Well I just wanted to give a formal thank-you to Microsoft for it’s recent support of extending the tools for Microsoft Web Developers. I’ve been pretty tough on Microsoft over the last year on it’s issues with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and it’s massive delay on releasing SP1.
As most of you know, ASP.NET AJAX v1.0 was officially released last week. The release was accompanied by loads of videos and sample code that should get any .NET Developer off the ground and running with AJAX in no time at all.
Most of the thanks goes to the wonderful developers responsible for developing ASP.NET AJax, but certainly Microsoft has done a lot to make these tools happen.
Here are some links to get you started:
- Main ASP.NET AJAX site: http://ajax.asp.net
- ASP.NET AJAX Download. With ASP.NET AJAX, developers can quickly create pages with rich, responsive UI and more efficient client-server communication by simply adding a few server controls to their pages. This new Web development technology from Microsoft integrates cross-browser client script libraries with the ASP.NET 2.0 development framework. ASP.NET AJAX provides developers building client-based Web experiences with a familiar development process and programming model that they already know from using server-side ASP.NET development. Because ASP.NET AJAX is integrated with ASP.NET, developers have full access to the built-in ASP.NET 2.0 application services and the entire .NET Framework.
- ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit. The ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit offers developers a rich variety of client-side controls and extenders through a compilation of code samples and components. If you’re looking for eye-catching control behavior without having to go through the trouble of writing and testing extensive JavaScript code or adding complex animations, the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit offers the right balance of visuals and ease-of-use.
- ASP.NET AJAX Library. The Microsoft AJAX Library is a standalone collection of the standards-based JavaScript classes included in ASP.NET AJAX. It’s supported by most popular browsers and can be used to build client-centric Web applications that integrate with any backend data provider.
I suggest everyone take a look at these wonderful .NET tools. AJAX is not going away anytime soon, and it is important to realize the benefits that this “old but re-juvinated” techology is bringing to the web.
