Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 have given us a lot of new features in Web development and design. They include ASP.NET AJAX controls, new web controls, LINQ and improvement of Nested master page, CSS, JavaScript, addition of WPF,WCF and others which makes Web development easier and faster than ever. ASP.NET AJAX In ASP.NET 2.0 we need to download ASP.NET AJAX extension. In ASP.NET 3.5 there is no need to install AJAX control library separately as the same is inbuilt into the .NET Framework .ASP.NET now makes the client-server communication more efficient by minimizing the round trips and thus provides user a fast rendering of page. The following ajax enabled default controls appears in the toolbox: ScriptManager, ScriptManagerProxy, Timer, UpdatePanel, UpdateProgress. Authentication, Membership, Roles Management, Profiles, etc, exposed as web services in ASP.NET3.5 and the same can be called from client side. Using Ajax Library we can create and consume ASMX & WCF based web services also. New ListView and DataPager Controls In ASP.NET 3.5 we have ListView control which contains combined features of contains features of the Gridview, Datagrid and Repeater available in ASP.NET 2.0.Using this we have complete control over the generated HTML code. It also provides a rich set of templates .It has two-way data-binding capabilities. ListView has no default paging support. DataPager provides paging support to the ListView control to navigate large dataset. We can keep DataPager anywhere on the page, that means within the boundary of ListView control or even in any other separate region of the page. JavaScript Debugging Support In ASP.NET 3.5 we can set both client-side JavaScript breakpoints and server-side (VB/C#) breakpoints to debug step by step. On closing of project the break points will be stored at the same will appear as it is when open the project again. Nested Master Page Support Nested master page is a scenario where we use two master pages. Now the question is how to use the same? We can not set two master pages in MasterPageFile property value. Assume that for main organization we want to keep a layout and for sub organization we want something difference or we want different layout for organization on the basis of region etc. Nested master pages are ideal in that type of situation where we want to keep the main layout in main master page and will inherit the same from another master page. The following code listing shows a master page serving as a content page for our first master page: In visual studio 2008 we have new features that nested master pages can view in designer which is not possible in visual studio 2005. Intelligence support for JavaScript ASP.NET 3.5 contains intelligence support for JavaScript for standard JavaScript keyword support. ASP.NET Merge Tool In ASP.NET 3.5 we have Merge tool (Aspnet_merge.exe) which enables us to combine and manage assemblies The ASP.NET Merge tool works on assemblies which are created by using ASP.NET version 2.0 or later version. Earlier Aspnet_merge.exe was available as an add-on. According to MSDN LINQ LINQ (Language Integrated Query) provides inbuilt powerful query capabilities into the language syntax of C# and Visual Basic for almost every data source: Objects, Relational (SQL) Databases, Datasets, XML documents and so on with compile time checking facility with Intelligence support which is missing in traditional query techniques against datasource. The LinqDataSource control allows us to use LINQ to filter, order and group data before binding to the List controls like the ListView and GridView controls. Visual Studio 2008 Multi-Targeting Support Earlier we can work with .NET 1.0, .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0. in visual studio 2002 , visual studio 2003 and visual studio 2005 respectively.. Now in Visual studio 2008 we are able to create, run, debug the .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 applications. What we need to do is at the time of creating or opening any existing project we should select the version. Visual Studio 2008 ask for migration if we open any project created in lower version and if we choose to migrate, wizard will start .But we can choose the Target Framework to migrate in latter time also . Split View Editing In VS 2008 we have split view feature which allow us to view both the HTML part and the design part together, and hence we can do changes in any of the views easily . Manage CSS Style In Visual Studio 2008 we have options to work with cascading style sheets (CSS) easier than ever using the CSS Properties grid, new style and apply style sheet. Have support in both design and source using new CSS Properties Window. Eliminate unnecessary namespace Eliminating the unnecessary namespaces is a cool feature. Select all the namespaces in the page, right click, and, select "Remove Unused Usings" or, "Sort Usings" or, "Remove and Sort" depending on requirement. Debugging .NET Framework Library Code Debuging the source code of the .NET Framework Library methods become possible now. WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) contains changes and improvements in lot of areas: it provides flexible layout, high-quality text, resolution-independent graphics, animation, video and 3D UI element. WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) WCF is now built-in into ASP.NET 3.5. It provides rapid methodology to the development of web services. It takes ASP.NET Web Service, .NET Remoting, Enterprise Services, and MSMQ to the next level. Silverlight SDK “Microsoft Silverlight powers rich application experiences and delivers high quality, interactive video across the Web and mobile devices through the most powerful runtime available on the Web.”- Microsoft official silverlight site. Unlike VS 2005, we no more require to install Silverlight Library separately. Now it is inbuilt in VS 2008. C++ SDK Unlike VS 2005, we no more require to install and configure C++ SDK separately. Now it is inbuilt in VS 2008. ASP.NET MVC Framework In asp.net 3.5 there is built-in support for developing application Model View Controller (MVC) based architecture. TDD or Test Driven Development is possible for the MVC pattern and we can implement automated unit test in our web application. Previously UNIT testing available with VS2005 team system. Entity Data Source Control EntityDataSource control supports data binding in web applications in an Entity Data model (EDM) using Entity Framework which is available in VS 2008. Conclusion There is no doubt that web design and development will become more rich, fast and easier due to the improvement in asp.net 3.5(In this version Microsoft enhanced features of .NET Framework Version 3.0 and add some new functionality.
