I've been working with ASP.NET since March 2005, having come to it from a devoutly open-source background. I first began building web applications in 1999 using PHP3 and MySQL. After a few years of PHP I discovered object oriented programming, and Extreme Programming quickly thereafter. I immediately longed for a more robust language than PHP and moved to Java Servlets, primarily using the Jakarta Turbine framework. It was here that I learned about the Model-View-Controller design pattern, N-tiered applications, object-relational mapping data layers, and many other advanced web application concepts.
I remember reading about ASP.NET before version 1 was released. My reaction was, "Sounds great, but that's a great deal to accomplish." Most of it sounded like the typical Microsoft marketing gibberish whose premise is something like "Over-promise, over-sell, lock our customers into our products, and no one will question someone as large as we."
Fourteen months ago, a close programming friend of mine eventually got a semi-permanent contract working with .NET and seemed to think pretty highly of it. With that recommendation, I decided to look into it again and immediately went to the new features in the upcoming 2.0 release. I was impressed with the features like a plug-able ViewState, a portal framework, etc., and started to fiddle with it at home.
In March, I left the world of contracting for a job within a financial technology provider working entirely with ASP.NET. I'm loving the job, and the technology. My ASP.NET friend also now works beside me.
And thus, my blog will discuss topics relating to .NET and the Agile Programming approach written from the perspective of an open-source believer.
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