ASP.NET WebForms, why I am dismissing it

stateless is a fundamental property of the internet, why should we consider it wrong or to be fixed.

As we all know, there is a fundamental difference that requires legacy application development and web development to have substantially different architectures.

This fundamental difference is that when you write code to run on a specific machine, you have a state-full condition, while when your write code to run on web-based applications, you have a state-less condition.

With the first condition, normally you take a persistent synchronous approach (at least in most state-full context), while with the state-less condition you would normally take a volatile asynchronous approach.

Building a robust and stable interface with a legacy application is easy enough; users are used to common Windows, dialog boxes, error boxes and so on. And it is easy enough to keep all relevant data in the RAM memory until the application is running. It's easy to force the user take certain actions (wizards, dialog boxes and so on).

However, achieving the same architecture on a web-based application is overly complicated and I believe is wrong; the environment is fundamentally different, so the architecture should follow suit.

ASP.NET WebForms was designed (in my opinion) to allow WinForms developer to quickly shift to WebForms by trying to make the internet a state-full system.
To achieve this, lots of page load is required to keep ViewState data, lots of cookies and session variables have to be used and lots of full page post back are required where few simple AJAX calls could do.
There are AJAX powered controls for ASP.Net web forms, however, the control over the JavaScript is often cumbersome and not complete and you end up with lots of complications and pieces of logic spread all over the project.

I did use WebForms at the beginning, but then I realised that it was not the way to go, the system is state-less and my design and implementation should cater for such a condition.

Microsoft has also shifted focus; WebForms is still alive and supported but not terribly active. From the introduction of MVC model and more support for HTML5 and JavaScript, the focus is being moved to a real web-based environment for real web-applications.

I am sure that a good piece of software, whether is written with WebForms, MVC or any other model, is still good software, however, I believe that the right technology and approach should be used in every project.

Any web-based project will have to be built with the state-less condition in mind; most probably WebForms is not a good approach.

Personally, I have dismissed the use of WebForms almost entirely; I use .Net components for my (SQL) Data and Business Layer (written in C#), ASP.Net as server scripting, HTML5, JavaScript and AJAX for the user interface and presentation layer and to enhance the user experience. Within the use of these tools, there are countless different solutions to explore, many more than the restricted WebForms model.



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cloud computing, fast responses to FAQ

if you've been discussing the cloud, you've probably been asked (or have asked) these questions...

if you have ever been discussing, or reflecting, on the cloud, you have probably asked yourself, or you have been asked, a number of common questions. In my experience and knowledge, the answer should be very brief, however, in many occasion it sparked a long confusing debate sometimes moving all the way to politics (what about our privacy!?!) and conspiracy theories (big brother wants to know more and more...).

Now, I am not here to debate or discuss such topics, if I did, however, I would start with social media and how much information people give willingly (and for free); if I were the big brother I wouldn't have to move an inch.

Getting to the point - here are some frequently asked questions that (in my experience) have triggered some level of debate.

what if the internet goes down?

Well, first of all that's very rare now, especially in big cities. However, sometimes the internet does go down in the work place and when that happens, one way or another, the productivity plunges until connectivity is restored (many phone systems also stop working if internet is down). But these days also at home, an internet outage bothers us quite a bit.

Furthermore, many cloud applications have 'work off-line' modes, that (as the name suggests), allow users to perform a number of options while off-line. Think of all sales reps in remote areas; they are still taking orders no problem, even if there is no mobile coverage. In addition, cloud-based applications have been designed to cope with the temporary off-line situation; most legacy application are not.

And, your connection may be down for the day, but if you have the cloud you can send employees home to work from their connection, what are the chances that they are all down?? You could also use GSM connectivity, probably mobile networks are still working. Basically, there are a number of ways to work around a prolonged internet outage... with the cloud.

One more thing, if you are working on the cloud and your computer crashes you lose no work, ever thought about that?

I do not deny that internet going down is an issue with the cloud, but so is it without cloud. And again, the cloud is never really 'off-line', you can always access it from some place.

what about security?

Your data is probably safer on the cloud, security-wise and back-up wise. Besides, most probably you already have data available on the internet.

A business today must have an e-commerce platform where customers can buy (or at least order), view their bills and history and provide their details for on-line payments. This means that you have a database on line holding your entire stock with prices, promotions discounts etc;  you have an order history for all your clients including their personal and payment information. In addition, you probably have (or are planning to get) a CRM for your sales representatives.

But even if you have no e-commerce platform, but just sales reps and delivery staff working with hand-held devices, laptops or tablets, even if using secured applications, sensitive data must be accessible via the internet.

