How to Get the Best out of Enterprise Portals using ASP.Net

In the digital age, each business requires a comprehensive and secure enterprise portal. The custom enterprise application will help a business in offering its products or services to the most relevant customer. At the same time, it will help the company to share fresh and updated information with website visitors by managing the content in a decentralized way.

Many businesses prefer building enterprise portals with ASP.NET to facilitate communication between the site components and data. ASP.NET further makes it easier for business to customize the look and feel of their website to deliver personalized user experience. However, the ASP.NET developers still have to keep in mind several best practices to get the best out of enterprise portals.

Tips to Get the Best out of Enterprise Portals using ASP.NET

Use CSS Media Queries

While creating an enterprise portal, ASP.NET programmers must use CSS media queries and standards-compliant HTML for adaptive rendering instead of control adapters. As a conventional technique, control adapters were used by developers to render customized presentation code for different devices and environment. But the programmers now have option to render customized presentation code using HTML and CSS. When the presentation code is rendered with HTML and CSS, the enterprise portal becomes accessible across various web browsers and devices.

Set Formatting Values in CSS Stylesheets

Many ASP.NET developers prefer values in the control markup. The developers still have option to set formatting values in CSS stylesheets. Also, the properties of ASP.NET web server controls can be used to set in-line style properties. But it is always a great idea to set formatting values in CSS stylesheets. The CSS stylesheets will make it easier for developers to maintain centralize style values, without setting the values throughout the enterprise application.

Avoid Partial Page Update with Page and Control Callbacks

Often certain parts of a web page need to be updated without refreshing the entire page. Conventionally, ASP.NET developers were updating web pages partially through the page and control callbacks. But the partial page update can now be accomplished using AJAX, Web API, SignalR, UpdatePanel or MVC action methods. These options make it easier for programmers to optimize the performance of enterprise portal by overcoming the limitations of callback methods like issues with routing and friendly URLs.

Detect Browser Capabilities Dynamically

The users have options to access the enterprise portal on a wide range of web browsers. So programmers must detect the browser capabilities in a dynamic way. Earlier, the supported features for individual web browsers were stored in an XML file. So the enterprise portals lack the ability to detect browser capabilities dynamically. But developers now have option to use feature detection frameworks like Modernizr to detect the support features of each browser. Along with identifying the support features of a web browser, the frameworks can further check if the browser produces the desired results.

Validate All User Input and Encode Output

ASP.NET programmers often inspect user requests through a feature called request validation. Despite being effective in stopping the request if any received threat is detected, request validation fails to secure enterprise portals from cross-site scripting attacks. So the developers must optimize the security of the enterprise application by validating all user input and encoding the output. They can use regular expressions to validate the input submitted by users. Likewise, the programmers can use .NET classes to validate user input in more complicated circumstances.

Use Cookies for Authentication

Many ASP.NET programmers prefer from authentication techniques that do not use cookies. But sensitive authentication information cannot be transferred secured in a query string. So cookies must be used to make the enterprise portal more secure. Along with storing sensitive authentication information through cookies, the programmers can further enhance the portal’s security by using SSL for the cookie.

A business can further reap several benefits by hiring the right ASP.NET programmers to develop the enterprise portal. A skilled and experienced developer will optimize the look, feel and performance of the enterprise portal by delivering end-to-end services. You can get in touch with a custom .net development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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.Net For Online Businesses -Is It Worth It?

.Net is actually an OOP or Object Oriented Programming model that has been introduced to assist the developers specifically in creating internet-based distribution system, which is an extremely important aspect for online business. The model or platform provides a framework that is independent of platforms.

It also enables the developers to quickly design or develop, deploy as well as manage various web based applications, XML Web service applications and smart client applications. This platform independent quality or feature of .Net helps the developers in quickly building, deployment, and managing various web-based as well as smart client applications along with various XML web services applications. This platform-independence feature also enables the businesses, especially the ones that are carried out online, to quickly as well as seamlessly integrate their systems, devices, or information, thereby using the end users along with customers to collaborate as well as communicate in an effective way.

Let us discuss some of the features that make .Net an indispensable part of online business.

.Net is designed to support side-by-side execution of codes and this helps to resolve various versioning problems. This particular feature also helps in solving the issue of overwriting of shared component by letting multiple versions of a particular component that are to be installed. This implies that the .Net developers do not need to maintain a backward compatibility just because there are different applications that can use various versions of a particular shared component.

As a particular application instantiates any new component, the directory of the applications as well as the other predefined locations pertaining to the component are scanned. As soon as the component is located, all the information regarding the component is cached for use in the future. This decentralized registration of the components helps in minimizing the probability of these components interfering with one another. This also reduces the need of registering as well as unregistering the components. Therefore, .Net makes application deployment much easier and this can simply be done by copying the files into a particular directory.

