The introduction of .NET has blurred the lines between previously distinct programming disciplines. With so much functionality encapsulated by the .NET Framework class library, some very diverse tasks have gained a common programming interface that makes moving from one to another seem much less daunting. One area in which this change is particularly striking is web development: where ASP was the realm of script programmers, ASP.NET is implemented by a set of classes that enable you to create Internet applications using the same languages that you'd use for Windows desktop programs. 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. This title takes what you already know about creating desktop applications using Visual Basic .N ET, and shows how to apply it to the Web. It teaches the different thinking that you have to employ when writing web applications, and some of the technologies that can help in the creation of compelling web content.

Table of Contents:
Web Programming and ASP.NET; Web Forms; User Interfaces and Server Controls; ADO.NET; Data Binding; Debugging and Error Handling in Web Applications; ASP.NET Applications, Sessions, and State; XML and Web Development; Web Services in Web Applications; The Role of the Web Server; ASP.NET Authentication, Authorization, and Security; Performance and Scalability; Publishing Web Applications in .NET.