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Introduction

3:39 with James Churchill

Let's start with an overview of ASP.NET MVC and Visual Studio along with what we'll be covering in this workshop.

Additional Learning

Here are some Treehouse courses and workshops that you might find helpful to complete before viewing this workshop.

ASP.NET on Mac OS X and Linux

Currently, the only way to develop and run ASP.NET websites on a Mac or Linux computer is to install and use an open source version of the .NET Framework known as Mono. All of that changes later this year, when Microsoft releases a new version of ASP.NET, ASP.NET Core 1.0.

If you want to learn how to use Mono on a Mac or Linux computer, here are some resources that will help get you started:

For more information about ASP.NET Core 1.0, see these resources:

  • 0:00

    [MUSIC]

  • 0:04

    Hi, my name is James, and

  • 0:06

    I'm excited to show you how to get your first ASP.NET MVC website, up and running.

  • 0:12

    ASP.NET MVC is a popular, open source web framework, developed by Microsoft.

  • 0:18

    ASP.NET code runs on a server, so we refer to it as a server-side framework.

  • 0:24

    This is in contrast to JavaScript code that runs in your browser.

  • 0:29

    The MVC acronym tells us the ASP.NET MVC framework uses

  • 0:32

    the model-view-controller design pattern.

  • 0:36

    The MVC design pattern is an important part of the ASP.NET MVC framework.

  • 0:42

    So much so that it's common to refer to ASP.NET MVC as just MVC,

  • 0:46

    which is what I'll be doing throughout the rest of this workshop.

  • 0:51

    When learning, it's often helpful to quickly try something out

  • 0:54

    before you set about learning it in detail.

  • 0:57

    In the videos that follow, we'll be kicking the tires on Visual Studio

  • 1:01

    as we walk through the steps to create an MVC website.

  • 1:05

    Visual Studio is a powerful development tool

  • 1:08

    that is used by developers all over the world to create and

  • 1:12

    maintain a wide variety of software, including websites and web applications.

  • 1:17

    Even with all that power, Visual Studio makes it easy to create an MVC website.

  • 1:21

    In fact, I think you'll be surprised at just how easy it is.

  • 1:26

    Visual Studio currently only runs on Windows computers.

  • 1:30

    If you want to do ASP.NET development on a Mac or a Linux computer, check out

  • 1:34

    the teacher's notes for resources on how to get started on those platforms.

  • 1:38

    As we build our website, we're going to intentionally keep things simple.

  • 1:43

    To start with, our website will include Home, About, and Contact pages.

  • 1:48

    Later, we'll walk through the steps to add a new page.

  • 1:51

    So, even though our website will start off simple, that won't prevent us from

  • 1:55

    using it as a jumping-off point for building something more complex.

  • 2:00

    We'll also be using Twitter's excellent CSS framework called Bootstrap.

  • 2:04

    Bootstrap provides us with a set of pre-built CSS styles for

  • 2:07

    styling elements like menus and buttons.

  • 2:10

    This will make it easy for us to create a great looking website.

  • 2:14

    If you're like me, you'll really enjoy using Bootstrap.

  • 2:17

    Let's review what we'll be covering in this workshop.

  • 2:20

    We'll start by walking through the steps to create an MVC website using

  • 2:24

    Visual Studio.

  • 2:25

    Once we have our website created, we'll learn how to run our website, so

  • 2:29

    that we can preview it in a browser.

  • 2:31

    Then we'll review the anatomy of our project,

  • 2:34

    which will help us with our last item.

  • 2:36

    How to add a page to our website.

  • 2:38

    We're going to cover concepts that will likely be new to you.

  • 2:42

    Sometimes, I'm going to purposely not explain a concept in great detail.

  • 2:46

    Instead, we'll introduce the concept, give you a high-level explanation, and

  • 2:51

    ask that you be okay with not knowing all of the details, at least for now.

  • 2:56

    But don't worry, we'll get you there.

  • 2:58

    In later material,

  • 2:59

    we'll cover everything that you need to know to be a successful ASP.NET developer.

  • 3:04

    Before we get started,

  • 3:06

    let's review what you'll need to get the most from this workshop.

  • 3:10

    First, you'll need to have Visual Studio Community installed on a Windows PC.

  • 3:15

    If you haven't installed Visual Studio yet, check the teacher's notes for

  • 3:18

    a link that covers that process.

  • 3:21

    Secondly, while it's not absolutely required,

  • 3:24

    having a basic understanding of C# and HTML will be helpful.

  • 3:28

    Again, check the teacher's notes for

  • 3:30

    links to Treehouse courses that cover both of these topics.

  • 3:34

    Are you ready to create your first MVC website?

  • 3:38

    Let's get started.

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