Chapter 1. Introducing ASP.NET and the .NET Platform

By now, ASP.NET is one of the most popular web development technologies on the planet. The first version was released in 2002, and since then, Microsoft has continued the tradition of releasing a powerful web development framework that allows web developers to do more with less. ASP.NET has experienced rapid growth among the established corporate world, as well as becoming the choice for many freelance developers. ASP.NET has many advantages, including a well-established IDE (Integrated Development Environment) called Microsoft Visual Studio, and advanced security and performance frameworks that handle many of the mundane tasks automatically on the server side, freeing the developer to create more full-fledged web applications and websites.

ASP.NET 4 is the latest iteration in the .NET framework, introducing many new features that build upon its predecessor to improve performance, security, and interoperability with the latest browsers. Best of all, it comes available with new development tools, including Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition and SQL Server 2008 R2 Express Edition, both of which are free! These tools enable the rapid application development (RAD) of web applications.