Best Development Tool For Asp.NET / C#

[dragon4spy]

What're tools for website development?

 

:D Hi! What are the essential tools that you use for developing a website? I'm doubt whether vs.net alone can handle that job or not? What's about the page design (Graphic)? vs.net doesn't have one. :D

[mutant]

VS.NET does have a drag-and-drop web page design :).

[samsmithnz]

I think that VS.NET is more than up to the task of designing web pages. You don't need dreamweaver or frontpage to make a really nice website, you just need a nice clean design. I'm always recommended the minimalistic approach to web design, and usually design the HTML by hand, as its easier to maintain and expand on. For example look at the source for http://www.samsmith.co.nz/, my website. I use stylesheets to clearly define regions and its easy for me to change the content of a page with a couple lines of code, all in notepad if I want (although I use VS.NET now)

[PlausiblyDamp]

I do find TopStyle to be a very nice tool if you are working with CSS though.

[dragon4spy]

Would you guide me to the right place? I want to be able to develop real websites, having interactive menu, java applets inside, flash animation, etc.

 

I have done some using Frontpage, but it was so limited and not indeal for programmer. Could you recommend me any software or programming language to learn? :D

[Robby]

Hmm, "real websites" and "flash animation" in the same sentence? :eek:

 

Visual Studio .NET !!!

[kahlua001]

I use to do alot of front end(html, javascript, dhtml) development for a marketing firm. I find that I work quicker with the front end with FrontPage/Dreamweaver. But probably becuase I actually know html and javascript and how these tools can potentially yield undesirable results. Even though VS can do html, its cumbersome compared to FrontPage which helps facilitate the rapid development of complex designs. And when an overzealous graphic designer hands you a .psd and says to make a website out of it, the last thing i want to do is use notepad or VS. As far as vb code, thats a different story.

[mr relaxo]

for web graphics, macromedia fireworks is pretty standard and easy to use. I do a mock page layout in it with all the menus/graphics, then export what i need as html/javascript.

then just cut and paste the code fireworks generates into a user control. its quick and gives you more time to concentrate on the programming aspect. you can do more complex things in photoshop but the learning curve is a bit steeper, not to mention the pricetag.

[dragon4spy]

VS.net? It doesn't have any built-in html designer like the one in Frontpage.

[PlausiblyDamp]

VS.Net has drag and drop support for page development, support for CSS, provides an HTML editor etc.

What on earth does the 'built-in HTML designer' in Frontpage do that VS.Net doesn't?

[divil]

VS.NET has all the designer features of Frontpage and more - it also doesn't leave your HTML code looking a complete mess. Just a partial mess.

 

Personally I'm against WYSIWYG html designers.

[samsmithnz]

Fireworks is a nice tool for your graphics. One of our graphical artists was showing me even more yesterday, its a very impressive product.

[kahlua001]

"What on earth does the 'built-in HTML designer' in Frontpage do that VS.Net doesn't?"

 

Split views, browser optimizations, easier selection of elements and you can work your way up the chain, layers, imagemaps. Somebody with reasonable knowledge of html can do this without FP or VS.net, but why, when it comes down to it, its about what makes my life easier. Since FrontPage 98, it alot better about not messing with your html.

[samsmithnz]

"What on earth does the 'built-in HTML designer' in Frontpage do that VS.Net doesn't?"

 

Split views, browser optimizations, easier selection of elements and you can work your way up the chain, layers, imagemaps. Somebody with reasonable knowledge of html can do this without FP or VS.net, but why, when it comes down to it, its about what makes my life easier. Since FrontPage 98, it alot better about not messing with your html.

 

Yeh but have you ever looked at the HTML that frontpage produces? Its the biggest piece of garbage you'll ever see. At least VS.NET keeps it looking relatively clean.

[kahlua001]

"Its the biggest piece of garbage you'll ever see."

 

Can you explain this. When you say garbage, do you mean that the html produced is unrecognizable to the extent that the browser cannto display it correctly? Or perhaps certain browsers other than IE cannto display it? Or that when you do a view source, the human eye cannot read it. I dont find that the case with any of these. Even if one does find that the HTML is not pleaseable to the eye, its a tradeoff. Neither product is perfect, sometimes I find I have to have a certain knowledge gained from experience to avoid a product from doing something i dont want it to, this goes for FP and VS. If I can keep clean html in FP and not have to do some stuff by hand in VS, then I will. :)

[iebidan]

I use several tools for web development, first .NET IDE, also for some tables stuff I use frontpage, for images I use photoshop and once I used dreamweaver, but quitted using it, was too complex to make the web page compatible with several browsers at the same time.

[irasmith]

Hummhhhh......

 

When I first took the plunge to learn .NET with Visual Studio, I had not given full website development a thought. I knew .NET was something good, I need Visual Studio was something good, and now I am learning from you all that there are even more goodies that can be done with the two.

 

Quite suddenly I feel like a child on early Christmas morning, so many goodies, so little time :)

[vthokienj]

i am interested in creating asp.net web appliations that use c# code. is there a particular development tool that is considered easy to use?

 

i have used visual studio but was wondering what others use, whether it be Webmatrix, Dreamweaver, or even just notepad.

 

the problem with studio is i want to make and use user controls, but if i drag them onto the form it will add tables to the code so i can add the control manually but this kind of defeats some of the purpose of using a Studio.