.NET is standardizing all the common functions attributable to standard database applications in their framework. One of these common functions identified is membership. I like it.
I have worked with a variety of technologies… and some technologies are inherently confusing because there isn’t a common standards. I always remember this scene in StarWars when Anakin remarked on the inefficiency of the Senate in decision making saying that – sometimes, it is better to have a wise and benevolent dictator then a democracy incapacitated by internal differences. (Hmmm… doesn’t this sound like our PAP government’s concept?)
Part of ASP.NET 2.0 is to introduce a whole Membership framework as user/role/grouping management is part of almost all database applications. The basically defined the interface/contract that all membership implementations should be based on. To promote their own products, i.e. SQL Server, they have also provided the implementation of this framework on SQL Server (though the claim that it can also be extended easily to Oracle, MySQL, etc… I seriously doubt it.. I have tried simple components like DataGrid on MySQL and it sucks big time… you actually have to go into the component to start adding single quotes (‘) to get it working…)
Basically Microsoft provides:
- A tool to generate the entire Membership Database
- Controls to allow you to implement generic membership functions like login, logout, register as a new member
- API’s that allow you to talk to the Membership component directly.. though a dirty way will be to work with its internal tables directly?
- Easy integration to ActiveDirectory, i.e. the membership data can be stored in AD instead.
