Demo: Visual Studio Web Developer

Once again about 15 minutes to do a demo. ASP .NET 2.0 is such a great product that showing it off is a real pleasure, if the audience is seeing it for the first time it just blows them away. I’m going to cover…

• Got rid of all those extra files
  We just use a directory now so much better for source control – no more .disco, . sln, …
• IntelliSense Everywhere and Usability guidance
  I need to support level 3.0 browsers so don’t tell me JavaScript I can’t use
• Partial classes for code behind
  No more ugly Page_Init code to link up page objects to the code behind
• Local web server
  No need for IIS to be installed on the developer’s machine. Also great for local debugging
• Master Pages
  Get rid of those user controls and fixed table structures on each page we now support a way to have a standard look-and-feel across all pages
• Grid View
  I just love this control – take a couple of fields from a database table (in server explorer) and drag them onto a page allow the user to sort, edit and delete all with a quick few clicks – absolute magic.
• WebPart Controls
  Portal controls that you can move around the page, minimize and save against a profile. Great for information rich business applications.

I could do more and will try to but that’s about all I think I can fit in…