.NET & ASP.NET

Overview

The term .NET encompasses a lot. In short it is a framework developed by Microsoft that allows developers to write code that runs on any Windows platform. This approach is in many ways very similar to Java. Like Java .NET also has a virtual machine that executes the code at runtime, the syntax is very similar and like the JEE there is a lot of libraries at the developers disposal to help make every-day tasks easier.

ASP.NET is Microsoft's web application framework which replaces the old ASP (Active Server Page) technology which functioned much like PHP. The the .NET version leverages the power of .NETs ability to compile multiple languages and attempts to make web development more like windows programming.

Typical Applications

JEE and ASP.NET are very similar and are used in very similar scenarios. The choice between the two really comes down to what hardware your organization is currently using and what your development team is comfortable with. ASP.NET has that abbility to integrate into active directory and other Windows services and applications which makes it ideal for office backends and intranets.

Airline online booking services such as Virgin's and other complex services like the London Stock Exchange website make use of the ASP.NET platform.

Langauges & Components

.NET is technically a framework and the compilers are capable of compiling code written in langages such as C#, VB.NET or J#.

It is relatively easy to use interop libraries to harness the power of other applications such as Word and Excel. This is a big feather in the cap of .NET as it can easily slot into current business processes with minimal disruption.

Server Technology

Microsofts equivalent to Apache is IIS (Internet Information Services). This provides a context from which the ASP.NET code can be loaded into the virtual machine and generate web content.

In the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) stack the database of choice was naturally the opensource MySQL database. The ASP.NET approach more commonly makes use of the MSSQL database.