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Rethink the way you plan, design, and build Web applications—with expert guidance from Web development luminary Dino Esposito. Whether giving legacy sites a much-needed tune-up—or architecting rich Internet applications from the ground up—you’ll learn pragmatic approaches to AJAX development that you can employ today.

Discover how to:

• Delve into the mechanics and design goals of partial rendering—such as improving page-refresh speed
• Use AJAX-enabled server controls to bring desktop-like functionality to Web solutions
• Apply design patterns to common Web development issues, including client-side data binding
• Manipulate JavaScript more easily using the jQuery and Microsoft AJAX libraries
• Examine the interoperability and security models in Microsoft Silverlight
• Weigh the tradeoffs when architecting Web applications for richness (Silverlight) vs. reach (AJAX)—and deliver the right solution for your audience

ASP.NET revolutionized Web application development. The platform handles many of the complexities of creating Web applications. Now ASP.NET AJAX takes the development platform even further. The lines between rich client applications and traditionally less interactive browser-based applications are being further blurred with the use of this technology.

The ASP.NET AJAX Library brings object-oriented programming to JavaScript development for modern browsers, and the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions makes it easy to write rich Web applications that communicate with the Web server asynchronously. Again, the complexities are made easy by using ASP.NET.

The new server controls that are part of ASP.NET AJAX make it simple to designate parts of the page to be updated automatically without making the user pause and wait while the data is refreshed. You can have partial page updates without writing a single line of code. Other new controls let you alert the user that background work is happening and designate regular intervals at which updates occur. In addition, the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit makes it easy to make your user interface really come to life with animations, modal dialogs, transition effects, and more.

Ajax is definitely the hot buzzword in the Web application world at the moment. Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML and, in Web application development, it signifies the capability to build applications that make use of the XMLHttpRequest object.

The creation and the inclusion of the XMLHttpRequest object in JavaScript and the fact that most upper-level browsers support the use of this object led to creation of the Ajax model. Ajax applications, although they have been around for a few years, gained greater popularity after Google released a number of notable, Ajax-enabled applications such as Google Maps and Google Suggest. These applications demonstrated the value of Ajax.

Shortly thereafter, Microsoft released a beta for a new toolkit that enabled developers to incorporate Ajax features in their Web applications. This toolkit, code-named Atlas and later renamed ASP.NET AJAX, makes it extremely simple to start using Ajax features in applications today.

Prior to Visual Studio 2008, the ASP.NET AJAX product used to be a separate application that developers were required to install on their machine and the Web server that they were working with. This release gained in popularity quite rapidly and has now been made a part of the Visual Studio 2008 offering. Not only is it a part of the Visual Studio 2008 IDE, the ASP.NET AJAX product is also baked into the .NET Framework 3.5. This means that in order to use ASP.NET AJAX, developers are not going to need to install anything if they are working with ASP.NET 3.5.

Overall, Microsoft has fully integrated the entire ASP.NET AJAX experience in that developers can easily use Visual Studio and its visual designers to work with your Ajax-enabled pages and even have the full debugging story that they would want to have with their applications. Using Visual Studio 2008, developers are now able to debug straight into the JavaScript that they are using in the pages.

In addition, it is important to note that Microsoft focused a lot of attention on cross-platform compatibility with ASP.NET AJAX. Developers will find that the Ajax-enabled applications that they build upon the .NET Framework 3.5 are able to work within all the major up-level browsers out there (e.g., FireFox and Opera).

This book is aimed at experienced ASP.NET developers looking to add AJAX to their applications, and experienced Web developers who want to move to using ASP.NET and AJAX together.

In this book, I assume that you already have an understanding of how ASP.NET works. For an in-depth discussion of ASP.NET, I recommend Professional ASP.NET 3.5 by Bill Evjen, et al. (Wrox, 2008). The focus here is on how you can extend ASP.NET applications to update portions of the page asynchronously and to add richer UI elements to a page. ASP.NET AJAX makes it easy to enrich your existing application or to design a new application to provide a better experience for users. The differences among modern browsers have been abstracted, allowing you to write to a common set of APIs and trust that the user will get the correct behavior whether they are using Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari.

