CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.net-mvc-3jquery-mobilemobile
Robert Davis
Robert Davis

Reputation: 53

Using .NET MVC 3 for mobile contact form

I am developing a mobile version of one of our clients sites. We have decided to go with JQuery Mobile and it is working great, so far. However, the client's desktop browser site has a contact form that was developed using .NET Web Forms. I have read that it is better to use MVC for this type of functionality on a mobile site.

Since all of the mobile site can be developed just using HTML5 and JQuery Mobile except for the contact form, would it make sense to only develop the contact form in MVC and link the rest of the site to it? Or, would it be better to develop the whole mobile site in MVC?

Bonus question, does anyone know if a .NET MVC 3 mobile site has any issues with load time in a mobile browser?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 474

Answers (1)

Steve Kennaird
Steve Kennaird

Reputation: 1674

ASP.Net MVC is more light-weight than Web Forms in what it sends to the browser as (amongst other things) it doesn't have a viewstate, so for mobile devices where bandwidth may be limited (and just as a general good-practice), sending less HTML to the client will be better, and will help keep load times at a minimum.

Whether or not you develop the contact us page again in MVC or use the existing web forms page depends on many things, such as:

  • Does the contact form have enough visits to warrant the time it'd take to develop and MVC site just for that single page
  • Are there likely to be more dynamic pages in the future, if so it may be worth adopting a platform such as MVC now.
  • Do you have the time/skills required to take on an MVC site?
  • Will it look odd if the design of the contact form on the web forms site is different to the rest of the new mobile site?

It's all down to your situation, and whether it's feasible and possible to achieve.

Your other option would be to introduce mobile detection in your desktop browser site, and style the page differently depending on whether the client is a mobile device.

Regarding performance, 51degrees have a product that they say improves performance of ASP.Net websites on mobile devices. I've not tried it personally, as I've not developed a mobile site that has had the need for such a third party tool to boost its performance. From what I've seen, the performance is fine.

Upvotes: 1

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