TechEd Day 3:: Partial Rendering
My session on partial rendering kind of sold out. I could hardly see the carpet for how many people attended. And I think I shocked some of them, when I said "there's no AJAX in partial rendering". What? You're here talking ASP.NET AJAX and you start by saying that?
AJAX is a new paradigm for Web applications. How can you build applications based on a radically different paradigm using the same application model you used for classic ASP.NET 2.0 applications? You need to adapt the architecture of your apps as well. But with partial rendering this just doesn't happen. Which is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it lets you add AJAX capabilities piecemeal and without a deep impact on existing codebase and existing skills of the dev team. It's bad because it only minimally improves the effectiveness of the application. If you think that flicker-free pages are a great achievement, you're RIGHT. But if you think that it's enough then you're WRONG. However, it might be enough for you at some time and for some time.
If you really want the power of Windows on the Web (to the extent that it is possible), then you need to change gear and opt for a new architecture. It may be frustrating at first, and even at second. Many people today have the same problems (UI, data binding), but nobody has valid answers that work in all cases.
Partial rendering may be an excellent solution; but just be aware of its real value and implementation. It's a darned smart trick; it's not pure AJAX. It's just a note; make a conscious and thoughtful choice when you get to it.
Source code attached for both sessions WEB406 and WEB310 (AJAX Control Toolkit)