Why Should I Use ASP.NET 3.5?

Why Should I Use ASP.NET 3.5?

It seems like everytime I turn around a new version of some technology is coming out, or some new way of doing the same old thing is in the works and therefore demands my attention. It's easy to feel overwhelmed with the never ending onslaught of new technologies. Fortunately, ASP.NET 3.5 is a rather minor upgrade from ASP.NET 2.0; that is, there are not that many new ASP.NET-specific features in the .NET Framework 3.5.

There are three new features worth noting in ASP.NET 3.5:
Integrated ASP.NET AJAX support,
The ListView control, and
The DataPager control Prior to ASP.NET 3.5, Microsoft's ASP.NET AJAX framework needed to be downloaded and installed as an extension. With ASP.NET 3.5, however, the AJAX-related classes are built directly into the .NET Framework, making it easier to get started building rich, AJAX-enabled Web applications with ASP.NET. (For more information on using the ASP.NET AJAX framework, check out my article series, Building Interactive User Interfaces with Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX.) ASP.NET 2.0 introduced a number of new data Web controls, including the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls. The GridView displays a list of records in a boxy, grid-like table. The DetailsView and FormView each display one record at a time, the DetailsView in a grid-like output and the FormView in a more fluid layout using templates. The ListView control is an update to the old DataList and Repeater controls, displaying mulitple records and providing functionality like the GridView, but allowing for a more flexible layout through the use of templates. The DataPager control operates as a sort of free-standing paging interface. In short, it renders a paging user interface - next, previous, first, last buttons, for instance - and is tied to a data Web control. The DataPager only works with those controls that implement the IPageableItemContainer interface, which (currently) includes only the ListView control.

For a step-by-step demo using the ListView and DataPager controls, check out Scott Guthrie's blog entry, The Control. Microsoft has also published videos showing how to use the ListView and DataPager controls.

An Overview of Framework Features Useful to ASP.NET DevelopersThe main framework feature in the .NET Framework version 3.5 is LINQ, which stands for Language Integrated Query. LINQ makes SQL-like syntax a first-class citizen in VB and C#, allowing developers to work with data using code that looks like:

// C# example...
List productNames = from p in products where p.CategoryID = 1
select p.ProductName;

LINQ simply defines a syntax for working with data. There are built-in Object Relational Mappers (ORMs) that will create the underlying framework to generate LINQ statements that operate against a database, XML, or an object layer. Scott Guthrie has a great multi-part tutorial series on using the LINQ to SQL ORM implementation.
Visual Studio 2008 provides full-IntelliSense support when using the LINQ syntax. The LINQ syntax is possible due to a number of new language features in C# and Visual Basic, including automatic properties, extension methods, and lambda expressions

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