ASP.NET : Interview Questions

1.Describe the role of inetinfo.exe, aspnet_isapi.dll andaspnet_wp.exe in the page loading process?

inetinfo.exe is theMicrosoft IIS server running, handling ASP.NET requests among other things.When an ASP.NET request is received (usually a file with .aspx extension), the ISAPI filter aspnet_isapi.dll takes care of it by passing the request tothe actual worker process aspnet_wp.exe.

2.What’s the difference between Response.Write() andResponse.Output.Write()?

Response.Output.Write() allows you to write formatted output.

3.What methods are fired during the page load?

Init() - when the page is instantiated
Load() - when the page is loaded into server memory
PreRender() - the brief moment before the page is displayed to the user as HTML
Unload() - when page finishes loading.

4.When during the page processing cycle is ViewState available?

After the Init() and before the Page_Load(), or OnLoad() for a control.

5.What namespace does the Web page belong in the .NET Framework class hierarchy?

System.Web.UI.Page

6.Where do you store the information about the user’s locale?

System.Web.UI.Page.Culture

7.What’s the difference between Codebehind="MyCode.aspx.cs" andSrc="MyCode.aspx.cs"?

CodeBehind is relevant to Visual Studio.NET only.

8.What’s a bubbled event?

When you have a complex control, like DataGrid, writing an event processing routine for each object (cell, button, row, etc.) is quite tedious. The controls can bubble up their eventhandlers, allowing the main DataGrid event handler to take care of its constituents.

9.Suppose you want a certain ASP.NET function executed on MouseOver for a certain button. Where do you add an event handler?

Add an OnMouseOver attribute to the button. Example: btnSubmit.Attributes.Add("onmouseover","someClientCodeHere();");

10.What data types do the RangeValidator control support?

Integer, String, and Date.

11.Explain the differences between Server-side and Client-side code?

Server-side code executes on the server. Client-side code executes in the client's browser.

12.What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class?

The answer is server-side code since code-behind is executed on the server. However, during the code-behind's execution on the server, it can render client-side code such as JavaScript to be processed in the clients browser. But just to be clear, code-behind executes on the server, thus making it server-side code.

13.Should user input data validation occur server-side or client-side? Why?

All user input data validation should occur on the server at a minimum. Additionally, client-side validation can be performed where deemed appropriate and feasable to provide a richer, more responsive experience for the user.

14What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect? Why would I choose one over the other?

Server.Transfer transfers page processing from one page directly to the next page without making a round-trip back to the client's browser. This provides a faster response with a little less overhead on the server. Server.Transfer does not update the clients url history list or current url. Response.Redirect is used to redirect the user's browser to another page or site. This performas a trip back to the client where the client's browser is redirected to the new page. The user's browser history list is updated to reflect the new address.

15.Can you explain the difference between an ADO.NET Dataset and an ADO Recordset?

Valid answers are:
· A DataSet can represent an entire relational database in memory, complete with tables, relations, and views.
· A DataSet is designed to work without any continuing connection to the original data source.
· Data in a DataSet is bulk-loaded, rather than being loaded on demand.
· There's no concept of cursor types in a DataSet.
· DataSets have no current record pointer You can use For Each loops to move through the data.
· You can store many edits in a DataSet, and write them to the original data source in a single operation.
· Though the DataSet is universal, other objects in ADO.NET come in different versions for different data sources.

16.What is the Global.asax used for?

The Global.asax (including the Global.asax.cs file) is used to implement application and session level events.

17.What are the Application_Start and Session_Start subroutines used for?

This is where you can set the specific variables for the Application and Session objects.

18.Can you explain what inheritance is and an example of when you might use it?

When you want to inherit (use the functionality of) another class. Example: With a base class named Employee, a Manager class could be derived from the Employee base class.

19.Whats an assembly?

Assemblies are the building blocks of the .NET framework. Overview of assemblies from MSDN

20.Describe the difference between inline and code behind?

Inline code written along side the html in a page. Code-behind is code written in a separate file and referenced by the .aspx page.

21.Explain what a diffgram is, and a good use for one?

The DiffGram is one of the two XML formats that you can use to render DataSet object contents to XML. A good use is reading database data to an XML file to be sent to a Web Service.

22.Whats MSIL, and why should my developers need an appreciation of it if at all?

MSIL is the Microsoft Intermediate Language. All .NET compatible languages will get converted to MSIL. MSIL also allows the .NET Framework to JIT compile the assembly on the installed computer.

23.Which method do you invoke on the DataAdapter control to load your generated dataset with data?

The Fill() method.

24.Can you edit data in the Repeater control?

No, it just reads the information from its data source.

25.Which template must you provide, in order to display data in a Repeater control?

ItemTemplate.

26.How can you provide an alternating color scheme in a Repeater control?

Use the AlternatingItemTemplate.

27.What property must you set, and what method must you call in your code, in order to bind the data from a data source to the Repeater control?

