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TO BUILD EFFECTIVE AND ATTRACTIVE database-driven websites, you need two things: a solid and fast framework to run your web pages on and a rich and extensive environment to create and pro- gram these web pages. With ASP.NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012 you get both. Together they form the platform to create dynamic and interactive websites.
ASP.NET 4.5 builds on top of its popular predecessors ASP.NET 2.0, 3.5, and 4.0. While main- taining backward compatibility with sites built using these older versions, ASP.NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012 introduce new, exciting features and bring many smaller, but much needed changes to the framework and development tools.
With each new release of Visual Studio since Visual Studio 2003, I am surprised by the sheer amount of new functionality and changes Microsoft has been able to put in the product. Visual Studio 2012 is no exception. If you’re familiar with earlier versions, you’ll notice the new design as a big change. The UI of Visual Studio has been updated to the Windows 8 design look and feel to bet- ter align with other products from Microsoft.
You’ll also ?nd many changes—small and large—in both the ASP.NET Framework and Visual Studio. Some of these changes are the improved CSS and JavaScript editors (discussed in Chapter 3 and Chapter 10, respectively), the strongly typed data-bound controls (discussed in Chapter 14), the inclusion of NuGet, discussed in Chapter 11, and the introduction of bundling and mini? cation, discussed in Chapter 19.
My favorite new feature is probably the Page Inspector that helps you debug client-side as well as server-side code at the same time. I discuss the Page Inspector in Chapter 18.
If you’re familiar with earlier versions of ASP.NET, you’ll be happy to ? nd many small gems in the new version of the framework that will make your life as a developer easier. I mention and discuss these new features throughout this book where appropriate. For a complete list of all new features in ASP.NET, check out the following white paper at the of? cial ASP.NET website:
http://www.asp.net/vnext/overview/whitepapers/whats-new
If this link no longer works by the time you read this book, search www.asp.net for “What’s new in ASP.NET 4.5.”
Probably the best thing about Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web is its price: it’s available for free. This makes Visual Studio and ASP.NET probably the most attractive and compelling web develop- ment technologies available today.
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