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ASP vs ASP.NET

By Priya PedamkarPriya Pedamkar

ASP vs ASP.NET

Difference Between ASP vs ASP.NET

ASP or also popularly known as Classic ASP is the Microsoft based first Server-side scripting engine which is used for the dynamic generation of web pages. The content generated through server-side scripting is then sent to the client’s web browser. The interpreter reads execute all the code between the script <% and %> and results in a content generation. ASP.NET, on the other hand, is a server-side web framework, open-source, which is designed for the generation of dynamic web pages.  It was developed at Microsoft and allowed programmers to build dynamic websites, web services, and web applications.

 ASP

  •  The scripts are written mainly in VBScript, PerlScript or JScript. When you talk about both ASP vs ASP.NET architecture, ASP uses server-side scripting to generate the content already sent to the client’s web browser.
  • Web pages that have a filename extension of .asp use ASP even when there are some websites that avoid the usage of .asp per security and promote .htm or .html being used, whereas there are some pages that use .aspx which means that they use complied ASP.NET, which in turn includes some ASP scripting.
  • ASP runs on Windows, and most products emulate the functionalities of ASP on those web servers that are not Microsoft-based. Sun based Chillsoft ASP was a widely used and popular emulator, but it is not used today.

ASP.NET

  • ASP.NET is a part of the them.Net framework and has collaborated with other frameworks such as entity framework, which in turn uses another open-source, Roslyn or the.Net compiler platform, which is cross-platform in nature. This supports a unified MVC (Model-View-Controller) with the combination of ASP.NET Web API, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Pages.  When it comes to the architecture of ASP.NET, it consists of three major components, viz. Language, Library, Common Language Runtime.
  • A variety of languages are available for the .net framework, such as VB.NET and C#. The .Net framework consists of a set of standard libraries, among which the Web library is the most commonly used one as it consists of all the necessary components required to develop a web-based application. The .Net programs are executed on Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). The CLR or Common Language runtime is used to performing key functional activities such as Garbage collection and Exception handling.

Head to Head Comparison Between ASP and ASP.NET (Infographics)

Below is the top 13 difference between ASP and ASP.NET:

Asp vs Asp.NET Infographics

Key Differences Between ASP and ASP.NET

Both ASP vs ASP.NET are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major Difference Between ASP and ASP.NET:

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  1. In ASP applications, the components used and deployed were difficult to replace or update. To replace, you had to manually shut down the server (IIS), replace it and restart it, whereas in the case of ASP.NET did not hold a reference of the component file with the running application and the subsequent version file was picked up to ensure replacement without addressing to the above problem.
  2. ASP cannot be run on Apache webserver or other non-Microsoft based technology platforms, whereas ASP.NET can successfully be integrated with other non-Microsoft based technology. In fact, Cassini is one such sample web server that can be seen to be integrated with Apache.
  3. Only two language support is provided in the case of ASP, VBScript and JScript/Javascript, whereas ASP.NET can also include C# and VB.NET as well.
  4. Debugging is difficult in the case of ASP as there is limited support due to the interpretation model, whereas in the case of ASP.NET, the pages are compiled into classes and can be debugged using the same debugging tools, which are also available for desktop applications.

ASP and ASP.NET Comparison Table

The primary Comparison between ASP and ASP.NET are discussed below

Basis of Comparison Between ASP vs ASP.NET

ASP

ASP.NET
Definition ASP is the server-side scripting engine or, in simple words, a scripting language ASP.NET is the web formulation of any compiled language such as VB, C#, J#, Net, C++.
Object-Oriented approach Not object-oriented It is object-oriented
Process Isolation It runs under the inetifo.exe (IIS) process space It is a distinct process, such as aspnet_wp.exe, which is separate from the IIS process.
Interpreter and Compiler The page text is parsed linearly, and all the non-server side content is rendered back as a response using an interpreter such as JScript or VBScript. The pages are always compiled into .NET classes sandwiched between assemblies which include the static HTML and the server-side code.
Performance Degradation ASP scripts are interpreted on the fly, and therefore there is a performance hit There is no performance hit, as all the components are assemblies.
Performance Improvement The evaluation blocks for server-side scripting, along with the static HTML, is comparatively less efficient as the interpreter is invoked multiple times, and therefore large blocks are used to enhance performance. ASP.NET doesn’t have to do anything related to performance improvement.
Debugging Debugging is difficult as the ASP scripts are interpreted Errors are generated as compile type errors, and therefore debugging is easy
Code Containment No facility to separate design from programming logic It has a code-behind file to contain all event handling code
Inheritance No concept of inheritance Web forms inherit the code class
Language Used It uses a scripting language Web forms use a programming language
Configurable Not configurable Web.config is used for configuration
Custom Controller No provision for custom controls @register directive can create custom controls
ADO Support The ADO has a simple COM object with a limited set of facilities ADO.NET supports XML integration from multiple data sources

Conclusion

ASP is the traditional one while ASP.NET has many advanced features and functionalities as far as performance and other parameters are concerned, but there can be a requirement where using ASP can be of an added advantage, so a recommendation is to wisely choose the product as per the project need and business requirements. I hope now you must have got a fairer idea of both ASP vs ASP.NET. Stay tuned to our blog for more posts like these.

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