VB verses ASP in .Net (VB/ASP .Net)

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My company produces a VB 6 app. A few years back an ASP version of the product was created to facilitate the need for remote users to work with the program/data at remote locations without the need for Citrix or other similiar methods. Development is now looking at moving to .Net. I know that ASP.Net is not a .Net language like VB, C++ and C# and that you can produce ASP.Net pages with the core .Net languages. My question is that other then the need to render the program to end user (Presentation layer) in a web browser why would you use ASP.Net instead of just using VB.Net with ADO.Net?

Thanks
Ed

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Hi Ed,

Your statement that ASP.Net is not a “language” is correct. ASP.Net is a method of presentation. Any supported .Net language can be used to create ASP.Net (VB, C#, C++, J#, COBOL.Net, Python.NET, etc… ) (Ok, I was kidding about COBOL and Python… )

In your situation you could create the business objects, data objects (ADO.NET), and any other middle-tier objects in the .Net language of your choice and compile that functionality into one or more DLL files. Then, you can easily use the same DLLs to drive any presentation layer you choose: Thin client (web browser) or a Smart client (Windows app). This is the beauty of true object-oriented programming!

To answer your question, there’s no reason to use a web application over a windows application if your needs call for a Windows app. However, I will say that my company has started developing all new apps as web apps – even for internal-only users. This makes deployment a non-issue and greatly reduces user support.

Please let me know if my answer was too generic or if you have any more specific questions.

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Mark,
Thanks for your answer and it is exactly what i was looking for. I do have a follow-up Q though.

My preference towards sticking with just VB .Net is that while our Web based app that uses ASP has some great functionality it does so only because that same functionality was intentionally left out of our VB based app. This also comes at a price of a less feature rich user interface then what the VB based product can offer as well as the requirement of a web server. Taking this to the .Net level it still seems that this rings true between VB .Net & ASP .Net . The deployment issue is not a big deal for us. What I mean by that is that it was not a key reason for developing a Web based app in the first place. We did this soley to address how to provide and user interface for remote clients without the need for Citrix or some other product like it. If we had started the product in VB .Net I doubt the thought of having a web based interface would have even come up as a serious possibility. Bottom line for me is that the need for the web based app is gone with the intro of ADO.Net and since VB .Net offers a much richer user interface without the need for a web server I feel we should stick with VB .Net. I am not against ASP, ASP .Net or web based applications. I am a firm believer that no one tool is great for every scenario. There are cases where web base is the best solution and cases where it is not.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Ed

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Ed,

Your closing sentences reflected my thoughts exactly – there is no one right solution that applies to everyone.

I’m a little concerned with your statement, “…the need for a web-based app is gone with the intro of ADO.NET”

This does not make sense. ADO.NET is a part of all .NET languages and environments. You stated that you had a need to service remote users before (using your ASP/ASP.NET application). Has that need changed? Does your situation allow your remote users to now use a Windows-based app rather than web based?

Keep in mind some of my comments from a previous post: The beauty of an Object-oriented environment is that you can build the logic into middle-tier components which can be used for ANY presentation layer. This means that you can run VB and ASP applications side-by-side that will use the same middle-tier components. This will allow your local users to have the rich functionality of a VB application, while still allowing your remote users to use a web-based front-end.

Also, there are often advantages to developing ONLY a web-based application. In my company, the vast majority of our users are remote so we use web-based applications even for local users. It is just not worth the time for us to develop a windows-based front-end for such a small percentage of local users. In addition, we can build multiple security and functionality levels into our web apps so that low-level remote users see certain options while local admin-level users see quite a bit more.

Just some food for thought. Hope this helps!