When it comes to individual users who are carrying out online businesses, .Net gives them a fantastic mobile computing experience. It helps to call and integrate data and information from a wide range of computing hardware like laptops, smart phones and other devices. This helps the users to carry out online business irrespective of their location.

Besides, .Net applications can easily be installed with the use of XCOPY. Users can install the desktop applications with much ease and seamless manner by simply copying the files on respective computers from even a remote server or from any disk. Further, .Net applications are not all dependent on the Registry. That makes it easier to replicate or remove them. In order to delete the files, the user would just need to override them.

.Net code generally remains in a half compiled form or format. However, when it runs, the compiler translates all these half-complied codes into native codes though that does not take any extra time at all. In order to bring down the startup time, the 4.5 version comes up with profile optimization, which has a list or array of methods that the application engages during the startup, speeding it up by many folds.

In the nutshell, the objective of .Net is to make development of desktop and various web based applications much easier and thus it plays a central role in development of net based businesses.

Thus, when it comes to speeding up the online communication, .Net technology plays an extremely pivotal role and more and more organizations are installing this particular application to ensure seamless communication network facility, which takes the center stage so far as online business is concerned. You can get in touch with a custom .net development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Applications in ASP.Net and WCF - Some Differences

There is a lot to be discussed about the difference between ASP.Net and WCF or Windows Communication Foundation.

What ASP. NET Web API is

First of all, let us know what actually ASP. NET Web API is. It is actually a framework that utilizes HTTP services and in the process, makes it easier to respond to the requests raised by the clients. The response provided depends upon the type or nature of the requests. The main function of the Web API is to build the HTTP services, along with handling the requests by using various HTTP driven protocols. Hence, it can well be said that ASP. NET Web API is an HTTP service that uses typical HTTP applications and is designed to reach a wider spectrum of clients having a wide range of requirements.

ASP.Net Web based API is used to create RESTful or Representational State Transfer services. Some of the salient features of the ASP.Net Web API are discussed below.

• It supports various features of MVC applications
• It is a typical REST services platform
• It is a HTTP service creating framework
• It comes up with API MediaType Formatter that can format the responses into JSON or JavaScript Object Notation as well as XML or Extencible Markup Language.

Choosing between WCF and Web API

Web API

• For creating a service with all HTTP features, you need to choose Web API. Some of these features include request headers and response headers, versioning, URIs and the likes.
• Choosing API becomes imperative when there is need for exposing HTTP services to a wider spectrum of clients through mobiles, iPhones, browsers and so on.

WCF

• WCF is generally chosen when creating any service that would support one-way messaging, duplex communication, message queues and so on.
• It is also chosen for creating services that utilizes a quick transport channel like UDP, TCP, named pipe criteria etc.

Choosing Web API over ACF or the other way round

Interoperability Of The Clients

RESTful services and particularly API, mainly put emphasis on simplicity. Applications that can access websites as well as RESTful services by using HTTP calls. This may differ from the SOAP, where clients need to understand the web service by using similar HTTP calls. This is different from the SOAP where clients need to understand the web service with the utilization of WSDL file. WSDL configuration makes things to some extent complicated and needs some additional logic that a lot of devices might not come up with. These devices include phones, interactive TVs and so on.

In short, let us discuss the features of the two frameworks so that the readers have a thorough idea.

WCF

• The ServiceContract as well as OperationContract attributes are generally utilized to define the WCF service

• It Supports a number of protocols such as Named Pipes, TCP, HTTP, MSMQ, HTTPS, and TCP

• Hosted by IIS, Windows Activation Service or WAS, Self-hosting, as well as Windows Service

• Supports fast as well as reliable messaging security, absolutely safe, quick and foolproof transaction along with AJAX and REST support.

• Supports DataContract serializer with the use of System.Runtime.Serialization

• Supports Request-Response, One-Way, as well as Duplex service operations

• WCF is much faster than the Web Services

• There is the option of serializing the Hash Table.

•  Unhandled Exceptions do not get back to the clients as in SOAP faults. WCF supports a better handling of exceptions with the use of FaultContract.

• Supports XML, MTOM, as well as Binary encoding of messages.

• Supports multi-threading with the use of ServiceBehaviour class

ASP.NET Web Service

• WebService as well as WebMethod attributes is used to define a web service.

• Supports only HTTP and HTTPS protocols.

• Hosted solely in IIS.

• Support security but it is considered less safe than the WCF.

• Supports serializer of XML with the use of System.Xml.Serialization

• Supports One-Way as well as operations of Request-Response service.