You must set the DataSource property and call the DataBind method.

28.What base class do all Web Forms inherit from?

The Page class.

29.Name two properties common in every validation control?

ControlToValidate property and Text property.

30.Which property on a Combo Box do you set with a column name, prior to setting the DataSource, to display data in the combo box?

DataTextField property.

31.Which control would you use if you needed to make sure the values in two different controls matched?

CompareValidator control.

32.How many classes can a single .NET DLL contain?

It can contain many classes.

33.Difference between Application and Session Events

The ASP.NET page framework provides ways for you to work with events that can be raised when your application starts or stops or when an individual user's session starts or stops:
Application events are raised for all requests to an application. For example, Application_BeginRequest is raised when any Web Forms page or XML Web service in your application is requested. This event allows you to initialize resources that will be used for each request to the application. A corresponding event, Application_EndRequest, provides you with an opportunity to close or otherwise dispose of resources used for the request.
Session events are similar to application events (there is a Session_OnStart and a Session_OnEnd event), but are raised with each unique session within the application. A session begins when a user requests a page for the first time from your application and ends either when your application explicitly closes the session or when the session times out.
You can create handlers for these types of events in the Global.asax file.

34. Difference between ASP Session and ASP.NET Session?

asp.net session supports cookie less session & it can span across multiple servers.

35. What is cookie less session? How it works?

By default, ASP.NET will store the session state in the same process that processes the request, just as ASP does. If cookies are not available, a session can be tracked by adding a session identifier to the URL. This can be enabled by setting the following:

http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/doc/stateoverview.aspx

36. How you will handle session when deploying application in more than a server? Describe session handling in a webfarm, how does it work and what are the limits?

By default, ASP.NET will store the session state in the same process that processes the request, just as ASP does. Additionally, ASP.NET can store session data in an external process, which can even reside on another machine. To enable this feature:
Start the ASP.NET state service, either using the Services snap-in or by executing "net start aspnet_state" on the command line. The state service will by default listen on port 42424. To change the port, modify the registry key for the service: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\aspnet_state\Parameters\Port
Set the mode attribute of the section to "StateServer".
Configure the stateConnectionString attribute with the values of the machine on which you started aspnet_state.
The following sample assumes that the state service is running on the same machine as the Web server ("localhost") and uses the default port (42424):


37. What is State Management in .Net and how many ways are there to maintain a state in .Net? What is view state?

Web pages are recreated each time the page is posted to the server. In traditional Web programming, this would ordinarily mean that all information associated with the page and the controls on the page would be lost with each round trip.
To overcome this inherent limitation of traditional Web programming, the ASP.NET page framework includes various options to help you preserve changes — that is, for managing state. The page framework includes a facility called view state that automatically preserves property values of the page and all the controls on it between round trips.
However, you will probably also have application-specific values that you want to preserve. To do so, you can use one of the state management options.
Client-Based State Management Options:
View State
Hidden Form Fields
Cookies
Query Strings
Server-Based State Management Options
Application State
Session State
Database Support

38. What are the disadvantages of view state / what are the benefits?

Automatic view-state management is a feature of server controls that enables them to repopulate their property values on a round trip (without you having to write any code). This feature does impact performance, however, since a server control's view state is passed to and from the server in a hidden form field. You should be aware of when view state helps you and when it hinders your page's performance.

39. When maintaining session through Sql server, what is the impact of Read and Write operation on Session objects? will performance degrade?

Maintaining state using database technology is a common practice when storing user-specific information where the information store is large. Database storage is particularly useful for maintaining long-term state or state that must be preserved even if the server must be restarted.

40.What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class?

C#

41.Should validation (did the user enter a real date) occur server-side or client-side? Why?

Client-side validation because there is no need to request a server side date when you could obtain a date from the client machine.

42.What are ASP.NET Web Forms? How is this technology different than what is available though ASP?

Web Forms are the heart and soul of ASP.NET. Web Forms are the User Interface (UI) elements that give your Web applications their look and feel. Web Forms are similar to Windows Forms in that they provide properties, methods, and events for the controls that are placed onto them. However, these UI elements render themselves in the appropriate markup language required by the request, e.g. HTML. If you use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, you will also get the familiar drag-and-drop interface used to create your UI for your Web application.

43.What base class do all Web Forms inherit from?

System.Web.UI.Page

44.How do you turn off cookies for one page in your site?

Use the Cookie.Discard Property which Gets or sets the discard flag set by the server. When true, this property instructs the client application not to save the Cookie on the user’s hard disk when a session ends.

45.Which two properties are on every validation control?

ControlToValidate & ErrorMessage properties

46.How do you create a permanent cookie?

Setting the Expires property to MinValue means that the Cookie never expires.

47.What does WSDL stand for?

Web Services Description Language

48.What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns manually?

Column tag and an ASP:databound tag.