If you know how to author ASP.NET pages, you can easily start using the Microsoft AJAX library to manipulate the browser’s Document Object Model and communicate with the server to update the user’s view of data without forcing them to wait for the entire page to be refreshed.

This book covers ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX. It does not cover ASP.NET 3.5, on which ASP.NET AJAX is built. The examples lead you from the core of what is included in the ASP.NET AJAX Library through the core controls you would first start using. You build on that using the core JavaScript library and the ASP.NET AJAX Toolkit before covering debugging, deployment, and custom control development.

The ASP.NET 3.5 release includes the Microsoft AJAX Library as well as the server controls that can be used in ASP.NET pages to extend applications, making them more rich and interactive. It does so by leveraging the ASP.NET AJAX Library, which is JavaScript that runs in the browser. The server controls and JavaScript Library work together to let you update HTML with data obtained asynchronously from the server. The ASP.NET application services are exposed to JavaScript classes in the ASP.NET AJAX Library, making authentication and personalization accessible from the browser.

Chapter 1 introduces you to ASP.NET AJAX. This book discusses the need for AJAX Libraries and explain how ASP.NET AJAX compares to other AJAX Libraries. You will see how ASP.NET AJAX is composed of client and server pieces and that you can use the client library with any server platform you choose. In Chapter 2, the focus is on the most popular and easily applied feature of ASP.NET, the UpdatePanel control. This control allows you to automatically update portions of a page asynchronously, without subjecting the user to a visible pause while the page refreshes. Chapters 3 and 4 give you some key information about working with JavaScript and how the ASP.NET AJAX Library makes development with JavaScript easier. The book then works through several key features, including control of script resources and working with the ScriptManager control in Chapter 5, the new ASP.NET 3.5 ability to work with the back button in Chapter 6, and the ASP.NET AJAX Toolkit in Chapter 7 and all it has to offer for creating rich user interfaces. The next chapter, Chapter 8, looks at how to use ASP.NET’s application services (such as the Membership and Role management systems) with ASP.NET AJAX. Chapter 9 looks at networking objects. Chapter 10 looks at working with animations in ASP.NET AJAX. Chapter 11 shows you how to develop custom AJAX controls. Chapters 12, 13, and 14 shows the reader how to incorporate Ajax in some other ASP.NET core features such as Web Parts, localization, and state management. Chapter 15 looks at what is required to test and debug Ajax applications, and finally, Chapter 16 explores how to deploy ASP.NET AJAX applications.

Ajax has revolutionized the way users interact with web pages today. Gone are frustrating page refreshes, lost scroll positions and intermittent interaction with a web site. Instead, we have a new generation of fast, rich, and more intuitive web applications. The ASP.NET AJAX framework puts the power of Ajax into the hands of web developers. ASP.NET AJAX, formerly called Atlas, is a new free framework from Microsoft designed to easily add Ajax features to ASP.NET applications. With this technology, ASP.NET developers can easily build more interactive and highly-personalized web applications that work across all most popular browsers.

ASP.NET AJAX in Action is a fast-paced, example-rich tutorial designed for ASP.NET web developers and written by ASP.NET AJAX experts Alessandro "Garbin" Gallo, David Barkol, and Rama Krishna Vavilala. This book introduces you to Ajax applications and to the ASP.NET AJAX technology. Beginners will appreciate the clear explanations of key ideas and terminology. Intermediate and advanced ASP.NET developers will find a no-nonsense learning source and well-organized reference.

ASP.NET AJAX in Action offers a rich set of examples and meticulous explanations. The extensive code samples are accompanied by accurate and rigorous explanations of the concepts behind development with ASP.NET AJAX. In this book, you will discover how to use

Microsoft Ajax Library Partial rendering with UpdatePanels Advanced client and server techniques Ajax Control Toolkit

If you are a web developer looking to bring your web pages to life and to enhance the user experience, this book is for you.