To cut a long story short, the issue with security is an issue in itself. It has nothing to do with cloud as such; it has to do with the nature of the internet. It is there, cloud or no cloud.

what about privacy?

All I have said for security is true for privacy. It is an issue that is part of the nature of the internet. If you use internet in any way (and everybody does today), you will have to deal with security and privacy issues.

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Windows XP is gone!... or is it? I am screwed?!?

is Windows XP really gone?

well it is, but it's not. Most sources claim 17% of computers still use XP, probably it is more. The real question would be: "how many of these computers really pose any type of risk in still running XP?" Whatever the answer is, in my opinion, it is not relevant.

One thing is certain, large corporations do have the means of upgrading their systems; many have done so already, the others will follow when it will become essential.

When will it become essential? When the first productivity application stops working after an upgrade. Whoever is in charge of making the decision (basically funding an upgrade campaign) will eventually have to face the truth and sign-off for the cost.

what about SMEs?

But what about smaller companies that may struggle to fund new hardware and software?

Especially because the XP machine itself may be able to support Windows 7 or 8 if well configured and is probably working away fine but most probably there will be no compatible drivers for one component or the other. Basically, if you have an XP machine, no matter how good it is or how new it is, there is a 99% chance that an OS upgrade will also require a machine upgrade. And that is true for most Windows servers too.

This means that upgrading from XP implies changing hardware (in almost every occasion) resulting in much higher costs. In addition, most software working on Windows 7.8 and 10 is not supported on XP or would not run, hence, you'll need to get the latest version and (most probably) pay an additional software license.

So basically, upgrading from XP has a series of cascading events:

1. Upgrade XP to W7, 8 or 10 implies:
     2. upgrade the machine (most probably buy a new one)
     3. upgrade most legacy software to latest versions (compatible with W7, 8 or 10)
     4. train user on new OS and new version of applications

Each step has a cost attached; upgrading one single machine could cost as much as 2-3k with all included. Even a small company today would probably have 4/6 computers so the costs could stack up very quickly.

so... I am screwed?

Well, that depends. Do you have the money to upgrade? If you do there is no problem for you, but I'd keep on reading anyway...

Are you ready for a paradigm shift? Are you ready for a mind-set change?
If you are not then you are... haem..,.. screwed, but if you are, then your solution is the cloud.

Upgrading to the cloud means you don’t have to buy any servers and worry about licenses, back-ups and so on. It means you need almost no infrastructure; however the shift in technology requires a shift in mentality. For example, employees still require devices to access the cloud, but these devices do not need to have much power as computer power and resources required are provided by the cloud. Furthermore, most cloud services are scalable, meaning you will only pay for your usage.

So you can buy cheap Android tablets for your sales representatives, or even ask them to use their own. You can get cheap computers for employees in the office or just work stations and use only tablets. Good and reliable employees can work from home when and if required, using their own home PC/Laptop.

I understand it's not as easy as it sounds for many, but believe me, that is because of the paradigm shift required.  Many new start-up companies founded by young committed people have embraced the cloud and in many cases they don't even have offices - every employee works from home, with their own devices and internet connections.

is the cloud really the future? do I have any choice?

Well, it really looks like the cloud is the future. The main concern people have with the cloud is the security of their data, but this issue can be dismissed very quickly. If you are in the B2B or B2C market today and you want a successful business you must have a strong image on-line, probably an on-line shopping or ordering platform and you certainly allow customers to pay on-line. So, whatever system you are using, your data (products, prices, customer info and so on) is already public. Is it secure? Well that depends on where it is. Is it more secure in the cloud? Yes, most probably. Cloud providers are big entities (AMAZON, Microsoft, Google), they have very strong security mechanisms. However, cloud security is a big topic and would require an entire post in itself, and probably a web security expert writing it.

The point is that security is not a real issue on the cloud. The concern over cloud security has more to do with the "inertia" holding us back during paradigm shifts.

Most people already have their life on the cloud via social media, and many companies already have their systems on a cloud along with some amount of their data (note that big corporations as bank or insurance companies always had their own private cloud infrastructure).

Maybe the answer to the questions: "is the cloud really the future?" is: no, it is the present; and: "do I have any choice?" is: no, one way or another you are already moving to the cloud.

so what?

Like for so many things in life that just happen, whether you like it or not, the best approach is to start your research and start to plan ahead so that you will understand how your business could benefit from this change, that will impact us all, sooner or later.

Changes seldom carry a sign (+/-), most of the time is how we react (or better how we lack to react) that puts a sign on the result.



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