Superior Dot Net Frameworks for High Performing Web Applications

Dot Net, which is also popularly known as ASP.NET, is an essential tool of Microsoft that helps developing rich web applications and websites. Be it for applications that are rich in features or just general websites, the secure and robust framework allows an easy development and operation on any platform of Microsoft. The framework actually comes loaded with exclusive capabilities that help developing applications and websites.

Since Dot Net allows developing applications of multiple features, the tool has gained a fast prominence and favoritism among the developers. With application development becoming the new trend of the age, developers seem to be enjoying more with Dot Net frameworks.

A Look at Some of the Main Highlights of the Framework

If you seem to be wondering about what makes the framework build high-performing applications for the web, then here are your answers:

• The platform is highly appreciated for its high scalability and reliability. This particular framework offers all the resources of developing applications that can help improve the functioning of a particular organization.
• Dot Net can be easily understandable and hence, developers can work on this platform without facing any difficulty. Additionally, it also saves time and improves the development speed largely, thereby helping the developers produce accurate and quick results.
• The framework can be easily installed and rarely generates trouble during the use of the same. Furthermore, the platform also incorporates a number of formats, thereby lessening any sort of conflict that might develop between different applications. Additionally, it also involves reduced use codes while, developing large applications. The Common Language Runtime manages and controls the application of the code and makes the process of development simple.
• The flexibility of the framework also helps in the development process of application as it can be easily shaped in accordance to the needs of the developmental task. Moreover, the security aspect of the framework also allows developing secured applications for the web.
• The cross-language interoperability feature of the framework also enables a design of the software in a varied range of programming language without posing any problem in the interaction.
• Additionally, the framework also extends a number of resources, tools, and libraries allowing easy development of applications. The precision and comfort factor of the framework helps high scalable application development.

The framework featuring the support of Microsoft helps developing a range of applications and websites catering to the needs of different business requirements. It is important to develop websites attractively as it helps creating increased readership and maximum visibility. Dot Net allows building innovative and superior websites yielding high performance.

Exploring the Framework

Dot Net framework is specifically designed to assist in the development process of .Net applications. It actually brings together several technologies in one platform. Here is a look:

The applications of Dot Net are usually developed with Microsoft Visual Studio and offer a support to several languages in a particular environment. The developers get to have an extensive choice of programming languages ranging from C++, C#, F#, and Visual Basic.

Additionally, it also has a robust engine, Common language Runtime (CLR) that helps executing the Dot Net applications. The framework has been named powerful as it comes loaded with the capability of offering services like memory management, security checks, and performance optimization.

The framework also features a class library that actually refers to a compilation of logical and collective prebuilt functionality. This allows the developers to plug into the code and run the function without any difficulty.

How to Build High Performing Dot Net Applications

Well, to develop high-performing applications, you must follow certain objectives ensuring best results in the developmental process. Here is a look at the aspects that you must follow:

• Disable session state when not in use
• Choose the provider of session state carefully
• Avoid needless round trips to the server
• Save view state on server control only if required
• Perform pre-batch compilation for large applications
• Make use of Page.IsPostBack for avoiding unnecessary processing during a round trip

In addition to the above-mentioned aspects, you need to follow several other considerations during the application development process. The .Net development framework has truly evolved as a boon for businesses striving towards development of robust web applications and websites.

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Best Practices for Developing Secure and Scalable ASP.NET Session State Management

Owing to the stateless character of the HTTP protocol, web applications had to always bear the burden of state management. Thankfully, ASP.NET comes loaded with multiple features that make maintenance of user state easier. Session state is one such powerful feature enabling easy user state management. This particular feature offers a suitable programmatic interface for correlating an application state with a specific user session while taking care of the client session management and state storage at the back-end for the particular application.

If you need to deploy session state in ASP.NET application development, you can consider choosing from the three modes offering a varied range of scalability and performance. Here is a look:

1. InProc: Referred to as the in-process store, this particular mode offers a fast session state access without the involvement of any sort of marshalling or serialization costs. This is possible as the state maintenance is mostly done within the controlled memory of the ASP.NET. Usually, the state data tends to get lost as the process recycles. However, you can choose to disable the recycling, if it influences the functioning of the application. The in-process store restricts the scalability of the application as it cannot be used in association with several worker processes.

2. StateServer: This particular service of session state can be easily installed on a remote server that all web servers can access universally or on a local server. This particular approach offers good scalability, but tends to influence the performance of the application as against the in-process mode owing to the involvement of the extra marshalling and serialization required for transferring the state continuously from state store.

3. SQL Server: The SQL Server offers an easily accessible and scalable solution that is perfectly suitable for large session state. The marshalling and the serialization costs are equal so far as the session state service is concerned. This particular approach offers failover clustering although it does not enjoy a support in the session state default configuration.

Session State – Exploring the Work Approach

The ASP.NET session state allows you to correlate a specific client session of HTTP with an object dictionary featuring state data or a server-side string. A session is usually referred to as a request series introduced by a similar client within a specific time-period and controlled by connecting a session ID with specific clients.