ASP.NET AJAX in Action will give you with the knowledge and tools you need to more easily craft the next generation of Ajax applications. With the help of the Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX framework, Ajax development has never been easier and more instinctive for both client-script developers and ASP.NET developers alike.

As the Internet user experience (UX) progresses, more users are demanding and expecting their custom-built business applications to provide the same UX that they see on the Internet every day. ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX Unleashed empowers ASP.NET developers to easily provide this type of experience with minimal code. Author Rob Foster has built AJAX-enabled web applications for a number of major corporations and uses the experience he has gained there to explain concisely, clearly, and completely what ASP.NET developers need to learn to start taking advantage of the rich opportunities made possible by ASP.NET AJAX.

 

• Learn ASP.NET AJAX by working with real-world examples
• Use the ScriptManager and ScriptManagerProxy controls in your ASP.NET AJAX-enabled applications
• Leverage the ASP.NET AJAX client-side API to maximize the flexibility of ASP.NET AJAX
• Build applications that use the UpdatePanel and Timer controls
• Use the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit to provide rich AJAX functionality to your web applications
• Build ASP.NET AJAX-enabled extender controls
• Integrate ASP.NET AJAX and .NET 3.5 with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Create ASP.NET AJAX-enabled Windows Vista Gadgets
• Learn advanced AJAX concepts such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and WCF Web services

Introduction     1

 

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction to AJAX Technologies     5

 AJAX and Web 2.0     6

 Why Use AJAX?      7

 AJAX Rationale     7

 AJAX: An Example     8

 The XMLHttpRequest Object     8

 A Simple AJAX Library     10

 Using the AJAX Library     14

 Summary     20

 

Chapter 2 Introduction to ASP.NET AJAX     21

 Introducing the Visual Studio Controls     22

 ScriptManager     22

 ScriptManagerProxy     23

 Timer     23

 UpdatePanel     23

 UpdateProgress     23

 Introducing the Visual Studio Projects and Web Site Items     24

 Projects     24

 Web Site Items     25

 Introducing the AJAX Control Toolkit     26

 Summary     27

 

Part II Working with ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX

Chapter 3 The ScriptManager and ScriptManagerProxy Controls     31

 About the ScriptManager Control.      31

 ScriptManager Properties, Methods, and Events     34

 JavaScript Proxy Classes for Web Services     37

 Partial-Page Rendering     43

 Summary     47

 

Chapter 4 The ASP.NET AJAX Client API     49

 The Namespaces     49

 Global     49

 Sys     52

 Sys.Net     53

 Sys.Serialization     54

 Sys.Services     62

 Sys.UI     66

 Sys.WebForms     68

 Summary     71

 

Chapter 5 The UpdatePanel and Timer Controls     73

 About the UpdatePanel Control     73

 Using the UpdatePanel Control     74

 Advanced Features of the UpdatePanel Control     78

 Triggers     78

 Multiple UpdatePanel Controls on a Single Page     81

 The Timer Control     89

 Using the Timer Control with Partial-Page Rendering     90

 Summary     92

 

Chapter 6 Advanced Techniques with the ASP.NET AJAX PageRequestManager Object     93

 Using the PageRequestManager Object     93

 A Practical Example of the PageRequestManager Object     95

 Summary     100

 

Chapter 7 Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit     101

 ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit: The Controls     102

 Using Controls in the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit     105

 Configuring Visual Studio to Use the Toolkit     105

 The Accordion and AccordionPane Controls     106

 The CalendarExtender Control     110

 The CollapsiblePanelExtender Control     112

 The ConfirmButtonExtender Control     118

 The DragPanelExtender Control     120

 The DropDownExtender Control     122

 The FilteredTextBoxExtender Control     125

 The HoverMenuExtender Control     127

 The TextBoxWatermarkExtender Control     130

 ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit: A Practical Example     134

 Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit with Microsoft Expression Web     145

