In This Issue...
Introduction: The move to .NET
Hello Subscriber,
Here is another issue of the ASPit Digest, filled with the latest news on ASP and ASP.NET, a script of the week and more.
It's Christmas in less than two weeks, and I've got quite a lot of planned for those couple of free days. For one, I finally want to start learning ASP.NET. It seems that more and more ASP websites are slowly moving to .NET, and of course ASPit cannot lag behind.
Once I've mastered ASP.NET, which hopefully shouldn't take too long, I'll start writing articles and publish them on ASPit. So keep an eye on ASPit, because you can expect several new articles soon. You might want to subscribe to the RSS feed to get automatically notified of any updates.
Of course I will also be enjoying my Christmas and New Year's Eve, so it isn't just all work. Here's to a good Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy it!
Happy Reading!
Dennis Pallett
dennis@aspit.net
Editor's Perspective: PHP vs .NET
There has been a lot of discussion in the past few years - ever since the release of .NET actually - about whether PHP is better or worse than .NET. Do a search on any random web-developer messageboard and you'll probably get several results, for example SitePoint Forums.
And what's even more funny about this discussion is that there never seems to be a definitive answer to this never-ending question. The PHP fans will argue until death that PHP is the best, and the same goes for the .NET crew.
I believe that both languages (.NET isn't really a language, but more a framework) are equally important and neither is better. It's simply a case of using the best tools for the job.
I wouldn't use .NET for a simple script that only needs to do something trivial. Likewise, I wouldn't use PHP for a major enterprise project, consisting of a dozen of developers. Each language has its own pros and cons, and both are suited for different tasks.
I tend to think of PHP as a 'simple' tool, that gets the job done. However, in really large projects, and I'm talking about huge projects with at least 10+ developers, and with a $500k budget or higher, I don't think PHP is really suited. That would be more the job for .NET. That may change in the feature, especially with PHP 5 and Apache 2 coming out, but for now, .NET is the enterprise tool.
The Oracle Technology Network recently compared PHP and .NET aswell, and their findinds can be read in this article. If you simple like to get a quick overview, have a look at the chart on The Tucows Developers' Hangout.
If you want to know more about the "PHP vs .NET" discussion, then all you need to do is a quick Google search. You could also start a new topic on one of the many web-developer topics, but it may be closed quickly, because it has been talked about so much.
If you have a really strong opinion about this discussion, I'm always interesting in your opinion. Drop me a note at dennis@nocertainty.com or simply reply to this e-mail.
What's New on ASP & ASP.NET
In the past two weeks a lot of quality articles have been published, and here's a short list of the best of them.
Let's start of with 4GuysFromRolla. They have published two new articles. The first one, An Extensive Examination of the DataGrid Web Control: Part 17, is part of the datagrid series by Scott Mitchell. This part looks at how to create a fully-editable DataGrid.
The second article, A Look at WebCharts, a Free .NET Charting Control, looks at the WebChart .NET control and how to use it. Another great article, by Scott Mitchell, and definitely worth reading, if you're interesting in creating cool graphs.
Next, let's look at an article by ASP Free called ASP.NET application. This article is actually an excerpt from chapter two of ASP.NET in a Nutshell, by G. Andrew Duthie. (O'Reilly, 2003, ISBN: 0596005202). In this article you will read about extending classic ASP, using ASP.NET web services.
Another great article by ASP free is
The Real Basics of Functions in ASP. Basically, this article will show you how to effectively use functions in ASP and make your ASP scripts more modular. If you don't know the in's and out's of functions yet, then it might be useful to read this article.
ASP.net has published a few great articles as well. First of all, Choosing an ASP.NET Hosting Provider looks at how to choose a ASP.NET hosting provider. Unfortunately, ASP.NET webhosts are a lot harder to find than PHP/Linux webhosts, so this article by Scott Allen is really useful if you're looking for a good ASP.NET webhost.
Mastering ASP.Net DataBinding by Karl Seguin looks at databinding in ASP.NET. Databinding is one of the most frequently asked questions in the ASP.NET newsgroups, so this article is a very nice addition! If you still haven't mastered databinding, then you should really read through this article. In addition, you might also want to have a look at Digging Into Data Binding Expressions.
