Which website I should develop for learning asp.net ?

Question

I have worked with window based application in .net. But I want to learn asp.net. So I want to develop one website such that developing that website I can get best and better knowledge of asp.net. And developing that website all most important concepts and controls are covered in that website. And in that website all the concept should be covered which are used in the website which are developed in today's time. So what should the website which I can develop to learn asp.net best and after developing that website I can have better knowledge of asp.net ? I have never develop a website. And which are the features that should be there in that website ? And that features are normally seen in today's website.And what are the books which I should refer ?

Update: Which are the other technologies I should also learn like javascript,css to develop better website of this time?

Answer 1

One possibility would be to pick a fairly simple database that you know well (such as Northwind or pubs) and make a web site for displaying and updating its data. This will get you familiar with data display controls such as GridView and DetailsView, and with ASP.NET databinding. You'll get to play with events and with the ASP.NET page life cycle. When you create a data entry form, you can learn ASP.NET's validators.

Once you've done that, you'll have a good foundation in ASP.NET. Most important, have fun!

Answer 2

Make sure first which flavor of ASP.NET you want to learn:

• ASP.NET webforms
• ASP.NET Dynamic data
• ASP.NET MVC

There are for the above mentioned technologies great tutorials which let you make up a complete site and in the mean time learn a ton from it to be found here http://www.asp.net/web-forms/fundamentals and Nerddinner.

Update: I forgot to mention the Music store sample.

Grz, Kris.

Answer 3

Build your own blog.

Answer 4

I'd second XIII's answer on learning to distinguish between webforms and MVC, but if you're starting from scratch, it would be helpful to know the basics of both, to better decide which you like.

I prefer getting a big application and then reverse engineering, some prefer starting from scratch.

You already have Nerddinner for a sample MVC app.

Here are some sample webform apps:

http://forums.asp.net/default.aspx/2

They're a little dated, but the fundamentals are there.

Answer 5

Create a website that geeks from all over the world can use to meet for lunch. You could call it GeekLunch.com ;-)