Today, I’d like to discuss a new technology that will be a part of Microsoft’s next generation programming platform, .NET Framework 2.0. While the new version of .NET will bring about many new features, the most interesting to me is called the Atlas Framework. Atlas is a set of features that are integrated into ASP.NET (the web development leg of the .NET framework) that will assist developers in creating Web 2.0 applications using AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML). 

 

So what is this AJAX stuff? There are many discussions of AJAX technology throughout the web (we’ve talked about it before), the benefits are obvious. The main idea is that you can allow the web browser and the web server to communicate without having to reload the entire page, as with traditional website development. For instance, you could add a record to a database, and have it appear immediately in a list of records without having to refresh the entire screen. Or, you could have a text box that uses auto-suggest to drop down a list of things often typed in that particular field.  And these are just two simple examples – the possibilities are limitless! This technology allows web applications to behave & interact more like traditional computer programs that run on your own computer, and make web application seem more... well... seamless.

 

So back to Atlas…  Microsoft has built this technology to enable developers to harness the power of AJAX technology without having to get lost in a world of compatibility issues and specialized coding that you typically need to make AJAX work. This allows you to spend your development time on more pressing needs such as the business logic that drives your application, rather than spinning your wheels trying to nail down complex UI (user-interface) logic. With Atlas you can use the already simple-to-use ASP.NET tags to specify how to control updates to the UI. If you click a button which should update a list of database records, the control can do that by simply asking the server for the new list records. And if you want to sort a list of records, Atlas can do that without even calling the server – it just uses Javascript to do the sorting. 

 

Now, if you’re a total geek who really loves to get your hands dirty and do this stuff yourself (and you know who you are hah), you are still welcome to do so. ASP.NET does not force you to use the Atlas Framework to utilize AJAX technology. The <script> tag still exists, and you can still sit down and do it all yourself if you wish. In fact, ASP.NET has never even required the use of User Controls to get the job done – you can still write code in the traditional top-down mode that classic ASP & PHP programmers have long embraced, allowing you to pick and choose the Microsoft technologies you want to use and letting you hand-code the rest. Gotta love that flexibility.

 

I, for one, am very excited about this new world of rich applications. Atlas gives Zunch an opportunity to impress our customers with cutting edge websites that require a very small learning curve for the developers involved. As soon as .NET 2.0 ships, you can bet we’ll begin finding ways to use Atlas to improve the usability of our products - Hey, it’s our passion!