already know about creating desktop applications using Visual Basic .NET, and show you how to apply it to the Web. We'll teach you about the different thinking that you have to employ when writing web applications, and also tell you about some of the technologies that can help in the creation of compelling web content. In particular, we'll explore:
- How the Web works: the Internet, HTTP, and the client-server architecture
- Creating dynamic web pages with web forms and web server controls
- Acquiring and displaying data using ADO.NET and Visual Studio .NET components
- Debugging and error handling in ASP.NET applications
- The importance of XML, and particularly its role in web services
- Setting up your web server efficiently and securely
- Assessing the performance of your application, and preparing it for release
Along the way, we'll be building a case study that demonstrates the use of these technologies in practice. That example, like all of the others in the book, is presented in Wrox's tried-and-tested Try It Out format.
