Instructor Notes for the course: Web Development with .NET

Introduction

This course covers the building of web applications and web services using the Microsoft .NET development platform.  The student will learn the basics of programming in the C# language, what the .NET Common Language Runtime is and how it works, how to use many of the .NET framework classes, how to use ADO.NET to access relational databases, and how to use ASP.NET to build web applications and services.  In addition the student will learn about XML and how it is used in .NET.  Most aspects of web applications and services will be covered: architecture, design, coding, data access, etc.  The architecture of the .NET development platform will be discussed, as well as practical development issues such as debugging, deployment and security.  Design for scalability, performance and availability will be emphasized.

Course Philosophy

• The material in this course is intended to provide instructors with a big jump start in creating their own .NET Web Development course.  It is not expected that instructors will use all of the material exactly as it is.  Different instructors have different teaching styles, and will tweak the course to their liking.  This course is designed to make it easy for them to do that.
• Teach students to develop web applications and web services with the .NET development platform. 
• Focus on one language: C#.  There is not enough time to cover VB.NET and JScript.NET.
• Provide modules that are as loosely coupled as possible.  This facilitates the rapid and easy tweaking of the course by each instructor.  You may choose to leave out some modules, or to expand others (e.g. you might want to cover C# or ASP.NET in 3 classes).
• We assume that students already know how to do object-oriented programming; i.e. they should be comfortable with a language like C++, Java, Smalltalk, Eiffel, etc.
• We do NOT assume that students already know something about web development – HTML, JavaScript, DHTML, ASP.  We’ll provide an overview of these in the first class, and as needed throughout the course.  Same goes for databases, SQL, XML, etc.
• There is a module on XML, but part of the message is that programming with .NET eliminates the need to do much XML programming.  It is, however, important to understand the role of XML.  Also, XML continues to grow in importance, so it is valuable to learn the relevant .NET Framework classes.

Contents

Included in the course material are:

• These instructor notes.

• A suggested syllabus file.

• A set of modules on various .NET topics.  Each module contains one or two PowerPoint presentations, and may also contain some simple sample files.  Some samples are run from the command line; these have a related .cmd file that compiles the sample.  Other samples are web forms or web services that have to be run from IIS.  To use these, create a virtual directory that maps to the folder containing the samples, and then hit the .aspx or .asmx page from the URL for that virtual directory.  For the samples that use a database, be prepared to edit the sample source file to change the login name and password.  Samples use either the Northwind or pubs samples in SQL Server, and the Northwind.mdb Access/Jet sample database.

• A set of homework assignments.

• Midterm and final exams. 

Have fun teaching .NET!