Publishing an asp.net web application

Question

I want to know a few things about Publishing an asp.net web application,

1. Why should i publish my web application?

2. What are the advantages of publishing a web application?

Answer 1

1. use dll file and not use source code
2. can encrypt file

Answer 2

1- if you want to crypt your configuration settings you should publish. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/53tyfkaw%28VS.80%29.aspx

2- first if you just copy your web site to your IIS it will compile first then starts serving. publishing wins that compile time. second if you want to send just dlls to your server it will be easier to deploy.

my personal opinion if you are the only developer on the project and you may need to change stuff on an editor like notepad and deploy ASAP then dont do it.

but if you have a big team and timeline and deploy is a one of a big issue for project. you need to do that to keep track.

Answer 3

You should use web application because of the advantages of Web application. :-)

I think web application has some advantages:

1. Web application will be compiled before published, so the code will be checked by compiler.
2. One web application(project) has only one DLL file.