First ASP.NET MVC Framework Impressions

About 3 weeks ago I decided I should get my hands dirty on the new ASP.NET MVC Framework.  I started with the now famous NerdDinner application by following Scott Guthrie's 1st chapter where he built NerdDinner from scratch.  The NerdDinner application is hosted and available at CodePlex.

I'm about 2/3 into the chapter (I need more time!) and so far it has been a complete paradigm change from WebForms.  WebForms was born at the right time when ASP.NET came out in order to help Windows Developers coming from other Development platform embrace more easily web development.  It totally succeeded.

WebForms hid most of the http plumbing and provided a fast and easy framework for web development that became a hit almost instantly.  ASP.NET MVC isn't here to replace WebForms but rather to provide a different approach to web development based on the MVC model.  If you don't like it or don't feel comfortable, then it's ok.  You can continue working with WebForms.  But I suggest you make the choice after first trying it out.

ASP.NET MVC

MVC stands for Model-View-Controller and is a Software Design Pattern that promotes Separation of Concerns.  These are:

• Model.  This is your data.  The Data Access Layer and calculations of data exist here.
• View.  This is the user interface.  It's how the information is presented.
• Controller.  The Controller is the one responsible to process and respond to user interaction.  It decides what View should be rendered to the user.

The main advantages I have experienced so far are:

• Total control of HTML output.
• Easier maintenance as you can work on any element without affecting the other.
• Cleaner code.
• Friendly URLs that help on SEO.
• No ViewState (YES!).
• Unit Testing.

Some drawbacks:

• Goodbye old Web Controls.
• Regular ASP.NET AJAX functionality is lost.
• It might remind you of Classic ASP.

In conclusion, to keep it short.  ASP.NET MVC is a huge refreshing change for web development, and most welcome.  It's going to take longer for WebForms developers to get the job done; much longer at first as we all learn since the Thinking needs shifting.  At the end, the final product will be more easily maintained and changed.  The Learning Curve is somewhat long but it pays off as you go along.

Happy programming ;)