C# Programmer would like to develop first website

Question

I am a C# Programmer and I want to develop my first website.

I have a C# Application, methods of which I would like to use on a back end Server.

Am I correct in thinking I can use a ASP.NET front end and hook it up to a C# back end?

The website objective is to select a file on the front end, pass this to the back end, do some processing with the file, then email the results to the user.

I don't mind what I use for the front end, but am keen to use a C# backend (this will send data to a SQL server database).

Is this possible?

In terms of current knowledge, I have a basic website that I administrate with cPanel, but this will be my first 'proper' web development.

Any guidance or suggestions greatly appreciated, Thanks.

Answer 1

Can I suggest hitting textbooks and web resources. You've got a lot of reading to do.

Start with this:

http://www.asp.net/get-started

Answer 2

You can certainly use ASP.NET with C# code behind. My personal preference is ASP.NET web forms. The pluralsight tutorials at http://www.asp.net/web-forms are extremely helpful for starters.

Answer 3

It sounds like you're starting from complete scratch.

Go download Visual Studio's free version

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-web-developer-express

I would recommend starting with Web Forms if you're starting from the ground floor.

From there you can create a project using .aspx pages on the front end that have C# code-behind.

Answer 4

Sendmail sample http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2005/12/10/432854.aspx

Fileupload sample

http://asp.net-tutorials.com/controls/file-upload-control/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479405.aspx

Answer 5

This is fairly simple. In this case it could be as simple as a single aspx page (the code behind section is your C# - but it can also be interleaved in the HTML too). There are also several variants of this (the display layer) too these days (WPF/Razor/etc)

There are more complex scenarios too: Using Ajax the page does not have to be completely posted, just your file send up and down as required. Using a web service (either embedded as a MDX file or a standalone web service - WCF etc).

I suggest you start with basic ASP.Net with code behind and go from there.