• Web Services are much lower than the WCF in terms of speed

• One cannot serialize Hash Table. It can be done with only those selective collections that implement IEnumerable as well as ICollection.

• Unhandled Exceptions are returned as SOAP faults to the clients.

• Supports XML as well as Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism or MTOM message encoding.

• Does not support multi-threading

You can get in touch with a .net development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide .net application development services. If you would like to hire dot net programmers for your development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

ASP.NET Development - Role in Creating Dynamic Pages

Each developer, nowadays, has option to choose from several web application development frameworks. So website developers often evaluate different frameworks based their benefits, reliability and support. Most developers opt for ASP.NET to build dynamic and robust websites at a rapid pace. Unlike open source web development frameworks, ASP.NET is developed specifically on the Microsoft platform.

So both experienced and novice programmers have option to access the most updated documentation, along with availing prompt customer support from Microsoft. At the same time, the framework provides a variety of web tools that helps programmers in building dynamic web pages, web services and web applications within a shorter timeframe.

What Makes ASP.NET the Most Reliable Framework for Creating Dynamic Web Pages?

Efficient Code Management

Unlike conventional web development frameworks, ASP.NET is object oriented (OOP). So it allows programmers to manage their code efficiently and keep the code structure clean. Further, the optimized compiled code make the framework effective in creating dynamic web pages faster that other languages including PHP. The clear division of logic and design further make it easier for organizers to build web application in a distributed development environment.

Support for Many Mainstream Coding Languages

The ASP.NET developers also have option to choose from more than 25 mainstream coding languages including C#, VB.NET, JScript and C++. So each programmer can write code using a programming language he is familiar with. At the same time, he can further optimize the website by accessing innovative features of other .NET supported languages.

Option to Access .NET Framework Class Libraries

Unlike other open source web application development frameworks, ASP.NET allows programmers to directly access a large collection of .NET framework class libraries. The class libraries enable developers add a variety of functionality to the application without writing complex code. A programmer can use specific class libraries to facilitate data access, file upload, image generation, XML and SMTP. At the same time, he can use the ASP.NET web forms to create rich UIs by including sever controls and business objects. ASP.NET also provides Mobile Internet Toolkit to make the web pages compatible with the mobile devices.

Improves Website Speed

Often developers have to explore ways to make the website work faster. The caching and compiled codes features of ASP.NET help programmers in making websites faster without writing any additional code. Before any user visits the web pages in real time, the code is compiled into a machine language. At the same time, the caching code stores the information required to enable users to access the website quickly in future. The data caching feature of ASP.NET also contributes towards making the web page faster by caching data from a specific database.

Efficient Handling of Memory Leaks and Crash

Each website must be effective in keeping the visitors engaged. The website also need to be readily available to visitors 24 hours a days, while allowing them to navigate without any hassle. At the same time, the user experience must not be affected negatively by sending any error message to visitors. ASP.NET provides a mechanism that helps website to recover from memory leaks and similar errors. The mechanism also improves user experience by not sending any error message.

Facilitates Creation of Data Driven Websites

The dynamic web pages are often data driven in nature. The data-driven and dynamic web pages are rendered to visitors by deriving data from a database or any other sources. For instance, catalogue pages are generated by deriving data from various sources. ASP.NET makes it easier for developers to generate dynamic web pages by deriving the control classes for each category of data to be displayed on the page. Some control classes like forma and lists further optimize the performance of the data-driven pages by their code behind feature.

While creating dynamic pages using ASP.NET, the programmers also have option to avail the rich set of tools provided by Visual Studio .NET IDE. The interactive and efficient web design, database and debugging tools provided by the IDE further enable programmers to test, debug and modify the web pages during execution. You can hire developers from .Net web development companies who can help you build web apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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Visual Studio 2013 is released- whats new in it?

Thelaunch of the recent version of VS 2013 is aimed for developers. The version has many improvements in user interface and a whole lot of smarter tools which make the using of this software a pleasure. Visual Studio Online has been launched as well which has development services that run on Windows Azure and focus on support for Azure, agile team collaboration and Application Lifecycle Management.

CodeMap- Visual Debugging- During debugging sessions in Visual, there is an option known as Code Map which is found in debug toolbar. When you click this in Debug mode a window will open showing the execution flow's visual representation. This window can be called Visual Call Stack, showing invoked method sequences. This debug toll will help out in the better visualization of code structure and the debugging pace will speed up as well. Existing codes can be grasped easily by newcomers as well. Other things that can be done are adding comments, grouping items, highlighting references to method box, changing colors of method boxes, etc.