If you're looking for 'ASP.NET validation' then you might want to read Dynamic Creation of Validation Controls, published by MSDN and written by Callum Shillan. Instead of hard-coding the validation controls in your pages, you could have them dynamically created with ASP.NET. Read this article to know more about this.
Finally, ASP.NET has posted about the DataGrid as well. Updating all GridView's rows looks at how to make the DataGrid editable and updated, after a postback. This forum post seems similar to the article by 4GuysFromRolla.
DevX has also published a very useful article on ASP.NET Security. This article will show you 8 ways to avoid attack on your ASP.NET scripts. Things like cross site scripting, SQL injection and validation are discussed in this article. I think every developer should read these kind of articles, and you should definitely read it too (unless of course your scripts are already 100% secure...).
And of course MSDN has also published a few great articles, and do we expect any less from them? First of all, there is 10 Tips for Writing High-Performance Web Applications which looks at creating ASP.NET scripts that still perform wel under high loads. This article is perfect for writing scalable ASP.NET scripts, that need to hold up at the most critical moment.
MSDN has also published an article about custom callback functions in ASP.NET: Cutting Edge: Custom Script Callbacks in ASP.NET. The article includes downloadable code and good examples, so if you've got a few minutes spare, this article could be an interesting read.
And the last article of this issue, Multiple File Upload for Microsoft CRM: Sales Opportunity Attachments, talks about using an ASP.NET web form to upload files into a Microsoft CRM database. Perfect for businesses that use Microsoft CRM and ASP.NET.
That's it for this issue. Stay tuned for more great articles in the next issue!
Script of the Week: 2eNetWorX TableEditoR
2eNetWorX TableEditoR is a Microsoft Access Database editor, very similar to aspAccessEditor. You cay browse your tables and queries, add, edit and delete records and execute SQL statements. In addition, TableEditoR is completely free, and can be downloaded at http://www.2enetworx.com/dev/projects/tableeditor.asp.
I downloaded a copy of TableEditoR, and gave it a try. Of course, I'm a bit biased, because I wrote aspAccessEditor, but I tried to be as objective as I could.
It was easy to setup, and I didn't have any real problems while I was using the editor. I did lack a few features here and there, and the interface seems somewhat clunky, but that's because I'm used to phpMyAdmin, which is developed by several different developers.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that any development is done any more. The last update was in 2002, and since then there hasn't been any updates, news or anything else. A bit of a shame, especially as this could be improved a lot, and made into a great script.
All in all, I guess 2eNetWorX TableEditoR is a pretty decent editor, and if you're looking for something, then you should definitely give it a try. But it's certainly not the best out there, and there are other editors, such as aspAccessEditor.
What's New on ASPit
ASPit is looking for article writers! If you think you've got anything interesting to write, then e-mail me now at dennis@nocertainty.com. I'm looking for enthusiastic people who are willing to write content for ASPit. There are no requirements at all, and you can submit only one article if you want. Or you can submit one every day. There are no demands or requirements at all!
At the moment, ASPit gets about 350 unique visitors every day, which means your article will be read by at least 200 people every day. If you're looking for a good way to get your name out there, don't hesitate, and e-mail me now!
In other news, recently the 'Partner' links have been replaced by a new set of links. If you want to have your links there, you can e-mail me at advertising@aspit.net.
Closing Words
That's all for this issue. If you want to submit content for the ASPit digest, or you'd like to see something in a future issue, then you can always e-mail me at dennis@nocertainty.com.
I've already received a great suggestion from a reader, and I'm trying to see if it's possible to include a new section in future issues of the ASPit Digest. Who knows, maybe in the next issue there will be a new section!
If you're interested in PHP/MySQL as well, you might want to subscribe to the PHPit Digest. The PHPit Digest is similar to this newsletter, except the main focus is PHP and MySQL, instead of ASP and ASP.NET. You can subscribe by clicking here or going to the PHPit homepage.
The next issue of the Digest, filled with ASP news, tricks and tips of course, will arrive in your inbox on January 4th 2005. So, see you in the new year, and enjoy all the festivities!
