ASP.NET Dynamic Data

ASP.NET Dynamic Data is a scaffolding framework that allows you to quickly build a data-driven
application. When used in conjunction with LINQ to SQL or LINQ to Entities (as it almost always is),
Dynamic Data gives you an end-to-end solution that takes you from database schema to a full-fledged
web application with support for viewing, editing, inserting, and deleting records.
It’s important to realize that Dyanmic Data isn’t just a code and markup generation tool for
developers who are too lazy to build their own custom applications. Instead, it’s a template-based,
componentized, and thoroughly customizable framework that’s ideal for creating applications that are
all about data. In fact, Dynamic Data can be seen as a logical extension of the rich data controls that
ASP.NET already provides (like the GridView, DetailsView, and FormView). But instead of forcing you to
modify many different data controls on many different pages to get the effect you want, Dynamic Data
uses field-based templates that are defined once and shared everywhere. Combine this clean design with
new features—such as validation that’s based on the database schema and easier filtering based on
foreign key relationships—and you can see why Dynamic Data is a compelling approach for web
applications that focus on viewing and editing database records. You’ll explore ASP.NET Dynamic Data
in Chapter 33.