 Configuring Expression Web for the ASP.NET AJAX

 Control Toolkit     145

 Summary      150

 

Chapter 8 Building an ASP.NET AJAX Extender Control     151

 Add ASP.NET Controls     151

 How to Build an Extender Control     154

 Server-Side Code     156

 Client-Side Code     159

 Summary     163

 

Chapter 9 ASP.NET AJAX and SharePoint 2007     165

 SharePoint and AJAX     165

 Modifying Web.Config     166

 Developing an AJAX-Based SharePoint Web Part     171

 Summary     177

 

Chapter 10 Creating ASP.NET AJAX-Enabled Vista Sidebar Gadgets     179

 Vista Sidebar Gadgets     179

 Creating the Gadget     181

 Create the Web Service     181

 Generate the JavaScript Proxy     183

 Create the Vista Gadget     186

 Test the Gadget     187

 Summary     188

 

Part III Appendices

Appendix A Microsoft Expression Web 191

 An Introduction to the Expression Web Interface     191

 Creating Web Pages and Web Sites     191

 Customizable Interface     194

 Creating Standards-Based Web Sites      198...

Delivering rich, Web 2.0-style experiences has never been easier. This book gives you a complete hands-on introduction to Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX 1.0, the new framework that offers many of the same benefits for Ajax development that ASP.NET provides for server-side development. With Programming ASP.NET AJAX, you'll learn how to create professional, dynamic web pages with Ajax in no time.
Loaded with code and examples that demonstrate key aspects of the framework, this book is ideal not only for ASP.NET developers who want to take their applications a step further with Ajax, but for any web developers interested in ASP.NET AJAX, no matter what technology they use currently. That includes JavaScript programmers who would like to avoid the headaches of writing cross-browser code.
Programming ASP.NET AJAX offers you:

• A high-level overview of the ASP.NET AJAX framework
• Functional code that you can cut and paste for use in your own applications
• The essentials of JavaScript and Ajax to help you understand individual technologies used by the framework
• An organization that reflects the framework's packages, including Extensions, Control Toolkit, the Futures CTP, and the AJAX Library
• Sidebars throughout the book that identify and propose solutions to potential security breaches
• Ways to use the standards-based AJAX Library with other platforms, such as PHP
• A complete chapter on the UpdatePanel control for making individual parts of a web page independently updateable -- one of the framework's most important elements

Released previously as Programming Atlas to cover the beta version of the Microsoft framework, this edition is fully up-to-date and expanded for the official 1.0 release of ASP.NET AJAX. Written by Christian Wenz -- Microsoft MVP for ASP/ASP.NET and AJAX Control Toolkit Contributor -- Programming ASP.NET AJAX contains many hard-to-find details, along with a few unofficial ways to accomplish things.

ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX is Microsoft's Ajax tool for ASP.NET developers and this book covers the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX final release. You’ll learn how to use the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX features in order to create richer, more responsive dynamic Web sites. The book walks you through examples for each featured element, demonstrating how the client and server interact to produce a better Web application, and reviews such topics as client framework, script manager control, networking stack, application services, partial page updates, control extenders, client form elements, and client behaviors.

Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional aims to give you the skills you need to start building web applications with Microsoft’s next–generation technology as quickly as possible. Whether you’re interested in ASP.NET AJAX, Silverlight, or the technologies that support them (WPF, WCF, WF, etc.), this book is the starting point that you need.

It adopts a “zero to hero” approach that concentrates on achieving practical results you can use in real projects rather than presenting a deep academic treatment that can’t be immediately applied.

The aim is to give you, the reader, the knowledge you need to achieve the results you want with the minimum of fuss. When you’ve read this book, you’ll have a solid understand of all the techniques that are available, when to use them, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

What you’ll learn

• Create next–generation web applications quickly and easily!
• Manipulate data, display information, and communicate with other services using the latest ASP.NET techniques and best practices.
• Discover how the .NET 3.0 extensions (WPF, WCF, and WF) can make your web applications faster, more efficient, and easier to code than ever.
• Understand how ASP.NET AJAX and Silverlight can be integrated into your ASP.NET websites in order to provide a cutting–edge user interface for your applications and the implications that such interfaces can have.