This particular ID is supposed to be produced by the client on request either as a special section of the URL or in a cookie. The server side stores the session data in one of the supported stores of session state. This storage space consists of the SQL Server database, in-process memory, and ASP.NET StateServer service. The SQL Server and the StateServer allows sharing of the session state among several Web servers without the need of server affinity.

Improving the Performance of ASP.NET Session State

Incorporating session state in an application of ASP.NET can add visible overhead to the performance of the application. However, your application can actually benefit from several techniques for reducing session state’s performance impact while, maintaining the desired functionality of state management. Here is a quick look at some of the best practices that enables designing and incorporating high-performing, secure, and scalable solutions for both new and existing session state of ASP.NET:

The InProc mode of the session state holds the record of being the fastest among the integrated modes of state storage. The overhead of this particular mode is restricted from taking out the session ID from a particular request performing a lookup of the cache for the stored application data in the memory space of the application.

In the StateServer and SQLServer, both out-of process modes, session state must be obtained from an external store, before deserializing the same from its representation of binary blob to the in-memory form of state dictionary in the AcquireRequestState stage. The state dictionary needs to be serialized further in the ReleaseRequestState stage and transported to the external storage.

1. The SessionStateModule usually performs several optimizations for avoiding the overhead wherever it might be possible. The four categories of the optimizations include:

2. No work of session state will be performed for pages and handlers coming without the requirement mark of session state. For pages featuring the requirement mark of read-only access of session state, only the initial data and the last access mark will be obtained.

3. No session will start on requests that come without a specific session ID, until any data is saved in the session dictionary.

4. No state changes will be carried onto the provider at the end of requests that come without an access of session state or with only read access for session variables. On requests of modified session or the mutable session data, the serialization will only be done for the accessed variables.

5. Direct serialization are done for primitive types while, the method of BinaryFormatter serialization is used for object type serialization.

The above-mentioned strategies actually focus on the potential approaches to increase the performance of the application by extracting maximum advantage of the optimizations:

• Disable session state to stay away from overhead completely
• Reduce the serialization overhead and state data deserialization
• Reduce the out-of-process overhead of the session transfer continuously from the state store.

By making use of the best practices and making the most of the optimizations, you can actually reduce the impact of the session state performance largely in your application.

We provide .Net development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our expert .net developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top Tips to Hire .Net Developers

As an integrated development environment (IDE), Microsoft .NET is widely used by software companies to develop powerful applications. So many companies often look for experienced .NET developers for their web application development projects. Some companies look for freelance developers, whereas others want to hire a programmer for an extended timeframe. However, each recruiter needs to concentrate on certain qualities to find the right .NET developer for his project.

While evaluating the resumes of developers, you need to ensure that the professional must have good education along with adequate experience in .NET development services. It is also a good idea to hire a professional who has a good combination of formal education and programming experience. When you shortlist the resumes, give priority to the professionals with several years of programming and website developing experience using Microsoft technologies. At the same time, you also have to consider some additional qualities that make the developer more competent and ideal.

Qualities to Concentrate on while Hiring .NET Developers

• Ability to Meet Your Specific Requirements: The professional experience and expertise of individual developers vary from each others. Therefore, you must shortlist the .NET developers after checking their ability to fit to your organization. For instance, if your company offers ecommerce website development services, you cannot hire a programmer having experience in developing educational or children’s websites. When you shortlist the resumes, it is important to give preference to the professionals who are familiar with your industry. If the style of the developers fit well to your company, it will be easier for you to hire the right professional for your .NET development project.
• Proficiency in Several Technologies: Most web applications, nowadays, have to use third-party applications and services. For instance, an ecommerce website has to use shopping cart software and payment processing systems designed by outside firms. So you have to check if the professional is familiar with other popular technologies including PHP, Java, J2EE, MySQL, JavaScript, DHTML, XML, AJAX and CSS. The proficiency in these non-Microsoft technologies will make it easier for the developer to make powerful web application by integrating some of the widely used technologies and applications available in the market.
• Expertise in Handling Customized .NET Tools: Often developers have to use customized tools to build powerful web application without putting any extra time and effort. Some of these tools also need to be integrated seamlessly with your website to enhance its look and feel. So the .NET developer must be familiar with using the customized tools. Along with the tools used to make the web application more secure and interactive, he also needs to understand how to make, test and deploy web services using specific tools. You also need check if the professional knows how to keep the .NET development environment secure and inaccessible.
• Passion for Quality: Each software company has to concentrate on high standards of quality to impress and retain its clients. Often the high quality standard of a company makes it easier to promote its services through the word-of-mouth of existing clients. So you must check if the .NET developer is passionate about consistently maintaining the quality of work. You can simply evaluate the web applications developed by the programmer in past to decide if he has the ability to put the website well by avoiding the regular problems. His passion for quality will make the professional work hard to impress your clients.
• Energy Level and Creativity: Often the popularity of a web application depends on its aesthetic appeal. Many visitors even switch to the next website if they are not impressed by the look of a specific website. So your web application must be eye-catchy enough to attract users, and keeping them engaged. If the developer is creative, he can suggest the best ideas to optimize the look and feel of the website. At the same time, he must be energetic enough to implement these ideas to impress your clients.
• Good Communication Skills: Most .NET developers have to work as a part of a development team. Also, the professionals have to frequently communicate the status of the web application development project to various stakeholders. If you are hiring a freelance .NET programmer for a single project, you may ignore his communication skills. But evaluation of the professional’s communication and people management skills becomes essential when you are hiring the developer on a permanent basis. The skills will make it easier for the professionals to interact and bond with your existing employees. Also, the coordination will contribute towards making it easier for the new employee to work in a high stress environments.

