The entire Web.UI suite is built on top of ComponentArt's innovative web user interface technology. Rather than using the standard technique of rendering HTML markup through server-side code and sending that content down to the browser, ComponentArt Web.UI controls are designed to generate JavaScript storage arrays containing the minimum data and style information required to display a user interface element. JavaScript logic is then used to generate all the required HTML markup (or DOM elements) on the client. Hence the name of the technology: client-side rendering.

This technique is implemented throughout the entire Web.UI suite, and it carries important technological advantages in several areas:

• Page footprint. The amount of content being sent over the network directly affects application performance. When HTML markup is generated on the server, the amount of output can reach hundreds of kilobytes when complex UI controls are used. As a result of our client-side rendering technology, ComponentArt Web.UI controls generate the smallest page footprint in the industry - up to 10 times lighter than that of competing products.
• Client-side performance. Generating DOM elements on the client as they are needed, and destroying them when they no longer need to be displayed produces significantly better client-side performance than if all DOM elements were pre-generated on the server and existed in the DOM tree at all times. Keeping the DOM tree small produces snappy user experience and provides the ability to handle a large number of user interface elements on the page.
• Client-side APIs. ComponentArt's JavaScript storage-based architecture allows exposing client-side APIs that allow modifying or even creating the structure of UI elements on the client. Since all DOM elements are generated on the fly based on the state of JavaScript storage, exposing such flexible client-side APIs is a natural part of ComponentArt's technology. Please refer to the Technology Showcase demo section for real-live examples involving client-side APIs.
• Rich client-side features. Finally, ComponentArt's client-side rendering technology opens the door for a wealth of rich user interface features that would be impossible or extremely hard to implement with standard, server-based rendering. Examples of these features include: Grid Client Running Mode, AJAX With Client-side Caching and Client-side Binding With Web Services.

It is important to note that all Web.UI controls are also able to generate HTML markup on the server - when needed. Examples when this type of rendering is useful include: support for older browsers, search engine optimization, Visual Studio .NET design-time support, and accessibility support.

The ComponentArt Web.UI suite was architected to provide maximum power and flexibility when developing with ASP.NET 1.0, ASP.NET 2.0,
ASP.NET AJAX or ASP.NET 3.5. The following matrix outlines the features that are available in each of the Web.UI platform builds:

Core product feature set x x x x Client-side rendering x x x x Client-side APIs with AJAX Library syntax x x x x Built-in AJAX features x x x x Cross-browser support x x x x XHTML compliant output x x x x ASP.NET 2.0 navigation architecture x x x ASP.NET 2.0 master pages x x x ASP.NET 2.0 skins & themes x x x ASP.NET 2.0 data controls x x x Enhanced handling of client scripts x x x Interoperability with UpdatePanel x x ASP.NET AJAX component model x x ASP.NET AJAX type descriptors x x Client-side binding with web services x x LINQ Support x

Common functionality is shared among all four Web.UI platform builds. Public APIs of higher platform builds are perfect supersets of lower
platform builds. Client-side syntax for all three builds is fully compliant with Microsoft's AJAX Library JavaScript syntax and naming conventions.

This level of backwards compatibility of both server-side APIs and client-side APIs is unique in the industry. It brings a tremendous amount of
value because upgrading applications from ASP.NET 1.x to ASP.NET 2.0 or to ASP.NET AJAX is as simple as recompiling the project with the higher
Web.UI platform build. This also means that - even if you are not yet ready to use ASP.NET AJAX/3.5 - you can still take advantage of the AJAX Library
JavaScript syntax offered with Web.UI for ASP.NET 1.0 and 2.0 client-side APIs, and "future-proof" your code for ASP.NET AJAX and Visual Studio
.NET 2008.

Regardless of which ASP.NET version you are developing for, ComponentArt offers a suite of UI controls customized for that particular version,
and a clear upgrade path for the future.

ComponentArt Web.UI for ASP.NET AJAX was designed specifically for ASP.NET AJAX. The suite offers integration with ASP.NET AJAX in the following ways:

• All controls offer interoperability with the ASP.NET AJAX UpdatePanel control.
• All controls are built on top of the ASP.NET AJAX client-side component model.
• All controls expose client-side APIs using the AJAX Library JavaScript syntax.
• All Web.UI client-side classes implement ASP.NET AJAX client-side type descriptors.

In order to boost performance and increase the level of richness, comprehensive AJAX features are built right into certain Web.UI controls. The built-in
AJAX features are available in all three Web.UI platform builds. They include:

• Callback running mode for the Grid control.
• Callback running mode for the ComboBox control.
• "Load on demand" TreeView feature.
• Universal AJAX wrapping through the CallBack control.

ComponentArt Web.UI controls expose client-side APIs featuring a unique ability to modify or even create the structure of a UI element - on
the client. All client-side changes are persisted to the server-side object state on postback or callback.

ComponentArt Web.UI client-side APIs fully comply with Microsoft's AJAX Library JavaScript syntax and naming conventions - regardless of the
Web.UI platform build. Please refer to the Technology Showcase demo section for real-live examples involving client-side APIs.

ComponentArt Web.UI controls are designed for and have been tested with all modern browsers:

All ComponentArt Web.UI controls generate XHTML 1.0 strict compliant output.

ComponentArt Web.UI navigation controls (Menu, TreeView, NavBar, TabStrip and SiteMap) provide meaningful content to search engine
crawlers by generating crawler friendly representation of the navigation structure. Any web site that uses ComponentArt navigation controls
will be properly indexed by all of the supported search engines