First all , I would like to welcome you to my site and hope it provides you with some useful information mainly on the Microsoft.NET Technology. I have tried to provide you with all the possible information therefore for some you this might be just basic but for others it will provide them with good understanding of the relatively new .NET Technology. The information provided on this site is mainly for the educational purpose only.
INTRODUCTION
In June 2000, Microsoft announced its .NET initiative, a broad new vision for embracing the Internet and the Web in the development, engineering and use of software. One key aspect of the .NET s strategy is its independence from a specific language or platform. Rather than forcing developers to use a single programming language, developers can create an application in any .NET compatible language. Programmers can contribute to the same software project, writing code in the .NET languages (such as VisualBasic.NET, Visual C++ .NET, C# and others) in which they are most competent. Part of the initiative includes Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) .NET technology, which allows programmers to create applications for the Web.
To be more specific .NET is defined as a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices. It enables a high level of software integration through the use of XML Web services. Using these web services, as backbone small, discrete, building-block applications that connect to each other will also be able to connect to the larger applications over the Internet .
The .NET platform offers powerful capabilities for software development and deploying independence from a specific language or platform. Rather than requiring developers to learn a programming language, programmers can contribute to the same software project, but write code using any or several of the .NET languages (such as Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++ .NET, C# , COBOL, Fortran and others) with which they are most experienced or skilled. In addition to providing language independence, .NET extends program portability by enabling .NET applications to reside on, and communicate across, multiple platforms thus facilitating the delivery of Web services over the Internet. .NET enables Web-based applications to be distributed to consumer electronic devices, such as cell phones , Handheld PC’s and persona1 digital organizers, as well as to desktop computers. The capabilities that Microsoft has incorporated into the .NET platform created new software-development model that will increase programmer productivity and decrease development time.
.NET is also a set of standards, and an operating platform, to enable different applications and organisations to communicate over the Internet, using industry-agreed protocols such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) which I will explain in depth later. This simplifies and streamlines mutual online ventures between unrelated organisations. For example, an airline might wish to provide its customers with information on the car hire services of a business partner .NET provides a means of sharing Information that provides much tighter integration than the hyperlink typically used in the Web sites these days. We will discuss these key aspects of .NET in depth later in ELEMENTS OF .NET.