What is the difference between creating a virtual directory, and publishing an application in IIS?

Question

I understand that we can host an application in IIS using a virtual directory.And also we can host an application in IIS by using the publishing option in vs. Is there any difference between using a virtual directory and using the publishing option?

Thanks for your answers.

Answer 1

A virtual directory is more a like a windows shortcut to the real directory of the main app. Just like you can have many shortcuts with different names, same goes for virtual directories more like an abstraction layer..