Programming ASP.NET MVC 4

Appendix A. ASP.NET MVC and Web Forms Integration

The ASP.NET MVC Framework was not Microsoft’s first foray into the web development ecosystem. Far from it, in fact. ASP.NET MVC’s predecessor, dubbed ASP.NET Web Forms (simply referred to as “ASP.NET” before the introduction of ASP.NET MVC), was introduced with the first version of the .NET Framework in early 2002. Over the next decade, adoption of the ASP.NET Web Forms Framework steadily grew to achieve a critical mass, powering a good deal of the websites on the Internet. Likewise, a significant number of developers built a strong skill set around creating and maintaining ASP.NET Web Forms websites. Then, a few years later, ASP.NET MVC was released.

Existing websites and skill sets don’t cease to exist or immediately get thrown to one side simply because a new technology gets released. Quite the opposite, in fact—many of these sites represent a significant investment and deliver real, ongoing business value. This appendix takes a look at various concepts and strategies that can help you introduce the ASP.NET MVC Framework into existing ASP.NET Web Forms applications. You’ll also see several pitfalls to avoid to help make your transition much smoother.

The following sections will show a variety of techniques to achieve increasing levels of integration and cohabitation between ASP.NET MVC and Web Forms applications. Feel free to pick and choose which techniques work for you and your team.

Choosing Between ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Web ...