Roaming settings- This is a cant-miss feature as during the launch of the studio you will be prompted to sign-in with live.com, hotmail.com or any other Microsoft account. After signing in your settings will be synced with the Microsoft account. When using the studio on some other computer, using that account for signing in will lead you to find the very same settings that you had applied. So, there is no need to waste time in configuration if you are using different computers.

Browser link- Close to Start command there is an icon which hosts a brand new feature known as Browser Link which provides you with two-way links between your browsers and Visual Studio. The basic functionality is allowing the refreshing of browser window running the web application within the studio.

UI Icons- Contrary to the previous versions which used blacks and whites mostly, the new version is lot more colorful. Some icons have been replaced with colorful icons.

Notifications and feedback- Feedback related to the product can now be easily given to Microsoft just by using a simple flag-like icon. The area beside the icon shows things like notifications related to product updates, etc. when you click the icon a separate pane will open which contains all the notifications in a list.

CodeLens- Information from Team Foundation Server 2013 and project metadata is used by CodeLens for placing of decorators on each information showing methods the code has. You will be able to get all sorts of data and information and you can even jump quickly into data like referenced codefile or last person to have worked on the code, etc by just clicking on it.

Peek Definition- The Peek definition feature is a new one that makes the entire coding experience in the studio an enhanced one. It enables developers to edit and view code definitions that are there in other files- all this without any lose of context. Developers can have an option to view inline the file that defines the target symbol as part of current document.

Agile Portfolio management- Visual Studio gives a team the option of managing work in portfolio backlog providing insights into projects that are spread across several other agile teams with the help of this feature.

Kanban board- Development teams can now take advantage of Kanban board for tasks related to planning, tracking of a project's flow and managing of tasks. Insight into various tasks' flow is provided by the iteration board which are related to bugs and product backlog items.

The newly released version of Visual Studio 2013 is packed with features which has marked the start of a new era of Visual Studio. You can hire developers from top ASP.NET web development companies in India who can help you build web applications within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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Top Things Web Developers should Know about the Visual Studio 2013 Release

With Microsoft releasing the Visual Studio 2013, there is a lot of speculation among the developers regarding the usage of the new features that come with this highly integrated development platform. Now, the integrated development environment, by virtue of several of its features such as that of CodeLens and so on, promises higher level of productivity and more efficient way of work. Having said that, the developers must learn about the most important things about this integrated development environment in order to be able to make the most out of it. Here is a quick overview of the top things the developers must know regarding the release of the VS 2013.

• Though a basic aspect, many are unaware of the fact that the VS 2013 is actually available for download on both the MSDN subscriber as well as the respective site.

• VS 2013 is integrated with the newest version of the ASP.NET, which further includes SignalR 2.0, ASP.NET MVC 5, Razor 3, Entity Framework 6 along with the ASP.NET Web API 2.

• This latest version of the integrated development environment works as a perfect editor for all kinds of web files such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript, LESS, Markdown, Handlebars, Angular, Knockdown and so on.

• The VS 2013 is also incorporated with a brand new identity system, new templates that are based on Bootstrap and a new scaffolding system. Developers must be aware about these core features in order to exploit the platform in the most desirable manner.

• The 2013 version installs simultaneously with that of the 2012 version and hence, facilitates easy round- tripping between the VS versions. Thus, developers are not required to commit to a switch for the purpose.

• The recent releases of ASP.NET put utmost focus upon One ASP.NET and this ensures that the web tools along with the core features work in very much the same manner across the various platforms.

While the above- mentioned points are certainly on top of the list of the most important things developers must know about the Visual Studio 2013, there are other features that are worth taking note of.

The VS 2013 has work item charting facility that enables developers to form charts rather quickly while also visualizing the data from the work item queries. In fact, various charts can be created such as that of the tasks, bugs and user stories from the work item queries.

Quite similarly, creation as well as management of the modern business applications becomes quite hassle- free with the newest version of the integrated environment. These applications extend the Office 365 experience and help people interact better with the artifacts, business processes and other systems.

Last but certainly not the least, the new version has a security feature called the ASP.NET Identity. This Identity system comes across as the new membership system for the different types of applications. The primary features of the identity system, some of which are mentioned below, are also important points to be considered by the developers all over:

• Social Login Providers
• Easy control over data storage
• Easy control of user and profile schemas
• Support for claims-based authentication
• Testability

Alongside the already mentioned features and characteristics of the Visual Studio 2013, there are many things that the developers are expected to know when it comes to exploiting this platform. The newest version of this integrated development environment is meant to be of several benefits though these advantages can be derived only by ensuring the perfect use of the same. Keeping track of the way the features work and then handling them is of immense necessity for the developers in this regard. You can hire developers from top ASP.NET web development companies in India who can help you build web applications within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide .Net development services. If you want to hire dot net programmers for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.