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone with an interest in using Microsoft’s latest web development technologies.

A basic familiarity with the .NET platform is useful, but anyone with an understanding of a web development language will benefit from the book, as all the key topics are presented from first principals.

About the Apress Beginning Series

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!

Microsoft .NET Development Series

 

“Supported by the leaders and principal authorities of core Microsoft technologies, this series has an author pool that combines some of the most insightful authors in the industry with the lead software architects and developers at Microsoft and the developer community at large.”

– Don Box

Architect, Microsoft

 

“This is a great resource for professional .NET developers. It covers all bases, from expert perspective to reference and how-to. Books in this series are essential reading for those who want to judiciously expand their knowledge base and expertise.”

–John Montgomery

Principal Group Program Manager,

Developer Division, Microsoft

 

“This foremost series on .NET contains vital information for developers who need to get the most out of the .NET Framework. Our authors are selected from the key innovators who create the technology and are the most respected practitioners of it.”

–Brad Abrams

Group Program Manager, Microsoft

 

 

ASP.NET AJAX server controls can encapsulate even the most powerful AJAX functionality, helping you build more elegant, maintainable, and scalable applications. This is the first comprehensive, code-rich guide to custom ASP.NET AJAX server controls for experienced ASP.NET developers. Unlike other books on ASP.NET AJAX, this book focuses solely on server control development and reflects the significant improvements in ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX and the latest Visual Studio 2008 features for streamlining AJAX development

 

Adam Calderon and Joel Rumerman first review the core Microsoft AJAX Library and JavaScript techniques needed to support a rich client-side experience. Next, they build upon these techniques showing how to create distributable AJAX-enabled controls that include rich browser-independent JavaScript client-side functionality. The authors thoroughly explain both the JavaScript and .NET aspects of control development and how these two distinct environments come together to provide a foundation for building a rich user experience using ASP.NET AJAX.

 

• Create object-oriented cross-browser JavaScript that supports .NET style classes, interfaces, inheritance, and method overloading
• Work with components, behaviors, and controls, and learn how they relate to DOM elements
• Learn Sys.Application and the part it plays in object creation, initialization, and events in the Microsoft AJAX Library
• Build Extender and Script controls that provide integrated script generation for their corresponding client-side counterparts
• Localize ASP.NET AJAX controls including client script
• Discover ASP.NET AJAX client and server communication architecture and the new support for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• Understand ASP.NET AJAX Application Services
• Create custom Application Services
• Design controls for a partial postback environment
• Understand the AJAX Control Toolkit architecture and the many features it provides
• Develop highly interactive controls using the AJAX Control Toolkit
• Understand AJAX Control Toolkit architecture and build controls that utilize the toolkit

 

Foreword xxv

Preface xxvii

Acknowledgments xxxv

About the Authors xxxix

 

Part I: Client Code

Chapter 1: Programming with JavaScript 3

Chapter 2: Microsoft AJAX Library Programming 51

Part II: Controls

Chapter 3: Components 121

Chapter 4: Sys.Application 169

Chapter 5: Adding Client Capabilities to Server Controls 207

Chapter 6: ASP.NET AJAX Localization 255

Chapter 7: Control Development in a Partial Postback Environment 317

Part III: Communication

Chapter 8: ASP.NET AJAX Communication Architecture 371

Chapter 9: Application Services 425

Part IV: AJAX Control Toolkit

Chapter 10: ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit Architecture 481

Chapter 11: Adding Client Capabilities to Server Controls Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit 513

Appendixes

Appendix A: JavaScript in Visual Studio 2008 547

Appendix B: Validating Method Parameters 555

Appendix C: ASP.NET Handlers and Modules 559

Appendix D: Client Error Handling Code 569

 

Index 577

 

 

Teach yourself the fundamentals of Web development with ASP.NET 4-one step at a time. With STEP BY STEP, you get the guidance and learn-by-doing examples you need to start building Web applications and Web services in the Microsoft Visual Studio® 2010 environment. The author-a highly regarded programming expert, writer, and instructor-illuminates ASP.NET features through practical examples that help developers quickly grasp concepts and apply techniques to the real world. The book also includes a companion CD with code samples, data sets, and a fully searchable eBook.

