How long to get up to speed with ASP.NET?

Question

This question is similar to my earlier question.

I have used ASP .Net in Visual Studio 2005 about 4 years ago. How long would it take to get back up to speed with the latest versions?

Answer 1

Not very long. The major addition to VS 2008 is support for Linq, but you don't have to use this (or any of the new features).

The IDE is extremely similar to VS 2005.

Essentially, 2005 targets the 3.0 framework, and 2008 target the 3.5 framework, but these are both just expansions of the 2.0 framework, and not new versions (unlike the change from 1.1 to 2.0).

Answer 2

If you were already proficient in it earlier, then you'll be able to jump into it very quickly again. The core concepts haven't changed much, so you should feel right at home.

Answer 3

That depends on how much you "used" it. An experienced developer should have no trouble updating his knowledge of the 3.0 to 3.5 Framework changes and language specific changes. The largest introduction, I'd say since then has been LINQ, giving the ability to query data from the language level rather than SQL.

But if you're not an experience developer and don't have a good foundation in the previous version, most of what you'll be learning will be the Framework 3.0 and VS2005.

So, ultimately, if you're just going from VS2005 to 2008, it shouldn't be much trouble at all.

Answer 4

If you were able to produce and application back then, you can probably still build exactly the same application now.

As has already been stated, .NET v3.5 is merely v2.0 with extra bells and whistles, like LINQ and AJAX. These are tools in a broader toolkit, and there is no requirement that you must use any/all of them.

So start where you left off. Refresh yourself, and once you are back in the swing of things, have a look through some of the latest enhancements, and pick out one or two that you think will be useful to you. One step at a time!

Answer 5

Everyone else is correct that it should be easy. I'd just add that the ListView control is one of the additions, so be sure to check that one out.

Answer 6

It depends on what you want to use ASP.NET for.

If you live in the HTTP Request/Response world, it will take time. Most of that time will be spent trying to shift documentations which completely ignore the Requrest/Respone world in favor of ViewState and other similar items.

If you want to go ViewState way, not too long, since Microsoft's website is overflowing with tutorials on it.

Answer 7

Take a look at some of the starter kits like Kigg, DinnerNow, and DropThings . You'll get an idea of MVC, WCF and LINQ. Ignore that sinking feeling and get to work learning!