What is Apple's equivalent of Microsoft ASP.NET for Web Development?

Question

I am a web designer and spend all my time writing in ASP.NET, this I swear is the best web development language I have come across. Pity the platform it runs on is so god-damned awful (a PC).

Recently I have been looking at an Apple Mac and can use all the software I am used to using (Photoshop, Flash, Firefox, Thunderbird etc.,) although the only sticking point is the web development platform.

Can anyone tell me what the Mac equivalent is (if any) of using Microsoft SQL Server with ASP.NET (I'm currently using SQL Server 2005 Express and ASP.NET 2.0 with AJAX extensions).

Sadie.

Answer 1

You sound quite pc-literate, so you might want to look into the Mono project (http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page). It's a framework aiming to get the Mac & other platforms compatible with .Net.

There is no other direct .Net equivalent for the Mac. The Developer Tools you can install (they come with the OSX installation cd's) focus pretty much on Java ond Objective-C tools.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Yes, you can install MS Office on a Mac, but it does have to be the Mac version, not the Windows version. The programs are basically the same, just written different for the different OS. When you buy a new Mac, a 30 day trial, called a "test drive" is pre-installed. Apple does have an alternative, called iWork. iWork contains Pages (a word processor) and Keynote (presentation software). It costs about half that of Office, and in my opinion is a WHOLE lot better. It integrates pretty well with Office, too. You can import and export word and powerpoint files, and probably some other office formats. Keynote puts to SHAME any powerpoint presentation, and includes excelent support for dual display setups. I have both installed on my system, and have gotten so adapted to iWork that i'm about to throw Office in the trash. It's intuitive, less cluttered, and is a universal app (don't expect a universal from Microsoft for a while[check the FAQ on the second link]).

Answer 3

You should start with researching Filemaker Pro and then talk to some web database designers about how they implement all of it together. Apple has a "white paper" on it at the link below. The second link is a "tips and tricks" page about Filemaker Pro. The third is a link to Apple's developer connection search results.