While the primary tool you need to start development on ASP.Net is .Net framework, we do need some developer friendly tools and IDE (Integrated Development Environments) for creating web applications on top of .Net Framework. Visual Studio is most popular and recommended IED for development of web application using ASP.Net and SQL Server is generally used as Database for ASP.Net. ASP.Net does supports other databases such as Oracle, NO SQL, MY SQL, MongoDB and many more. In this article we will focus on Microsoft SQL Server & Visual Studio that can be used for creating dynamic ASP.NET web applications.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008Express Edition (Back End Tool for Database):
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is a full-featured relational database management system (RDBMS) that offers a variety of administrative tools to ease the burdens of database development, maintenance and administration. In this article, we’ll cover six of the more frequently used tools: Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer, SQL Profiler, Service Manager, Data Transformation Services and Books Online.
Components of Microsoft SQL Server 2008:
- Enterprise Manager: is the main administrative console for SQL Server installations. It provides you with a graphical “birds-eye” view of all of the SQL Server installations on your network. You can perform high-level administrative functions that affect one or more servers, schedule common maintenance tasks or create and modify the structure of individual databases.
- Query Analyzer: offers a quick and dirty method for performing queries against any of your SQL Server databases. It’s a great way to quickly pull information out of a database in response to a user request, test queries before implementing them in other applications, create/modify stored procedures and execute administrative tasks.
- SQL Profiler: provides a window into the inner workings of your database. You can monitor many different event types and observe database performance in real time. SQL Profiler allows you to capture and replay system “traces” that log various activities. It’s a great tool for optimizing databases with performance issues or troubleshooting particular problems.
- Service Manager: is used to control the MS-SQL Server (the main SQL Server process), MSDTC (Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator) and SQL Server Agent processes. An icon for this service normally resides in the system tray of machines running SQL Server. You can use Service Manager to start, stop or pause any one of these services.
- Data Transformation Services (DTS): provide an extremely flexible method for importing and exporting data between a Microsoft SQL Server installation and a large variety of other formats. The most commonly used DTS application is the “Import and Export Data” wizard found in the SQL Server program group.
- Books Online: is an often overlooked resource provided with SQL Server that contains answers to a variety of administrative, development and installation issues. It’s a great resource to consult before turning to the Internet or technical support.
Features of Microsoft SQL Server 2008
- User-Defined Functions: SQL Server 2000 introduces the long-awaited support for user-defined functions. User-defined functions can take zero or more input parameters and return a single value—either a scalar value like the system-defined functions, or a table result. Table-valued functions can be used anywhere table or view expressions can be used in queries, and they can perform more complex logic than is allowed in a view.
- Indexed Views: Views are often used to simplify complex queries, and they can contain joins and aggregate functions. In SQL Server 2000 Enterprise or Developer Edition, you can define indexes on views to improve query performance against the view. When creating an index on a view, the result set of the view is stored and indexed in the database. Existing applications can take advantage of the performance improvements without needing to be modified.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 (Development Environment)
Microsoft Visual Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It can be used to develop console and graphical user- interface applications along with Windows Forms, Web sites , Web Applications and web services in both native code together with managed code for all platforms supported by Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile, .Net Framework, .Net Compact Framework and Microsoft Silverlight.
Visual Studio includes a code editor supporting IntelliSense as well as code refactoring. The integrated debugger works both as a source-level debugger and a machine-level debugger. Other built-in tools include a forms designer for building GUI applications, web designer, class designer, and database schema designer. It accepts plug-ins that enhance the functionality at almost every level—including adding support for source-control systems(like Subversion and Visual Source Safe) and adding new tool sets like editors and visual designers for domain-specific languages or tool sets for other aspects of the software development life cycle(like the Team Foundation Server client: Team Explorer)
Features of Microsoft Visual Studio
- Code editor: Visual Studio, like any other IDE, includes a code editor that supports syntax highlighting and code completion using IntelliSense for not only variables, functions and methods but also language constructs like loops and queries. NtelliSense is supported for the included languages as well as for XML and for Cascading StyleSheets and JavaScript when developing websites and web applications. Autocomplete suggestions are popped up in a modeless listbox overlaid on top of the code editor. The code editor issued for all supported languages.
- Debugger: The debugger allows setting breakpoints (which allow execution to be stopped temporarily at a certain position) and watches (which monitor the values of variables as the execution progresses).Breakpoints can be conditional, meaning they get triggered when the condition is met. Code can be stepped over i.e. run one line (of source code) at a time. It can either step in to functions to debug inside it or step over it i.e. the execution of the function body isn’t available for manual inspection. The debugger supports Edit and Continue i.e. it allows code to be edited as it is being debugged(32 bit only; not supported in 64bit).When debugging, if the mouse pointer hovers over any variable its current value is displayed in a tooltip, where it can also be modified if desired. The Visual Studio debugger lets certain functions be invoked manually from the immediate tool window. The parameters to the method are supplied at the immediate window.
