Developing Web App in Asp.net? Do
Remember these 10 things
Many developers opt for ASP.NET MVC for their new web
applications. But this might not be always possible and you may
need to use Web Forms for your new projects. That needs to be
followed certain guidelines while developing a Web Forms project
then at later stage migrating to MVC would be less painful
comparatively.
Here we have listed 10 key points to follow:
1. Use Class libraries
The evolution of .NET framework over the years depicts that
Class Libraries are best for coding that is independent of any
particular type of UI. More the code is isolated in class libraries, it
would be possible in reusing them during and after the migration
which would be quite simple.
2. Use jQuery Ajax over Web Forms specific techniques
Web Forms aid AJAX Extensions to help develop Ajax-enabled
applications. Though these controls are specific to Web
Forms,instead of relying on them you may think of using standard
Ajax techniques such as jQuery $ .ajax() or XMLHttpRequest
object. Thus Ajax code will be quite portable to any other web

development framework including MVC.
3. Make habit of using Web API
Though Web API was introduced along with MVC , now it’s a part
of ASP.NET framework and Web API can be used in Web Forms
applications too, since Web API controllers will be 100% reusable
in MVC applications.
4. Prefer to skip server control level UI properties
ASP.NET Web Forms make UI development quite easy. Just drag-
n-drop controls set their properties and the UI is ready. One
common mistake most developer does is to set UI related
properties of the server controls. These properties are transformed
into style attribute of the respective control tag. A suggested
approach is to place all such information in CSS style sheets and
then use Class Name property of the server controls to attach a
CSS class.
5. Prefer to skip Web Forms specific features
Web Forms use several features that are Web Forms specific,
which are not available in MVC. So avoid such features for new
projects because it will create difficulty during migration to MVC
projects.
6. Create forms without ViewState as much as possible
One big reservation which is against Web Forms is ViewState.
Many Web Forms designers create their data entry pages in such a
way that multiple tasks happen on a single page. This may need

page ViewState enabled resulting in bulky forms. You must see if
these tasks can be separated in an attempt to avoid ViewState
altogether.
7. Prefer to create reusable UI through User Controls
Developers have two choices for developing reusable user
interfaces – Web User Controls and Custom Server Controls. If
you wrap your reusable UI as a Web User Controls your
development will be easy. This is because there is raw HTML and
code and MVC offers a close equivalent in the form of partial
pages.
8. Develop standard HTML over server controls wherever
possible
A Rich server control is one of the biggest strength of Web Forms
applications. Controls such as GridView and ListView are very
popular. But the usage might make your migration complicated
due to lack of direct equivalent in MVC. Though it’s not avoidable
altogether try to minimize their usage whenever possible. For
example, if you don’t need to access Label controls during
programming, don’t use them. Use standard <span> or <lable>
tags. This way we can reuse that much markup readily in MVC.
9. Understand in terms of MVC even for Web Forms
applications
Although Web Forms are not created keeping MVC design pattern
in mind, but that can’t stop you from thinking in MVC terms. The
separation of concern as enforced by MVC can be done in Web
Forms also. So when you develop the Web Form try thinking in

terms of its Model, Controller Actions and View.
10. Learn and use Design Patterns and SOLID principles
Many of us are habituated to drag-n-drop development. Our
applications are UI centric. Though these applications might meet
the requirements at a given point of time, they becomes hard to
maintain and extend because a lot of code is stuffed directly into
Web Forms.
Hope you liked the above discussion, let us know your opinion in
the comment section below.
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