Front End

[rapture]

Does anyone have any suggestions/tips/ideas on the merits of Expression Web? I'm using Visual Studio 2008 but the front end work seems to be lacking. I don't know much about expression web and wondered if anyone used it and if it's worth the money.

[kvprajapati]

>I don't know much about expression web..

From Wiki : Microsoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is a WYSIWYG HTML editor and general web design program by Microsoft.

You cannot develop ASP.NET web applications with Expression Web.

[rapture]

Interesting, the expression web site states that you can

"If you think and breathe code, Expression Web has you covered there too with flexible support for a wide range of essential technologies: PHP, HTML/XHTML, XML/XSLT, CSS, JavaScript, ASP.NET and ASP.NET AJAX, Silverlight, Flash, Photoshop files, and video/audio for webcasting. "

I'm having difficulties with front end design in VS2008. It's just not as flexible as I would prefer, I was hoping that expression web would offer a little more in that area..

[kvprajapati]

Again, the expression web site states that you can Create standards-based Web sites ( not a Web Application ) more quickly and easily ...

Take a look at articles:

1. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2109372,00.asp
2. http://by-expression.com/blogs/by-expression/archive/2009/07/08/dreamweaver-vs-frontpage-vs-expression-web.aspx
3. (FAQ) http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeehouse/253800-Expressions-vs-Adobe-proscons-MS-Staff-Welcome/

[rapture]

I think I may have worded my question in an incomplete manner, I apologize.

What I wanted to know is if I can use expression web to build a nice front end and integrate it with VS2008 for the back end work. I'm not trying to build the database interaction with it, I'm trying to figure out an easier and cleaner way to develop the front end of the sites. I wondered if I could do that with expression web and then integrate it with a VS2008 project.....

And thanks for your help

[apegram]

You can build your website look and design in anything. At my place of employment, all of the designers work in Dreamweaver, and then I have to go through the mess of HTML that Dreamweaver creates and insert the dynamic functionality that the project requires.

It doesn't matter where the HTML comes from, you'll still be able to work with it in Visual Studio. It doesn't mean Visual Studio won't give you billions of warnings, as the WYSIWYG editors out there might spit out HTML that doesn't completely conform to standards (but still works). Indeed, if you want good, standards-based HTML that is readable and easy to maintain, nothing beats coding it yourself.

[rapture]

Thanks for the help guys!