VB.NET 9 introduces a clean syntax for expressing XML data. XHTML is XML so why not use VB.NET to generate it, instead of ASPX pages? People are creating view engines for the new ASP.NET MVC framework. How about a view engine that uses VB.NET XML literals?
The benefits to this approach include full intellisense and access to a the full VB.NET language when creating HTML.
I see a view as a function from some data to an XML element (the <html> element):
Function CustomersPage(ByVal title As String, ByVal customers As IEnumerable(Of Customer)) As XElement Return _ <html> <head> <title><%= title %></title> </head> <body> <%= From customer In customers Select _ <div id=<%= customer.LastName %>> <h1><%= customer.FirstName %></h1> </div> %> </body> </html>End Function
The important change from ASPX is that this is HTML in Code, rather than Code in HTML. As a result less "automagical" behaviour is required; It's just a function! This means AJAX features like "partial rendering", where a section of page needs to be updated, can be expressed by just calling a function that returns a <div> element. That same function can be used by the full HTML page function too.
ASPX "usercontrols" become simply functions as well. ASPX Master Pages are functions that have arguments for "placeholders" that get inserted into an template HTML page. Instead of having to reinvent a bunch of programming language concepts inside ASPX, we can just use a programming language that now support XML!
The only down side to this approach is we lose the IDE visual designer support. However, I find viewing an ASPX page that contains even simple conditional data rendering next to useless. I'd rather keep IE open and just refresh the page to see changes.
I am yet to embrace the MVC framework. I am waiting to see if the next release can better support Snooze framework ideas. However, there's no reason I can't use this VB XML magic in Snooze as it current is.
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Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.
© Copyright 2010, Andrew Davey
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