Quick Answer: ASP.NET is a server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name stands for Active Server Pages Network Enabled Technologies. Microsoft first announced ASP.NET to the public under the codename ASP+, and it is a re-implementation of their Active Server Pages technology. ASP.NET is built on the Common Language Runtime, allowing programmers to write ASP.NET code using any supported.NET language. The ASP.NET SOAP extension framework allows ASP.NET components to process SOAP messages. In 2016, Microsoft released ASP.NET Core as ASP.NET's successor. This new version is a re-implementation of ASP.NET as a modular web framework, together with other frameworks like Entity Framework. The new framework uses the new open-source.NET Compiler Platform and is cross platform.