NET with three languages: VisualBasic.NET, C# , and Visual C++ with managed extensions for .NET. VisualBasic.NET and C# are new languages; they are built just for the .NET Platform. In addition, the .NET Platform supports more than fifteen other languages (Anderson, 2000). Any of the fifteen languages is capable of producing ASP.NET applications because the languages are part of the underlying .NET Framework. In other words, the classes that enable ASP.NET to work will be available to any language targeting CLR. Therefore, the choice of language is not an important issue in terms of functionality. .
2.1.3 Distributing World.
Microsoft developers built many distributed features into .NET because they noticed applications were frequently becoming popular. Microsoft made .NET capable of calling components using open standards, such as HTTP, XML, and the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Components exposed through SOAP, called Web Services, are compatible with any platform through standard HTTP. The program calls to the component and returns values from it, which are in XML format. This function is important for two reasons (Newcomer, 2002). First, it gives users the ability to call components from anywhere on the web; that is all components no longer need to be the corporate firewall. Second, it allows users to call Web Services running on non-Microsoft machines and allows non-Microsoft clients to call users' Web Services. .
Clients make the call and retrieve the XML result, regardless of the operating system or web server of the machine housing it. For example, eBay announced that it would use the .
NET Platform to expose auctions as services, allowing users to add auctions as a fully integrated part of their sites (Anderson, 2000). Since the data is returned in XML, users will be able to format that data to fit the look of their web application, while eBay's site does all the work.