Convert Classic ASP and ASP.NET Webforms to ASP.NET MVC

Question

I currently work for a company that uses a combination of ASP.NET Webforms and legacy ASP pages for web development. This works fairly well for their current projects but I would like to convince / suggest to them to switch over to ASP.NET MVC since most of their codebase consists of wiring form elements to stored procedure parameters. Just using an ORM is also a possibility but I think it would be a good idea to use this opportunity to switch to an MVC framework.

However, I'm not sure how easy it will be to deploy an ASP.NET MVC app along side ASP.NET and Classic ASP code while the codebase is updated. First, I would like to ask if this is even possible. I've seen threads about running ASP.NET with Classic ASP and ASP.NET MVC with Webforms but not all three in the same application. They currently have Webforms and Classic ASP working together so the pitfalls associated with that are already solved. Second, what are some strong selling points that would help me convince the rest of the team that learning a new framework and converting existing code will be worth it in the long run?

Answer 1

It is possible to run a site that is partially standard Asp.net as well as Asp.net Mvc. As for classic ASP, I've never done it, but I imagine if it runs alongside standard Asp.NET, then MVC won't be an issue.

As for why, remind them that classic ASP isn't a desirable skill in the marketplace. Some people will always resist change and new technology (because the old stuff works fine, and they are probably right). Find the developers that are eager to trade up in skill sets, and get them to band together. But make sure MVC makes sense for the application. Management is likely to wonder why they need to make the big time investment to upgrade when the old stuff is working just fine, and that will be a harder sell.