Download Web Prog Research Paper

Name: Josh Gregg
Class: Web Programming
Time: MWRF, 11:00am - 11:50am
Topic: .NET
Introduction
“.NET is the Microsoft solution for Web services, the next generation of software
that connects our world of information, devices, and people in a unified, personalized
way. (1)
.NET was created by Microsoft in an effort to create a universal standard that
embraced efforts of other software developers and create one universal data standard.
This standard would be compatible across various platforms and devices. Microsoft was
trying to unite Java developments, UNIX and free software developments and new
operating systems emerging for handheld devices such as Symbian and Palm OS into a
cross-platform language. Once all the devices and data were united, the communication
possibilities would be endless. No longer would communication limitations slow down
the viability of a particular device’s data communication.
.NET was also created in an effort to properly fix and alleviate security issues that
already existed within the Microsoft operating system. There were a number of security
issues that existed, primarily within Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that could compromise
critical data.
Main Body
.NET technology enables the creation and use of XML-based applications,
processes, and websites as services that share and combine information and functionality
with each other by design, on any platform or smart device, to provide tailored solutions
for organizations and individual people. (1)
Many of the developments which .NET uses are done in the XML language.
XML is a “language-neutral protocol,” which was easily and quickly implemented into
.NET, “enabling both data exchange and remote procedure calls between the Microsoft
and Java worlds”. (2) .NET uses an XML approach to solve the problem of sharing data
stored in different formats across varying platforms.
There are a number of languages of which .NET is composed, such as C#, Visual
Basic .NET, J#, Jscript.NET, Managed C++, and ASP.NET.
One of .NET’s primary goals is to deliver Web Services. XML is used to allow
co-operation between various applications.
Web services are software-powered
resources or functional components whose capabilities can be accessed at an internet
URI. Standards-based web services use XML to interact with each other, which allows
them to link up on demand using loose coupling. (3)
Microsoft is also offering an alternative to the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) by
offering the Windows Enterprise Platform, of which .NET is a member.
The .NET Framework consists of three main parts: the common language
runtime, a hierarchical set of unified class libraries, and a componentized version of
Active Server Pages called ASP.NET. (4)
Common Language Runtime is a way of standardizing library functions and
runtime methods to operate in a unified way across various languages. Because of these
common properties inherent within these languages, their methods and library functions
would be totally compatible. This compatibility would apply to some of the following:
“Code management, application memory isolation, verification of type safety, access to
metadata, enforcement of code access security, exception handling including crosslanguage exceptions and support for developer services.” (4)
So what are the advantages of switching to .NET? Why and how would this make
developers lives easier? .NET also makes accessing your data easier, and makes it far
easier to write Web applications that will run well on a wide variety of browsers and
devices without having to rewrite the application for each one. Finally, the .NET runtime
supports simplified and reliable installation and upgrading for ease of use and increased
reliability. That and the .NET runtime's security and versioning features also increase
reliability and enable software to be sold as a service rather than a product. (6) .NET is
also backward compatible with older .COM applications.
functionality in code creation without having to rewrite legacy code.
This provides new
Summary
Developers are embracing .NET because it runs on the ubiquitous Windows
operating system, supports cross-compatibility between a large variety of languages and
computer systems and enhances data security for web-based applications.
What is the overall result of using .NET? It is “an integrated, cost-effective IT
architecture that empowers your business.” (5)
References
1) http://www.microsoft.com/net/basics/faq.asp#001
2) http://www.itwriting.com/dotnet7.php
3) http://looselycoupled.com/glossary/
4) http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/faq111700.asp
5) http://www.microsoft.com/net/momentum/)
6)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/programming/fundamentals/default.aspx?pull=/library/enus/dnguinet/html/drguinet0_update.asp