Microsoft Says:

ASP.NET MVC enables you to build Model View Controller (MVC) applications by using the ASP.NET framework. ASP.NET MVC is an alternative, not a replacement, for ASP.NET Web Forms that offers the following benefits:

• Clear separation of concerns
• Testability – support for Test-Driven Development
• Fine-grained control over HTML and JavaScript
• Intuitive URLs

Source: http://www.asp.net/mvc/

There’s a lot to be said about ASP.NET MVC and so far, I’m only just scratching the surface of what’s possible with this new technology.

Where can I get Microsoft ASP.NET MVC?

Version 1.0 has just been released and you can get it here: Download Microsoft ASP.NET MVC

So what’s the point?

For some time now I’ve held that position that ASP.NET is one of the most powerful frameworks around for building web applications but there’s just something missing. That something, to me, has been the level of control that ASP.NET has offered upto this point . Not only with the way many of the controls render crappy HTML output but also in the way the presentation layer was handled all-together.

Coming from a front-end background originally and having been around and learning during the majority of the cross over from invalid table based design to the more modern CSS and semantics based web of today, I’ve always been extremely picky about what my code outputs. Having also been a bit of a perfectionist for most of my life, the concept of MVC (Model-View-Controller) has always been something that appealed to me and in the early days of doing ASP 3.0 (classic ASP)  I spent a couple of months developing my own framework which might now be referred to as a type of templating system. HTML in HTML files, ASP in ASP files, Javascript in Javascript files, MasterPage’s…and so on.

Another item on my wish list for future implementations of ASP.NET was URL-Rewriting. For the past 6 years I’ve been using ISAPI Rewrite to manage and manipulate URLs in order to create a clear separation between a document (or application) and it’s URI. In the olden days, people used to get married and stay together for life but these days people are more free to choose and do what makes them happy. The same is now also true in ASP.NET MVC with it’s native URL Re-Writing structure. No longer are web applications bound by their document structure but instead we now have the kind of flexibility that lets us create URLs that are intuitive and our users will understand.

As a proponent of TDD (Test Driven Development) I’m also really pleased to hear that ASP.NET MVC now includes support for unit testing. With nUnit integrating into Visual Studio nicely, testing has been relatively simple for some time but anything that adds to this and makes testing even easier and thus more likely to occur is a bonus. Once I’ve played around a little more with the testing support in ASP.NET MVC I’ll write more on this topic but for now, It’s good to see the Microsoft guys supporting a methodology that is not only beneficial but a real necessity in this world of high speed development and flexible working practices.

Will ASP.NET MVC replace WebForms?

At Microsoft they’re promoting MVC as an alternative to WebForms and not a replacement and I think this is a smart move.

There are many benefits to having fine-grain control over you application and there’s also a time and place to use WebForms depending on the context and variables in question. One concept I like the idea of is combining the two technologies so that you can create quick and stylish administration functionality using WebForms and then the customer facing website using MVC. I think it’s a matter of what you want to achieve and what you have available to you as a developer and as a business.

No doubt there will be more posts to come on Microsoft ASP.NET MVC as I delve deeper into it and learn some new things. For now, suffice to say I’m impressed and very excited about this new technology.

What are your thoughts?

The main reason for this is that each art has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. Some arts are good for distance fighting, some for close range, some are better than others at ground work and some have better defensive maneuvers than others.

For thousands of years there are have been conflicts and debates about which Martial Art is better than which and which one will “kick butt” more than the next. There have been inter-style battles, movies made, battle field conflicts and even Internet flame matches of people trying to prove that their Martial Art is the best.

Now we’ve reached a time where being eclectic is sought after. Where the best of the best are versed in all areas of defense and attack and where battles are no longer about which style you use, but about how good you are compared to the next person.

This is a revolution that’s going to happen in the world of programming and already we’re seeing the idea of the Mixed Language Artist beginning to spread.

When I think back over the last 10 years of programming, even to before I was commercially involved, we find that old “My language is better than your language” debate popping up all over the place. Whether it’s on Internet Forums, Books, Blogs, Webinars or Live training events.

This article signals the end of those times and the beginning of something new. This is the era of the Mixed Language Artist.

What is a Mixed Language Artist?

A mixed language artist is ultimately someone who does what it takes the get the job done. No longer do we developers sit behind our language specific berlin walls in our ivory towers of smuggness. The Mixed Language Artist knows what tools to use to get the job done. Whether that’s using C# and .NET, PHP, Ruby, SQL and even software like Excel.

I recently wrote a post about utilisation in which I talk about the idea of utilising what’s already available to you as a developer before you go about re-inventing the wheel. This is another skill for the true Mixed Language Artist because the ability to take what’s already out there and to use it in a way that fulfils your criteria and saves time, money, skill and sanity are all key components to being a true artist.

So how do you become a Mixed Language Artist?

Being a Mixed Language Artist is not just about programming or programming languages. It’s an attitude that leads you in a direction where the language is just a tool in getting the job done. The cornerstone to all of this is the attitude. It’s about knowing what you want to create, knowing what tools you have available to you, being able to utilise what’s around you and ultimately, it’s about feeling that rush of a job well done.

For thousands of years the Martial Arts developed before Western Society realised the benefits of mixing the strengths of each art together. Today we can make a choice the create a new wave of developers, engineers, craftsmen and architects. This is the time of the Mixed Language Artist.