ASP.NET Web Forms is a web application framework developed by Microsoft for building web applications. It is a part of the broader ASP.NET framework. ASP.NET Web Forms was one of the earliest web application frameworks for .NET and follows a different paradigm than the more modern ASP.NET MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework.
Here’s an overview of ASP.NET Web Forms and how it relates to the MVC architecture:
Architecture:
- ASP.NET Web Forms follows a different architectural pattern compared to MVC. It is based on a component-based architecture where web pages are composed of server controls (UI elements like buttons, textboxes, and grids).
- In ASP.NET Web Forms, there is a strong emphasis on abstracting the underlying HTML and HTTP details from developers. It uses a stateful, event-driven programming model, where UI controls and their events are central to the application’s logic.
ViewState:
Code-Behind Model:
- ASP.NET Web Forms applications typically have a code-behind model. This means that the code that handles events and interactions with UI controls is typically separated from the markup (aspx) files. Code-behind files contain the server-side logic.
Page Lifecycle:
- ASP.NET Web Forms applications have a complex page lifecycle that includes events like Page_Init, Page_Load, and Page_PreRender, which developers can hook into to manipulate the page and its controls.
Control Events:
- Controls in ASP.NET Web Forms have server-side events like Button_Click and GridView_RowDataBound, which are used to handle user interactions and data binding.
State Management:
- In traditional ASP.NET Web Forms, URL routing is not as integrated as it is in ASP.NET MVC. URL patterns often map directly to physical file paths.
