Introduction to WMD express 2005
Using the VWD Express to create ASP .NET applications
After familiarizing ourselves with the concepts of web development and ASP.NET 2.0, it is time for us to build some web applications. In this chapter, we are going to look at the tools available for developing web applications using ASP.NET 2.0. We will also find out which one is the best for us and how to use it.
The basic requirement for using ASP.NET 2.0 is that the .NET Framework 2.0 should be installed on the computer. For data storage and data access, SQL Server 2005 Express is needed although any other database software can be used such as MS Access or Oracle.
For creating the web pages, a simple text editor like Notepad is sufficient, although this would require a fair amount of experience and skill and is not recommended for beginners. Another option is Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005. It is a powerful development tool aimed for professionals working on large projects within a team. The most suitable tool for a beginner web developer is Microsoft's Visual Web Developer Express 2005, popularly known as VWD Express or simply VWD. We are going to use VWD in this text.
VWD Express is a trimmed-down version of Visual Studio 2005. This does not mean that the user will not be able to use all the features of ASP.NET 2.0. If the .NET Framework 2.0 is installed on the PC, a text editor can be used to create pages with ASP.NET 2.0 as previously mentioned. VWD Express however lacks some features needed for enterprise level, large-scale development environment. Otherwise, it is just as powerful and feature-rich as Visual Studio 2005 and it is free to download and install.
The appendix at the end of this text describes the installation procedure for the .NET Framework 2.0, Visual Web Developer 2005 Express and SQL Server 2005 Express. Once these are installed, we are ready to move on and explore the VWD Express in detail.
