My latest MSDN article is now available: Serving Dynamic Content with HTTP Handlers. This article starts with an examination of how the ASP.NET HTTP pipeline, showing how requests handed off to the ASP.NET engine are rendered by an HTTP handler. The remainder of the article examines how to create your own HTTP handlers, starting with a very simple one and then progressing to three real-world examples (thanks to those who comments on my request for real-world HTTP handler demos):
- An HTTP handler that handles requests to .cs and .vb files, and displays the code in a format not unlike Visual Studio .NET.
- An HTTP handler that protects others from serving images on their site from your Web server. (I like this one because I got to include screenshots of images of my dog, Sam.)
- An HTTP handler factory that displays database information for an employee (based on the URL) in a template.
My upcoming articles on the ASP.NET Dev Center include one on accessibility and a very lengthy look at view state.
Enjoy!