I've been tasked with converting a legacy Access application over to a .net framework solution as quickly as possible.I'm unsure which approach approach to go for. I prefer asp.net web pages with web matrix as I'm comfortable in this environment but not sure if its the correct approach/best tool for the job. I know that web forms is good for grid based screens which this access application uses rather heavily.
I will be using SQL Server for the backend.
Has anyone moved an access application over to a .net framework solution before? If so what approach do you recommend? ASP.net Webpages Web matrix or Web forms? Something else?
Thanks
D
If you are more comfortable with Web Pages, then use that. I have been playing with Web Pages and Knockoutjs recently. That might be a good combination: http://www.mikesdotnetting.com/Article/190/Using-Knockout-With-Razor-Web-Pages-In-WebMatrix-2
I know that most GWT based application now is being implemented using the MVP pattern, however I still want to know which MVC framework is the most mature and can be used for production-grade web application built with GWT.
Searching the web I can't seem to find a MVC framework anything comparable to Mvp4gwt and GwtPlatform in the MVP frameworks, in terms of user base and activities in the code.
If you must shoot yourself in the foot, these are the only two MVC frameworks for GWT that I've heard of:
http://code.google.com/p/gwt-mvc/
http://code.google.com/p/gwittir/
Neither of these have had a release in over two years. Probably due to lack of community interest, and because MVP is better in every conceivable way. Using MVC with GWT is like installing square tires on a Ferrari.
You could use JetPad-Mappers, a minimalistic MVC framework developed at JetBrains and used in several (currently unreleased) products.
https://github.com/JetBrains/jetpad-mapper
Disclaimer, I am involved in development of this framework.
We have a very large application written in classic ASP. The application consists of a single codebase which is accessed by multiple tenants, each of which has their own database. The application has been developed over a number of years.
Initially we were going to write a new application in MVC3 which would take over from this application, and eventually migrate customers to this new application.
We are now wondering if it is viable to add to the existing application gradually using code written in MVC3. At some point, we would expect the whole application to be running in MVC3 with no classic ASP left. The application would have to act as a single application, with one login giving access to the existing classic asp parts of the system as well as the new parts written in MVC3.
Does anyone have experience of doing this? What issues are we likely to face? Are there any pitfalls we should look out for?
I am in the process of completing a (painful and long) migration from a Classic ASP site to MVC3.
I looked at running both side-by-side in detail because this is a large ecommerce website I have migrated and it would have been beneficial.
The issues I came across and which eventually led me to abandon this option are as follows:
If you have URL rewriting on your Classic ASP website then it is
likely going to interfere with ASP.NET MVC routing
Authentication is going to be very difficult because of the way
authCookies are set in both technologies
In my case both of these points were show-stoppers.
Saying that, there have been some interesting developments in the open source arena since I started that try to tackle the issue of migrating Classic ASP sites to MVC.
Specifically, you might want to take a look at the ASP Classic Compiler on codeplex. It looks promising.
I'm wondering just where a CMS - out of box like SiteFinity, Sitecore, SharePoint, DotNetNuke, etc. - fits with the MS MVC Framework (1 or 2). The MVC Framework presents a lot of benefits for developers and for overall SEO and SEM value, while most CMS platforms require a lot of the WebForms "stuff" that comes with ASP.NET. Thoughts? I'm trying to figure out if these two pieces fit well together for future projects, or if they are disparate concepts?
BTW: I realize that a custom CMS could work, however that can require an awful lot of extra time than just setting up an instance of an out of box CMS.
MVC is a pattern. There are CMS systems that are webforms-based, like DNN, and ones that are based on MVC, like Orchard. Either framework (Webforms or MVC) are equally capable of supporting a CMS. Your choice should be based primarily on the one that offers the features you want. If you expect to extend it with plugins, and you're already familiar with Webforms, go with the one you know unless you want to learn MVC.
My thoughts are you very limited in the tools/components available to you at present when you choose to go the MVC route. Although there are a few CMS components out there for MVC they lack maturity IMHO. I believe in a couple of years when MVC has more maturity you'll be able to achieve the speed and sophistication of application development that is close or on par with Webforms.
Right now though if you have a lean project budget, and you need sophisticated functionality (i.e. CMS); Webforms still remains hard to beat when you have those constraints.
