ASP and chossing language

[Duncan]

Hi there,

I am sure that many among you have tried and either
succeeded or failed in making asp pages. I'd like to
begin working with these type of pages, as it will be a
good thing to dabble with in my free time until my
teachers come back from striking. My question is, I have
limited programming experience, and any stuff I have done
is in Java, which isn't exactly a scripting language. ASP
can handle, from what I have read, any sort of scripting
language as long as you tell it what you are using,
although VBScript and JScript seem to be the two
recommended and spoken about by Microsoft.

What would you recommend I learn? Any pointers,
suggestions or links to good references for beginners
about ASP?

-Duncan
remove NOSPAM from email message if messaging

 

[MD Websunlimited]

Hi Duncan,

You'll find the majority of the sample are done in VB.

 

[Duncan]

Yeah, that's what a suspected. Guess I'll have to pick up
a good book or two on that. Thanks.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hi Duncan,

As ASP has been superceded by ASP.Net, you would do better to learn ASP.Net.
By the time you learn ASP, almost nobody will be using it any more With
ASP.Net, BTW, you have a choice of languages as well, including C#, VB.Net
and J#, to name the ones that MS supports.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Tom Gahagan]

Hi Duncan.....

Kevin is not wrong.... but not entirely right either.

Asp will not be gone in the few weeks (or perhaps even shorter period
depending on how fast you learn) that it will take for you to learn asp. It
is not about to just disappear in the next few weeks!

If you have little programming experience go ahead and learn asp. There are
plenty of resources around the net that you can use for free. Get
comfortable with it... have some positive experiences and successes and THEN
move to .net.

Also understand that Kevin IS correct in that asp.net is not to be
ignored..... it will take over ONE day!

Best to you......
Tom Gahagan
eThomaston.com

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hi Tom,

So, you think anyone can learn ASP in a few weeks? You're assuming a lot!

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Tom Gahagan]

So, you think anyone can learn ASP in a few weeks? You're assuming a lot!

"Anyone"... perhaps not but most, I believe, can get the basics down in a
few weeks.... and yes I tend to assume the best of people.

I gave your response plenty of credit for being correct for the long term
future but The REAL point is that the total disappearance of asp is not
about to happen in any reasonable time frame of the near future.

If I assume much in thinking anyone can learn asp... how much do you assume
when you direct people to the .net system.... framework.... asp... and
languages? Which of the two is easier for an absolute beginner to learn?????


Man... even experienced seasoned programmers have trouble with .net so my
hope is to get someone started in a way that is not so discouraging and
daunting..... so they will not give up.

Anyway..... just opinions all around.... perhaps nobody is right OR wrong!


Best to you Kevin.......
Tom Gahagan

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I based my statement on experience. I have had the displeasure to work with
a good number of "professional" ASP programmers who were nearly incompetent,
and whose code was nearly incomprehensible, not to mention years of helping
people with programming ASP on my web site, the Microsoft newsgroups, and in
my jobs. Just the basic concepts of programming are not easy for anyone to
learn cold. Sure, Joe six-pack can hack out a simple script in a matter of
minutes. But that's not far removed from the archetypical beginner's "Hello
World" app, which doesn't make one a programmer, any more than taking a
single step makes a baby able to walk. Most people today who use computers
don't have the first clue as to how they work, and knowing how they work is
essential to programming. Now, someone who is already trained in
programming, but is not familiar with the ASP technology could probably get
going fairly well in a couple of weeks, as long as they also had a fair
grasp of HTML and HTTP. But for someone who has no experience in
programming, it's going to take a good while longer.

For example, the other day on the asp.net newsgroup, I asked a "developer"
if he would take a look at the HTML source code that his app generated in
the browser. He didn't know how! And that is just a drop in the bucket.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Tom Gahagan]

I based my statement on experience. I have had the displeasure to work
with

a good number of "professional" ASP programmers who were nearly incompetent,
and whose code was nearly incomprehensible, not to mention years of helping
people with programming ASP on my web site, the Microsoft newsgroups, and in
my jobs.

There is absolutly no quesiton in my mind of your expertise. It is palinly
obvious from the content of many of your responses.

My main "beef" ( and even that is probably too strong a word!) was in the
suggested time frame for the demise of asp as we know it. Heck.... you just
may be right...(as you are in many other answers) but in this instance I
doubt it.

Just the basic concepts of programming are not easy for anyone to
learn cold. Sure, Joe six-pack can hack out a simple script in a matter of
minutes. But that's not far removed from the archetypical beginner's "Hello
World" app, which doesn't make one a programmer, any more than taking a
single step makes a baby able to walk.
TRUE!


Now, someone who is already trained in
programming, but is not familiar with the ASP technology could probably get
going fairly well in a couple of weeks, as long as they also had a fair
grasp of HTML and HTTP. But for someone who has no experience in
programming, it's going to take a good while longer.

Yes.... AND I would add..... A lot .... lot... lot longer to get into .net

..net is wonderful and is the future... I take no issue with that.
And I apprecaite your chapmioning of it. For a number of years I've, every
chance I get... championed Visual Foxpro. Microsofts most neglected and
greatest database product. I fully uncerstand the intention and the attitude
and attribute it to your best qualities.

My feeling was that starting someone off on .net just might be too big a
discouragement and between asp and asp.net.... I believe that asp would be
an easier starting language of the two.

Anyway.... no big disagreement as far as I am concerned. Thanks for your
good spirited debate. I love it !!!!


Tom Gahagan