Most companies, nowadays, develop projects by deploying distributed teams. So there are always chances that the .NET professional has to work in a distributed environment. You must ask him a lot of questions to ensure that he knows how to stay connected and interact with other members of the web application development team.

If you want to hire ASP.Net developers for your ASP.NET development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Unveiling the Best Features of ASP.NET 4.5

ASP.NET, the brainchild of Microsoft, is touted as one of the most popular and successful web application framework that has been designed to make the process of development easier. In lieu with the continuous advancement of technology, the development framework has recorded many updates over the last few years. The ASP.NET 4.5 version is the latest development of the web application framework that has created a ripple in the industry. The latest version can be used for fast development of scalable and high-performing web applications in a controlled environment.

However, you must remember that effective functioning of ASP.NET is dependent on successful installation of Visual Studio 2012 in your machine.

Here is a list of some of the best features of ASP.NET 4.5.

Bundling and Minification: This particular feature helps reducing the size of the style sheet and scripts pertaining to a particular application. The Bundling and Minification characteristic of the web application framework largely influences the performance of the specific application positively. You generally tend to have the namespace of System.Web.Optimization providing support to the bundling and minification file.

Model Binding: This particular feature of the web application framework refers to the idea of separating the Web Form from the control of the Model. Now, you can develop or design Webforms that feature an independent status. The biggest benefit of making use of Model Binding in the newest version of the web application framework is that it allows an easy unit test of the methods. The support of model binding in ASP.NET is usually offered through the namespace use of ‘System.Web.ModelBinding’. This particular namespace consists of value provider classes such as Query String Attribute, Control Attribute, etc. These classes usually come from the class of Value Provider Source Attribute.

Strongly Typed Data Controls: The latest ASP.NET version features strongly typed data controls. You will receive an intelligent code sense directing you to allocate the property of Item Type to a model that would be connecting to the data controls that has been used in the .aspx pages.

Value Providers: The latest version of the web application framework usually offers a number of Value providers that help in the process of data filter. Here is a look at the Value providers:

• Cookie
• Session
• Control Value
• Querystring

What tends out to turn more advantageous is that it offers the customized choice of Value Providers.

Improved Paging Support in the GridView Control of ASP.NET: The GridView control in the latest 4.5 version of ASP.NET witnesses an improved support towards the paging support. The property ASP.NET 4.5 GridView.AllowCustomPaging offers wonderful support to paging and the sorting process through extensive data effectively.

OpenID Support for OAuth Logins: The latest 4.5 version of the web application framework offers an OpenID support for OAuth logins. You can also make use of other external services to complete the login process in any application. The 4.5 version of ASP.NET allows you to register in the AuthConfig.cs/App_Start file as an OAuth provider. This data dictionary can also be used to transfer any extra data.

Support towards web sockets: The WebSockets of HTML5 enables a better performance of duplex communication between the web server and client browser. The 4.5 version of ASP.NET offers complete support to the protocols of WebSockets. IIS 8 and ASP.NET 4.5 offer great support to WebSocket protocol. Leverage of WebSockets in the web application of ASP.NET has been actually made possible now.

Improved support towards asynchronous programming: The 4.5 version of the superior web application framework offers wonderful support to asynchronous programming. This particular feature makes reading and writing requests and responses of HTTP possible without the requirement of any OS threads. Additionally, you also have a support for the new keywords such as async and await.

ASP.NET Web API: This particular feature is incorporated in ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC 4. This latest addition in the feature of ASP.NET 4.5 enables you to develop and consume the services of HTTP at ease.

Support to form types of HTML5: The 4.5 version of the web application framework offers a wonderful support to the form types of HTML5. Here is a quick look at the new controls that are now available in HTML5

• url
• Email
• Range
• Number
• Color
• Search
• Date pickers for e.g date, week, month, time, datetime-local, and datetime.

The above-mentioned features have helped improve the performance level of ASP.NET 4.5 version largely and make the process of ASP.NET web development easy.

We provide asp.net application development services. If you would like to know more about our certified .net developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.