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April 10, 2009

ASP vs. ASP.NET

First released in 1996, Microsoft's ASP server-side scripting language has taken the programming world by storm, used for everything from creating dynamic websites to complex corporate applications.  Since its inception, this technology has undergone major changes and been tailored made to support applications of all sorts.  There are mainly two versions of ASP: Classic ASP and ASP.NET.  While there are a few similarities, this article will explain why ASP.NET is far more superior than its predecessor.

Greater Stability

Classic ASP runs under "inetinfo.exe", an IIS process that makes applications susceptible to crashes.  This occurs because the server must be stopped and restarted on a frequent basis.  The ASP.NET process is separate from inetinfo.exe, resulting in stable applications that are far less susceptible to crashes.

Optimal Code Compiling

Since ASP Classic interprets Jscript or VBScript at runtime, performance may falter due to the process of line by line interpretation.  This basically means that there could be some inefficiencies in regard to the interpretation of pages.  ASP.NET compiles code the first time it is accessed and allows subsequent page requests to be serviced with code that was compiled previously.  This ultimately results in pages that load faster and deliver a better experience to the end-user.

Enhanced Scalability

In Classic ASP applications, components tend to be more difficult to replace, update and maintain.  Typically, updating components in a running application requires that IIS is first shut down, the component is modified and IIS is finally restarted.  ASP.NET was specially designed to enable scalability through efficient application updates.  The built-in "xcopy" deployment model allows pages and components to be replaced in real-time all without the web server needing to be restarted.  If updates are required, programmers can simply perform the modification while the infrastructure accounts for the change the next time a request is made to the page or component that was modified.  This essentially means that updates, bug fixes and enhancements can be made to ASP.NET applications with little to no impact on the end-user.

Greater Language Support

One of the greatest advantages of ASP.NET is that it supports other server-side scripting technologies outside of traditional programming languages.  Classic ASP only integrates with VBScript and Javascript.  With ASP.NET, you can take a number of common program languages such as C# and VB.NET and use them in the same application.  The seamless integration with various server-side programming languages allows the use of more complex frameworks that results in feature-rich applications with deeper programmatic support.

Conclusion

Often referred to as the next generation of web development, ASP.NET has introduced a whole new programming model with the ability to combine server-side controls and data binding with a wide variety of web services.  This language is compatible with all .NET languages and when compared to Classic ASP, the battle isn't even close.  Anyone familiar with this robust development tool will agree that ASP.NET is just another phase in the saga of Microsoft's Active Server Pages.  The best is yet to come because ASP will only improve as time goes on.

Tags: VBScript,  server-side scripting,  Microsoft,  jacascript,  IIS,  dynamic websites,  classic ASP,  asp.net,  ASP