This book was written to introduce you to the features and capabilities that ASP.NET 4 offers, as well as to give you an explanation of the foundation that ASP.NET provides. We assume you have a general understanding of Web technologies, such as previous versions of ASP.NET, Active Server Pages 2.0/3.0, or JavaServer Pages. If you understand the basics of Web programming, you should not have much trouble following along with this book's content.

If you are brand new to ASP.NET, be sure to check out Beginning ASP.NET 4: In C# and VB by Imar Spaanjaars (Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010) to help you understand the basics.

In addition to working with Web technologies, we also assume that you understand basic programming constructs, such as variables, For Each loops, and object-oriented programming.

You may also be wondering whether this book is for the Visual Basic developer or the C# developer. We are happy to say that it is for both! When the code differs substantially, this book provides examples in both VB and C#.

This book explores the 4 release of ASP.NET. It covers each major new feature included in ASP.NET 4 in detail. The following list tells you something about the content of each chapter.

• Chapter 1, ″Application and Page Frameworks.″ The first chapter covers the frameworks of ASP.NET applications as well as the structure and frameworks provided for single ASP.NET pages. This chapter shows you how to build ASP.NET applications using IIS or the built-in Web server that comes with Visual Studio 2010. This chapter also shows you the folders and files that are part of ASP.NET. It discusses ways to compile code and shows you how to perform cross-page posting. This chapter ends by showing you easy ways to deal with your classes from within Visual Studio 2010.

• Chapters 2, 3, and 4. These three chapters are grouped together because they all deal with server controls. This batch of chapters starts by examining the idea of the server control and its pivotal role in ASP.NET development. In addition to looking at the server control framework, these chapters delve into the plethora of server controls that are at your disposal for ASP.NET development projects. Chapter 2, ″ASP.NET Server Controls and Client-Side Scripts,″ looks at the basics of working with server controls. Chapter 3, ″ASP.NET Web Server Controls,″ covers the controls that have been part of the ASP.NET technology since its initial release and the controls that have been added in each of the ASP.NET releases. Chapter 4, ″Validation Server Controls,″ describes a special group of server controls: those for validation.

• Chapter 5, ″Working with Master Pages.″ Master pages provide a means of creating templated pages that enable you to work with the entire application, as opposed to single pages. This chapter examines the creation of these templates and how to apply them to your content pages throughout an ASP.NET application.

• Chapter 6, ″Themes and Skins.″ The Cascading Style Sheet files you are allowed to use in ASP.NET 1.0/1.1 are simply not adequate in many regards, especially in the area of server controls. This chapter looks at how to deal with the styles that your applications require and shows you how to create a centrally managed look-and-feel for all the pages of your application by using themes and the skin files that are part of a theme.

• Chapter 7, ″Data Binding.″ One of the more important tasks of ASP.NET is presenting data, and this chapter looks at the underlying capabilities that enable you to work with the data programmatically before issuing the data to a control.

• Chapter 8, ″Data Management with ADO.NET.″ This chapter presents the ADO.NET data model provided by ASP.NET, which allows you to handle the retrieval, updating, and deleting of data quickly and logically.

• Chapter 9, ″Querying with LINQ.″ The.NET Framework 4 includes a nice access model language called LINQ. LINQ is a set of extensions to the .NET Framework that encompass language-integrated query, set, and transform operations. This chapter introduces you to LINQ and how to effectively use this feature in your Web applications today.

• Chapter 10, ″Working with XML and LINQ to XML.″ The .NET Framework and ASP.NET 4 have many capabilities built into their frameworks that enable you to easily extract, create, manipulate, and store XML. This chapter takes a close look at the XML technologies built into ASP.NET and the underlying .NET Framework.

