4245. ASP.NET AJAX
Using Visual Basic 2005
Rev. 1.1
This three-day course provides a practical introduction to developing
rich Internet applications using ASP.NET AJAX and Visual Basic. Visual Studio
2005 is used as the development environment. Because of the rich support
provided by Microsoft’s AJAX
tools, an ASP.NET programmer can get up and running in this new environment
quickly. This course shows the way.
The course begins with a discussion of rich Internet applications,
which include substantial client-side code, typically JavaScript. Microsoft’s AJAX tools are surveyed, and a simple AJAX application is illustrated. The
JavaScript programming language is covered in enough detail to give the student
a good working knowledge of writing client scripts. To retrieve and update
information on a Web page from client-side code, the programmer needs to use
DHTML or the Document Object Model (DOM), which are discussed in the third
chapter along with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Chapter 4 covers the AJAX Client Library, which simplifies
client-side programming with JavaScript extensions, a debugging trace facility,
and various API shortcuts. The next chapter covers partial page rendering,
which enables part of a page to be updated asynchronously, resulting in an improved
user experience. The next chapter covers various techniques for making
remote-method calls, resulting in greater efficiency in an AJAX application. The next chapter introduces
the AJAX Control Toolkit, which provides many very useful controls enabling
sophisticated client-side effects with relatively little programming. The last
chapter covers built-in application services, which provides a client-side API
to various services on the server, such as authentication and user profiles.
Numerous programming examples and exercises are provided. A case
study illustrates a number of features of ASP.NET AJAX working together. The
student will receive a complete set of notes and all the programming examples.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
·
Gain a thorough understanding of the philosophy
and implementation of rich Internet applications
·
Use JavaScript and DHTML/CSS/DOM to add
interactivity to Web applications
·
Explain the benefits of AJAX in creating non-blocking and interactive
Web applications
·
Use ASP.NET AJAX and Visual Studio to easily
implement AJAX applications
·
Create visually rich and attractive Web
applications with controls in the AJAX Control Toolkit
Course Duration: 3
days
Prerequisites: A good
working knowledge of Web application development using ASP.NET 2.0, Visual
Studio 2005 and Visual Basic. The student should have a basic knowledge of HTML.
Exposure to JavaScript would be helpful but not required. A basic knowledge of
ADO.NET would be helpful for understanding the case study and some of the
examples.
1.
Rich Internet Applications and AJAX
Desktop Applications
Web Applications
Rich Client Applications
Using Plug-Ins
Using JavaScript
Asynchronous Communication
AJAX
Microsoft’s AJAX Technologies
A Simple AJAX
Application
2.
Using JavaScript
JavaScript and the Browser
Data Types and Variables
Control Structures
Functions
Strings
Arrays
Objects
3.
DHTML, DOM and CSS
What Is DHTML?
Document Object Model
Accessing DOM Nodes
Manipulating DOM Nodes
DOM Events
Cascading Style Sheets
4.
Microsoft AJAX Client Library
Components of Microsoft’s AJAX Support
ScriptManager
Client-Side Page Lifecycle
Debugging Support
JavaScript Extensions
Object-Oriented Programming Support
Global API Shortcuts
Embedded JavaScript Resources
5.
Partial Page Rendering
UpdatePanel Control
Update Modes
Triggers
Using a Timer
PageRequestManager
Partial Page Update Lifecycle
UpdateProgress Control
Limitations and Performance Issues
6.
Remote Method Calls
Web Service Methods
Handling Errors
Using Context
Page Methods
JSON Serialization
ScriptMethod Attribute
7.
AJAX
Control Toolkit
Using ACT Controls in
Visual Studio
Extender Controls
Use of Style Sheets
Page Layout Controls
Popup Controls
ACT Controls and Web
Services
8.
Application Services
Profile Service
Authentication Service
Appendix A. Learning Resources
System Requirements
The following software is required:
·
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
·
Visual Studio 2005 with Service Pack 1
·
ASP.NET AJAX Extensions, a free download
·
AJAX Control Toolkit, a free download
·
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (included with
Visual Studio)
An alternative to Visual Studio 2005 is the free Visual Basic 2005
Express Edition, Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, and SQL Server 2005
Express Edition.
A good minimal hardware profile for this course would have a Pentium
1-GHz or equivalent CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and at least 4 GB of free disk space (7GB
free disk space if VS2005 Service Pack 1 is not already installed).
See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.