Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) has released WebMatrix beta 2, the latest version of the free tool for creating new sites, by either writing the code themselves, or by using existing, free, open-source software applications.
WebMatrix is everything you need to build Web sites using Windows. It includes IIS Developer Express (a development Web server), ASP.NET (a Web framework), and SQL Server Compact (an embedded database). It streamlines Web site development and makes it easy to start Web sites from popular open-source apps. The skills and code you develop with WebMatrix transition seamlessly to Visual Studio and SQL Server.
According to Microsoft’s Wednesday (6th October 2010) announcement, WebMatrix provides a set of integrated deployment tools, as well as a gallery of hosting providers from which to choose for delivering the final site. Designed to give developers all they need to build and run websites and applications on Windows, the Microsoft Web Platform consists of the Web Application Gallery, Web Platform
The beta 2 of WebMatrix has a number of time saving shortcuts for developers including a new, easy-to-learn syntax for ASP.NET (known as “Razor”), giving developers a faster way to build standards-based websites. There are also “Web helpers” available, which simplify common complex tasks – such as displaying Twitter updates or providing social networking link shares or an embedding video – into a single line of code. This makes everyday coding not only easier, but oftentimes better.
“WebMatrix supports building standalone ASP.NET Web pages using the new Razor syntax,” wrote Scott Guthrie, vice president of the Microsoft developer division, in a Wednesday blog post. Razor provides an @model syntax that makes the type being passed to the view more elegantly specified, enabling users to declare re-usable HTML helpers such as @* comment *@. It also now supports building pages using both VB and C#.
WebMatrix can be installed side-by-side with Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express.
WebMatrix provides an easy way to get started with Web development. With an integrated code editor and a database editor, Web site and server management, search optimization, FTP publishing, and more, WebMatrix provides a fresh, new Web site development experience that seamlessly bridges all the key components you need in order to create, run, and deploy a Web site.
As your needs grow, the code and skills you develop can seamlessly transition to Visual Studio – Microsoft’s premier development suite.
This full Web stack on the developer’s machine matches the stack they’ll have on the Internet when they run their site, giving them a realistic view of how the website will operate.