News
DevExpress Releases ASP.NET MVC Extensions
.NET component and tools provider
Developer Express yesterday released DevExpress ASP.NET MVC Extensions, a suite of 30 cross-browser, ASP.NET Model-View-Controller (MVC) extensions compatible with .NET Framework 3.5 and Language Integrated Query (LINQ). The extensions support ASP.NET MVC 2.0 and jQuery, and can be used in Visual Studio 2008 or 2010.
Among the controls included in the DevExpress ASP.NET MVC Extensions suite are a Grid View, HTML Editor, NavBar, Tree View, Callback Panel, and Menu with Toolbar emulation.
The ASP.NET MVC Extensions were released as part of Developer Express' DXperience v2010 Volume 2 release, and is available at no additional charge to users with subscriptions for
the DXperience Universal, Enterprise, and ASP.NET suites. Developers have been able to work with a beta of the new MVC extensions package since November. More detail about ASP.NET MVC Extensions can be found here.
Harry Mehul, technical evangelist at Developer Express, said the large suite of extensions was motivated by strong customer response to an earlier release of grid view, menu and roundpanel components for MVC. That beta was released in the first half of 2010.
"In that first release the response was huge from our customer base. They basically said, 'Throw the kitchen sink and everything else at MVC,'" Mehul said, noting that Developer Express was able to leverage work done on its existing DXperience ASP.NET suite.
Julian Bucknall, chief technology officer at DevExpress, said there was "early skepticism" about the appeal of MVC to a broad developer audience. He noted that MVC developers have different concerns and priorities than those working in a forms-based environment like ASP.NET.
"You tend to be more worried about the payload of your page, what does the HTML look like. You're more into CSS and JavaScript, whereas if you are doing ASP.NET you tend not to worry about it so much," Bucknall explained. "The other thing about ASP.NET MVC is you are not dropping controls on a form and, presto, you have a Web site. You are more into the code, so to say."
Mehul said Developer Express is planning to expand the MVC extension suite.
"Our customers want scheduling, reporting, chart -- we're going to discuss that and see what makes sense," Mehul said. "We don't want everything ported just yet, but we have plans for the 2011 release already."
About the Author
Michael Desmond is an editor and writer for 1105 Media's Enterprise Computing Group.