So after a couple of days of development I've started to make some good progress in my sample application. It's slightly more than a quick "Hello World" application now, it's starting to actually look like a Weblog template. I can enter information via a simple webform, display the details of my current entries in the summary/home page, and drill down into an entry to display the full details.
Behind the scenes it's been a crash course in a few things.
I've given myself a crash course in basic SQL - 11 years ago when I skipped the database related classes where everyone groaned about Oracle and SQL I kind of knew it would come back to haunt me, so all things considered I got off pretty lightly. A few google searches has yielded most of what I need to know so far, basic queries, data types, and functions for setting default values. The main thing compared to Domino has been having to remember that SQL *IS* relational, and it likes those things called Primary Keys..
I've learned a few handy things about the web.config, such as using it for Forms based authentication, and for storing handy application settings such as a database connection string.
I've learned that having pre built session objects sitting there waiting to give you things such as URL paramaters is a very handy thing!
Finally, the thing I was most surprised about - I've learned that working with a WYSIWYG editor can actually have a nice flow to it, and can lead to a pretty pleasant developing experience. For someone who used to work almost exclusively in Notepad when it came to HTML/CSS, it takes a lot to say that. Even after being forced to spend a decent amount of time working in Dreamweaver for Prototyping, I'd have to say Visual Studio has won me over.
Now that I have the basics functioning, it's time to refine everything, add details, and start to double check whether everything I've done so far is according to best practices - or at least close enough to keep me comfortable. All in all I have to say that things so far haven't been too bad. It's very frustrating learning a new language, but once you get a grasp of a few things it starts to get a lot easier.
The ASP.NET writing so far has been pretty lacklustre. I've been too busy doing stuff to actually write about it. I'd really like to write some sort of a quick 'chapter 1 summary' soon, as well as going back and expanding some detail in the first 2 quick content posts I wrote. Stay tuned.
Tags: ASP.NET