Chapter 1-Lesson 1-2-3

• For remotely servers, the server must have Frontpage Server Extensions installed for Visual Studio to connect to it. (This will be required when using HTTP Server during Website creation in Visual Studio)
• Solution (.sln) files are text files associated only with ASP.NET Web Application Projects (and not ASP.NET Website template) and contains information about information such as target framework, default language, list of project dependencies and so on.
• Solution User Options (.suo) files is a binary file that contains breakpoints and watch window settings, tasks list and VS window locations for current user.
• Special folders (usually prefixed with word App_) are protected by ASP.NET from direct user access. This excludes App_Themes folder.
• A typical ASPX page is made up three parts, namely: Page Directives, Code (or Code-Behind) and Layout.
• If we place all website files on server, it is referred to as Dynamic Compilation, i.e. the code will get compiled automatically by server the first time a user request is made.
• On the other hand ASP.NET also allows Pre-compilation which compiles code into assemblies and leaves layout files intact. This removes the first user performance hit but is difficult to manage (as the entire website would need re-compilation for even a small change made to code)
• Machine.config file contains settings for all .NET application types including Console, Windows and Web.
• Settings related to the Web Server are stored in Root Default web.config file which resides in the same directory as Machine.config. (Typically %SystemRoot%/Microsoft.Net/Framework//CONFIG/ ) Settings in this file may override some settings from Machine.config
• Each website may then have an optional web.config at its own root folder. This file may further override Root Default web.config settings.
• Sub-directories within a website may also their respective web.config files. The runtime effectively flattens this layered configuration model (from Machine.config to Sub-Directory specific web.config) to determine the final settings for pages contained in that folder.
• The WSAT (Website Administration Tool), accessible in VS 2008 through Website -> ASP.NET Configuration allows to visually change web.config settings.