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What is the best way to upgrade my classic ASPAApp? Necessary tips and opinions

Currently, I support my own business tool for our company schedule and project information. I need some general guidelines regarding web languages ​​and best practices.

Details:

  • Powered by Windows Small Business Server 2008
  • A combination of classic ASP, JavaScript, CSS and Javascript
  • Access database backend
  • A large system containing about 135 pages, just 2.3 MB.

Goal:

  • Extend functionality in small ways.
  • Perhaps switch to other languages ​​to facilitate maintenance (AJAX?).
  • Separate code from HTML structure (currently VERY dirty)

1) Given that I don’t have much time to completely rewrite the system, is it wise to continue working with ASP and JavaScript?

2) I looked at some AJAX, and it seems that it would be easy to jump to include it in the page, is this a prospect worth pursuing?

3) Is it worth exploring the structure of MVC? If so, is it necessary to formally do this with some kind of library, or are there any better methods that I can follow to implement MVC functions using ASP?

4) How difficult is it to not switch to a “real” DBMS, such as MySQL and the database port? Is it worth it? (Feel free to contact the conversation)

Sorry for the length, I just lost a lot of web standards, languages ​​and practices.

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2 answers

1) For the javascript part, see Jquery . This usually reduces the old javascript code to 1/10 of the size and improves the separation of ASP / HTML code and JS code. Ajax comes free and has a really good plugin ecosystem.

3) In my experience, porting such a large system is not a good idea. ASP Classic runs smoothly under IIS 7.5 and IIS Express, so you can use good parts like Url Rewrite and other IIS plugins. If you need more energy on ASP classic pages, just combine them with ASP.NET pages. It is not a problem to run them side by side, I usually use a common ASP.NET handler (.ashx) if I need the power of the .NET Framework to perform tasks such as, for example, dynamically created Zip files.

4) Switch to Sql Server Express.

Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) helps you convert your access database to SQL Server. I did this before with 1 GB (no binary data) of 200+ database tables and migrated the old ASP system a week to SQL Server.

With JQuery, IIS 7.5 or IIS Express, .NET Framework 4.0, and Sql Server 2008 Express, you can “pimp” your system in much less time than fully porting it.

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Seriously, if a thing works and works for you as it is, then I would "extend the functionality in small ways" and maybe add some Ajax if you think it will offer enough value, given the limited time.

I would not transfer the application to 135 pages just to transfer it.

Access has its problems, but if you do not use them, I would not waste time converting it.

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