IntraWeb and ASP.NET - Companions, not Competitors

IntraWeb does not compete with ASP.NET, instead IntraWeb complements Webforms and is best used in conjunction with Webforms. IntraWeb facilitates the development of more powerful, less costly Weblications which run better and are easier to develop compared to plain Webforms. In fact IntraWeb is built upon ASP.NET's HTTP handlers and modules.

Different Tools for Different Tasks

IntraWeb and Webforms are designed to accomplish different tasks. On the surface they appear to be the same as they both produce dynamic web content. However a helicopter and an airplane both achieve flight, yet have very different design goals, as well as strengths and weaknesses. They certainly have areas that cross over in which either the helicopter or the airplane may be equally suited to the task. In real world situations such as the military, both are needed and establishing the proper mixture of them is the key to success. More information is available in Two Kinds of Web Development.

Which is better? IntraWeb or Webforms?

Neither is best in all situations. You need to evaluate each situation and choose for that situation. For the average web site you should use a combination of static HTML, IntraWeb, and Webforms.

IntraWeb

IntraWeb on the surface may appear to be the same as Webforms. In addition to feature sets, IntraWeb and Webforms are very different at the core. IntraWeb is application centric, while Webforms is page centric.

A few of the core differences are listed below. For a feature comparison please see the feature matrix.

ASP.net Integration

As mentioned previously, IntraWeb is built upon ASP.net's HTTP modules and handlers. IntraWeb can also integrate with ASP.net in other ways.

While your application is built with IntraWeb, other independent pages may be provided by ASP.net. IntraWeb's session ID or cookie tracking mode can be used to move from an IntraWeb application, into Webforms or static pages, and allow the user to return to the IntraWeb application at a later time. This is often useful for shopping carts, or for browsing external documentation. Use each tool for its specialty, and integrate them seamlessly into a single cohesive web site!

IntraWeb and Webforms
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IntraWeb and Webforms controls are not compatible because they work in very different manners. We are working on different methods to allow Webforms controls to be hosted in IntraWeb applications. Current methods we are investigating are containers, host controls, etc. There will likely be limitations on their use, but a future version of IntraWeb will likely allow some level of hosting. Webforms controls however do not support many of the higher level requirements of IntraWeb controls and therefore have no way to take advantage of the extra features IntraWeb provides.

Show me! State and Form Management - Code Comparison

IntraWeb and Webforms are used by the developer very differently. One of the biggest differences is how forms (pages) and state are handled. IntraWeb manages state transparently. IntraWeb forms are based on class references and methods, instead of URLs. The included FormData demo is a simple, yet very good example of both of these concepts. The FormData demo has been implemented in both IntraWeb and Webforms and differences explained in detail in the code comparison white paper. If you want to see how IntraWeb and Webforms are different, this is the paper to read!

Other IntraWeb Features

IntraWeb has many exclusive features to make you weblication development easier. Many of them are listed in Why IntraWeb? Two of the most popular features with ASP.net developers are partial updates and dynamic images. If you are not familiar with them be sure to check them out!

Try It!

The best way for you to see is to try for yourself. As an ASP.net user you are probably familiar with the I Buy Spy store demo. Die Fly Die is an IntraWeb clone which sells pest control products. On the surface they appear to be very similar. However first looks are very deceiving. To compare the differences you need to look inside and see the journey taken to produce the application. Look at I Buy Spy store sources, then look at IntraWeb's Die Fly Die sources. The massive differences between IntraWeb and Webforms will become very quickly and readily apparent.

The IntraWeb evaluation edition is fully functional and never expires. Why not try it out today? Download Evaluation.