I've been programming for over 15 years and started with .NET 5 years ago. We built our framework for windows data-oriented apps and it is a quite stable.
At this point, we are considering to make a new platform. But, I am a little bit confused with all these new technologies. We considered CAB and SmartClient technologies but there are also WPF, WinForms and Silverlight options in there.
It sounds like you just need a quick overview of the technologies you have outlined there.
WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation - a new graphical rendering system for building interfaces based on the XAML markup language.
WinForms: Windows Forms Applications - Visual Studio's classical drag-drop GUI.
Silverlight: a Web Application framework - usually used with WPF, very similar features
ASP.NET & MVC: ASP.NET is the web application framework used in conjunction with C# and VB.NET used and MVC stands for Model-View-Controller - a design pattern that has actually been around for ~30 years
Without knowing the true intricacies of your framework, what you need it to do, what limitations you have - I can't say X would be better than Y - especially seeing as WinForms and WPF is used for desktop applications, and Silverlight, ASP is used for web applications - unless you're thinking of linking these in with each other? You haven't given enough information in your question.
However, the best for investing in the following 5 years? The most recent and still in development technologies are WPF, Silverlight and the ASP.NET MVC - but nobody has a crystal ball to say whether these will still be alive, kicking, and technologically advanced in 5 years time.
We built our framework for windows data-oriented apps and it is a quite stable. At this point, we are considering to make a new platform.
For your specs, all choices might be very good :)
I know that, but what you think is the best for investing in the following, let's say, 5+ years?
If you have a choice ( meaning if you are just displaying data without all the fanciful animation, movie and game like stuff), use ASP.NET MVC.
I always advocate web applications over desktop ones, because web apps are hosted in a single place, and so they won't produce upgrade nightmare.
In terms of which one has the brightest future, well, none of us have crystal ball and we don't know what Microsoft will throw at us in a few years time. But you should orient your apps around your business, not around fashion. If you really ask me out of the so many, which one will still remain standing 5 years later, I would say ASP.NET MVC, because ASP.NET is a mature technology, and MVC is a tried-and-true design pattern that has been used by open source and non-MIcrosoft companies. The fact that it is widely accepted makes it less likely to fade out of fashion.
If you want to continue with creating desktop applications, then your two major choices are WinForms or WPF. WPF is the "hot" technology right now, but there are a few things to consider before choosing it.
WPF requires .Net 3.5 (maybe it's 3.0, but whatever). This is significant because many corporate customers are still using .Net 2.0, and may not authorize upgrading to 3.5 for some time (my former company still has some clients that haven't authorized moving from .Net 1.1 to 2.0 yet). Also, the installer for .Net 2.0 is 23 MB while the installer for .Net 3.5 is close to 200 MB, and the 3.5 installer appears to be buggy, failing occasionally with a helpful "SETUP Error" message.
Developing with WPF requires Visual Studio 2008. If you're currently using an older version, you'll have to upgrade.
This isn't completely true, but for the most part what WPF brings to the table is a much snazzier user interface. In my experience, corporate customers who are paying big bucks for custom software do not care in the slightest how the application looks - they only care that it functions well and that it ultimately saves them money.
Finally, if you already have experience developing desktop applications for Windows, then you will feel right at home going the WinForms route. Also, because of the Mono project, a WinForms app can (theoretically) work on other platforms like Mac, Linux and the iPhone, whereas this is not yet possible for WPF (I might be wrong about this, and I will happily correct myself if someone points it out).
I'm actually sort of torn about this advice, because I think WPF is very cool and powerful, and it may take off and become the only viable way of developing for Windows very soon. It is a risk, however.
Thank you all for answers !
We tested all platforms and we have at least one project finished using MVC, WPF, Silverlight, WinForms...
The main problem with WPF and Silverligth is missing of native ReportVIewer controls since we have a lot of reports (RDL) created.
Personally, I think also that MVC is best structured framework.
I really have positive thinking of MONO. But, I would rather decrease the price of the project so the clients can buy WINDOWS but to handle bugs in Mono-Linux option.
We decided to follow the Microsoft way.
I'm thinking of some kind hibrid framework (Webservice - SQL SERVER- ADO .NET Entity Framework) to be on hosted on server and hibrid CAB-SMARTCLIENT to be usen on clients.
I really miss the times where only one tool and technology was available like Levi's 501 :)