What is the easiest way to convert from asp classic to asp.net?

Question

I am a .Net developer that has been tasked with upgrading a classic asp website to asp.net. The website is currently running on luck and bubble gum but there is not enough t

Answer 1

I'm also working on a gradual migration from classic ASP to ASP.NET. Our first phase is migrating some common logic from an ASP include to a .NET assembly that is exposed to COM Interop so they can be called by both classic ASP and ASP.NET. I've written some tests using ASPUnit to verify the behavior after migration to the .NET assembly (with the added benefit of safer refactoring). Once the core logic is in .NET, we can begin creating new pages in ASP.NET and migrating individual ASP pages to ASP.NET at our own pace.

I would recommend .NET 2.0 or 3.5 over 1.1. ASP.NET MVC looks like an attractive upgrade path.

Answer 2

Having been a longtime classic asp programmer, and now an ASP.NET dev, I would take the time and architect it properly in the 2.0 framework (3.5 if you want/need the features).

My last job we had a large handful of very badly build classic asp apps that we were rebuilding, and the "nuke and pave" approach was the most successful. Use the existing classic app as your functional spec and wireframes, and build your tasks and tech specs off of that.

Answer 3

Take a look at Snitz Forums (www.snitz.com) - they are currently in ASP but the port to ASP.NET is almost complete. Both code bases are available for you to look at so you may get an idea of how it has been done there to help you.

Answer 4

I would avoid going into .NET 1.1 since Microsoft is ending support for v 1.1 of the .NET Framework on 10/14/2008. The extended support runs through 10/8/2013 but is typically expensive to purchase. Any bugs or security holes will not be addressed and are your problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&x=11&y=10&p1=1249

Paul

Answer 5

easiest way to do it is to just jump in head first. get some asp.net books and dive into visual studio. Do the examples, play with it, build something fun for yourself. You'll learn by doing.

Answer 6

How long would a complete conversion/rewrite take? It's also going to depend on how you've structured your original project.

I can answer that you should just target v2.0 (3.5 if you want/need it's features) from the beginning. There's no need to subject yourself to 1.1 of the framework.