• Chapter 11, ″Introduction to the Provider Model.″ The provider model is built into ASP.NET to make the lives of developers so much easier and more productive than ever before. This chapter gives an overview of this provider model and how it is used throughout ASP.NET 4.

• Chapter 12, ″Extending the Provider Model.″ After an introduction of the provider model, this chapter looks at some of the ways to extend the provider model found in ASP.NET 4. This chapter also reviews a couple of sample extensions to the provider model.

• Chapter 13, ″Site Navigation.″ Most developers do not simply develop single pages—they build applications. One of the application capabilities provided by ASP.NET 4 is the site navigation system covered in this chapter.

• Chapter 14, ″Personalization.″ Developers are always looking for ways to store information pertinent to the end user. After it is stored, this personalization data has to be persisted for future visits or for grabbing other pages within the same application. The ASP.NET team developed a way to store this information—the ASP.NET personalization system. The great thing about this system is that you configure the entire behavior of the system from the web.config file.

• Chapter 15, ″Membership and Role Management.″ This chapter covers the membership and role management system developed to simplify adding authentication and authorization to your ASP.NET applications. This chapter focuses on using the web.config file for controlling how these systems are applied, as well as on the server controls that work with the underlying systems.

• Chapter 16, ″Portal Frameworks and Web Parts.″ This chapter explains Web Parts—a way of encapsulating pages into smaller and more manageable objects.

• Chapter 17, ″HTML and CSS Design with ASP.NET.″ Visual Studio 2010 places a lot of focus on building a CSS-based Web. This chapter takes a close look at how you can effectively work with HTML and CSS design for your ASP.NET applications.

• Chapter 18, ″ASP.NET AJAX.″ AJAX is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. In Web application development, it signifies the capability to build applications that make use of the XMLHttpRequest object. Visual Studio 2010 contains the ability to build AJAX-enabled ASP.NET applications from the default install of the IDE. This chapter takes a look at this way to build your applications.

• Chapter 19, ″ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit.″ Along with the capabilities to build ASP.NET applications that make use of the AJAX technology, a series of controls is available to make the task rather simple. This chapter takes a good look at the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit and how to use this toolkit with your applications today.

• Chapter 20, ″Security.″ This chapter discusses security beyond the membership and role management features provided by ASP.NET 4. This chapter provides an in-depth look at the authentication and authorization mechanics inherent in the ASP.NET technology, as well as HTTP access types and impersonations.

• Chapter 21, ″State Management.″ Because ASP.NET is a request-response–based technology, state management and the performance of requests and responses take on significant importance. This chapter introduces these two separate but important areas of ASP.NET development.

• Chapter 22, ″Caching.″ Because of the request-response nature of ASP.NET, caching (storing previous generated results, images, and pages) on the server becomes rather important to the performance of your ASP.NET applications. This chapter looks at some of the advanced caching capabilities provided by ASP.NET, including the SQL cache invalidation feature which is part of ASP.NET 4. This chapter also takes a look at object caching and object caching extensibility.

• Chapter 23, ″Debugging and Error Handling.″ This chapter tells you how to properly structure error handling within your applications. It also shows you how to use various debugging techniques to find errors that your applications might contain.

• Chapter 24, ″File I/O and Streams.″ This chapter takes a close look at working with various file types and streams that might come into your ASP.NET applications.

• Chapter 25, ″User and Server Controls.″ Not only can you use the plethora of server controls that come with ASP.NET, but you can also use the same framework these controls use and build your own. This chapter describes building your own server controls and how to use them within your applications.

• Chapter 26, ″Modules and Handlers.″ This chapter looks at two methods of manipulating the way ASP.NET processes HTTP requests: HttpModule and HttpHandler. Each method provides a unique level of access to the underlying processing of ASP.NET, and each can be a powerful tool for creating Web applications.

• Chapter 27, "ASP.NET MVC." ASP.NET MVC is the latest major additio...