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Mark,
You are 100 percent correct. I failed to properly explain the scenario. Our clients are not all remote or local but about half and half with the remote clients slightly out numbering the local (lan) users. What I meant by the ADO .Net comment was that ADO did not support disconnected recordsets as does ADO .Net. If we had the functionality of ADO .Net in the begining the use of a Web based app other then for specialty circumstances such as hand held users (Palm devices, ect) probably would not have even been addressed.
My feelings are that the rich interfeace (Presentation layer) that a Winforms app offers in .Net outweights the benefits of a web based app and it’s own limitations. Again some apps are best suited for web based and ASP I just don’t believe ours is. Many task are menu driven with extensive data entry and reporting which are more difficult and less intuitive in the Web based world.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Ed

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Mark,
You are 100 percent correct. I failed to properly explain the scenario. Our clients are not all remote or local but about half and half with the remote clients slightly out numbering the local (lan) users. What I meant by the ADO .Net comment was that ADO did not support disconnected recordsets as does ADO .Net. If we had the functionality of ADO .Net in the begining the use of a Web based app other then for specialty circumstances such as hand held users (Palm devices, ect) probably would not have even been addressed.
My feelings are that the rich interfeace (Presentation layer) that a Winforms app offers in .Net outweights the benefits of a web based app and it’s own limitations. Again some apps are best suited for web based and ASP I just don’t believe ours is. Many task are menu driven with extensive data entry and reporting which are more difficult and less intuitive in the Web based world.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Ed

Reply | Quote

Ed,

Your closing sentences reflected my thoughts exactly – there is no one right solution that applies to everyone.

I’m a little concerned with your statement, “…the need for a web-based app is gone with the intro of ADO.NET”

This does not make sense. ADO.NET is a part of all .NET languages and environments. You stated that you had a need to service remote users before (using your ASP/ASP.NET application). Has that need changed? Does your situation allow your remote users to now use a Windows-based app rather than web based?

Keep in mind some of my comments from a previous post: The beauty of an Object-oriented environment is that you can build the logic into middle-tier components which can be used for ANY presentation layer. This means that you can run VB and ASP applications side-by-side that will use the same middle-tier components. This will allow your local users to have the rich functionality of a VB application, while still allowing your remote users to use a web-based front-end.

Also, there are often advantages to developing ONLY a web-based application. In my company, the vast majority of our users are remote so we use web-based applications even for local users. It is just not worth the time for us to develop a windows-based front-end for such a small percentage of local users. In addition, we can build multiple security and functionality levels into our web apps so that low-level remote users see certain options while local admin-level users see quite a bit more.

Just some food for thought. Hope this helps!

Reply | Quote

Mark,
Thanks for your answer and it is exactly what i was looking for. I do have a follow-up Q though.

My preference towards sticking with just VB .Net is that while our Web based app that uses ASP has some great functionality it does so only because that same functionality was intentionally left out of our VB based app. This also comes at a price of a less feature rich user interface then what the VB based product can offer as well as the requirement of a web server. Taking this to the .Net level it still seems that this rings true between VB .Net & ASP .Net . The deployment issue is not a big deal for us. What I mean by that is that it was not a key reason for developing a Web based app in the first place. We did this soley to address how to provide and user interface for remote clients without the need for Citrix or some other product like it. If we had started the product in VB .Net I doubt the thought of having a web based interface would have even come up as a serious possibility. Bottom line for me is that the need for the web based app is gone with the intro of ADO.Net and since VB .Net offers a much richer user interface without the need for a web server I feel we should stick with VB .Net. I am not against ASP, ASP .Net or web based applications. I am a firm believer that no one tool is great for every scenario. There are cases where web base is the best solution and cases where it is not.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Ed

Reply | Quote

Hi Ed,

Your statement that ASP.Net is not a “language” is correct. ASP.Net is a method of presentation. Any supported .Net language can be used to create ASP.Net (VB, C#, C++, J#, COBOL.Net, Python.NET, etc… ) (Ok, I was kidding about COBOL and Python… )

In your situation you could create the business objects, data objects (ADO.NET), and any other middle-tier objects in the .Net language of your choice and compile that functionality into one or more DLL files. Then, you can easily use the same DLLs to drive any presentation layer you choose: Thin client (web browser) or a Smart client (Windows app). This is the beauty of true object-oriented programming!

To answer your question, there’s no reason to use a web application over a windows application if your needs call for a Windows app. However, I will say that my company has started developing all new apps as web apps – even for internal-only users. This makes deployment a non-issue and greatly reduces user support.

Please let me know if my answer was too generic or if you have any more specific questions.

Reply | Quote