Introduction:
Developers have wrestled constantly with the limits of the HTML UI experience, including the complexities of JavaScript and issues with cross-browser compatibility. In many cases, they have sacrificed a rich user experience for cross-browser compatibility by creating primarily server-based dynamic pages.
The problem is that creating Web applications like these is not simple. You have to code in JavaScript and understand browser DOMs, which differ between browsers. And JavaScript does not offer the full range of object-oriented, type-safe features that .NET Framework developers are used to. In short, creating client-oriented Web applications requires expertise with a new programming language and a new development platform.
This is where ASP.NET 'Atlas' comes in. 'Atlas' is a new ASP.NET Web development technology that integrates client script libraries with the ASP.NET 2.0 server-based development framework. 'Atlas' offers you the same type of development platform for client-based Web pages that ASP.NET offers for server-based pages. And because 'Atlas' is an extension of ASP.NET, it is fully integrated with server-based services. Using 'Atlas,' you can move significant portions of an application's processing to the client, while retaining the ability to communicate with the server in the background. The result is that you can create ASP.NET pages with a rich, responsive UI and server communication.
What 'Atlas' Offers
The primary goal of 'Atlas' is to integrate client script features with the features of ASP.NET on the server to provide a comprehensive development platform.
Client Features
For client-side development, 'Atlas' manages the complexity of JavaScript-based development and offers the following development features:
A consistent, object-oriented set of APIs for developing in JavaScript. You can create client code using OOP features that are familiar from working with the .NET Framework.
Automatic browser compatibility, so that no special coding is required to make your applications run in multiple browsers.
Client-script APIs and components that support rich UI features, such as drag-and-drop behavior. You can add these features to HTML controls with little or no coding.
A declarative model for client development that is similar to the declarative syntax for ASP.NET server controls.
Server Features
'Atlas' also integrates client scripting with ASP.NET server-side development, so you can handle application tasks wherever it makes the most sense. ASP.NET provides the following server-side features for 'Atlas' applications:
Web services that are useful to integrate with 'Atlas' applications, such as a profiles service.
ASP.NET Web server controls that automatically emit all the client script needed for 'Atlas' applications, so you do not need to write JavaScript code.
Integrated Visual Studio development tools for client-side development, which gives you debugging, statement completion, and other productivity-enhancing features.
AJAX Technical Concepts
In AJAX, developers can call Web services asynchronously from client scripts using the XMLHTTPRequest object to package information as XML data and then transfer it on the network. To make calls, the XMLHTTPRequest object provides a proxy object that makes the remote call and sends and receives the data.
AJAX also makes extensive use of client-side script, specifically JavaScript (ECMAScript). JavaScript is used to make remote procedure calls, to perform application processing on the client (as opposed to handling it on the server), and to create enhanced UI features.
AJAX solutions use JavaScript together with several other client technologies, including the following:
The browser's Document Object Model (DOM), which exposes the elements on an HTML page as a standard set of objects (document, window, and so on) that can be manipulated programmatically.
Dynamic HTML (DHTML), which extends HTML with facilities for reacting to user input on the page in client script, without requiring a round trip.
Behaviors, which are a way of programmatically packaging UI actions (such as drag-and-drop behavior) that can then be associated with page elements.
Components, which are custom JavaScript objects that provide extensive client-side UI features.
Development Issues Addressed by 'Atlas'
Programming AJAX-style pages can be a challenge for these reasons:
Elements in Web pages must be programmed in browser-specific ways. Each browser implements a slightly different DOM and slightly different version of DHTML. Client programming can be done only in JavaScript; some AJAX-type features can be complex to implement and require mastery of JavaScript.
JavaScript does not offer the full range of language features that .NET developers have come to expect (such as full object orientation), nor does it offer the type of library support that a platform like the .NET Framework does. Developers setting out to create AJAX-style applications must code their applications essentially from the ground up.
JavaScript and client development generally is not well supported in IDEs.
'Atlas' addresses these problems by offering a complete framework for creating client-based applications. 'Atlas' consists of both client and server components that integrate 'Atlas' with ASP.NET .
|
No responses found. Be the first to respond and make money from revenue sharing program.
|