This is the second generation of our website, http://www.dbhovel.com.  Most of the first generation was just HTML with some ASP, and later one ASP.NET application (the ImageViewer).

Since the advent of Microsoft's ASP.NET and C#, I wanted to reimplement everything in a consistently formatted and styled presentation using ASP.NET and SQL Server exclusively.  While on Tortola, using my trusty Sony Vaio laptop (number 3), I began this project. 

C# and ASP.NET

Microsoft has done something very right here.  The C# language is remarkably easy to use and learn, and now, with generics coming in version .Net 2.0, lacks nothing over such mature offerings as C++.  

ASP.NET is an extraordinarily well-conceived web development tool.  The more I work with it and become proficient, the more I'm impressed that they sacrificed very little in their attempt to build the preeminent web software engine.

Templates

Microsoft is still struggling with the issue of template-based web site production, but there are many solutions available on the Internet for those willing to wrestle with source code.   I found several implementations, but settled on an offering by Paul Wilson called MasterPages .  Hopefully, whatever MS does in ASP.NET 2.0 won't cause me to rewrite everything.

URL Management

I'm using a slightly modified version of Chris Anderson's UrlMapper.  In my version, the URL mapping is quite simple, but I've extended it to know about templates and mapping them.