Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio
Installing the Required Software
If you’re going to learn ASP.NET, you first need to make sure you have all the necessary software components installed and working on your system. Let’s take care of this before we move on.
Internet Information Services (IIS) or Cassini
IIS is the web server of choice for running ASP.NET web applications. You’ll need your copy of the Windows CD to install and configure it. Unfortunately, some versions of Windows (such as Windows XP Home Edition) don’t support IIS. If you’re one of those users, there’s Cassini. Cassini is a small web server designed for hobbyists who are looking to build ASP.NET web sites. It isn’t as robust, powerful, or user-friendly as IIS, but it will be sufficient for our purposes. When we come to use Visual Web Developer in ???, we’ll be making use of that product’s built-in development web server, so not having access to IIS on your system won’t be a problem.
a modern web browser
Throughout this book, we’ll be using Internet Explorer 6, but you can use other browsers during development if you wish. Any modern browser will do.
.NET Framework 2.0
As we’ve already discussed, the .NET Framework drives ASP.NET. When you install the .NET Framework, you’ll automatically install the files necessary to run ASP.NET. You’re likely to have the .NET Framework already, as it installs automatically through the Windows Update service.
.NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK)
The .NET Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) is a free download that contains the necessary Web Application development tools, a debugger for error correcting, and a suite of samples and documentation.
We’re also going to need a database. In this book, we’ll use the following:
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
This is the free, but still fully functional, version of SQL Server 2005. If you worked with previous versions of these technologies, you should know that SQL Server 2005 Express is a replacement for the previous Microsoft SQL Data Engine (MSDE). You can read more on the differences between various SQL Server 2005 editions at the Microsoft site.
SQL Server Management Studio Express
Because the Express Edition of SQL Server doesn’t ship with any visual management tools, you can use this free tool, also developed by Microsoft, to access your SQL Server 2005 databases.
