using web site to develop or using web application in ASP.Net?

Question

I want to learn the pros and cons of using Web Site project type or using ASP.Net Web Application Project type?

My web application is using ASP.Net 2.0 or later, and the web application just shows UI, call some other database store procedure and some other WCF Web Services.

thanks in advance, George

Answer 1

The Web Site project was an attempt by Microsoft to make it as simple as possible to develop and deploy an ASP.NET application, seemingly in an attempt to compete with simpler frameworks such as Ruby on Rails. The Web Site project does not use a csproj file to control references, project settings, etc., it relies on the directory and file structure of the project.

In my experience, the lack of a proj file creates more headaches than it solves. I would definitely stick with Web Application Projects.

Here are a few references:

http://www.techbubbles.com/aspnet/aspnet-website-vs-web-application-project/

http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/maordavid/archive/2007/06/03/ASP.NET-2.0- 2D00 -Web-Site-vs-Web-Application-project.aspx