.aspx vs .ashx MAIN difference

Question

What are the differences between .aspx and .ashx pages? I use ashx now when I need to handle a request that was called from code and returned with a response, but I would like a more technical answer please.

score 108 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 27 '17 at 13:38

Page is a special case handler.

Generic Web handler (*.ashx, extension based processor) is the default HTTP handler for all Web handlers that do not have a UI and that include the @WebHandler directive.

ASP.NET page handler (*.aspx) is the default HTTP handler for all ASP.NET pages.

Among the built-in HTTP handlers there are also Web service handler (*.asmx) and Trace handler (trace.axd)

MSDN says:

An ASP.NET HTTP handler is the process (frequently referred to as the "endpoint") that runs in response to a request made to an ASP.NET Web application. The most common handler is an ASP.NET page handler that processes .aspx files. When users request an .aspx file, the request is processed by the page through the page handler.

The image below illustrates this: request pipe line

As to your second question:

Does ashx handle more connections than aspx?

Don't think so (but for sure, at least not less than).

thank you, but you didnt mention the ashx handler, what about its Request Pipe Line ? — Arrabi, Mar 29 '11 at 10:46
@Arrabi, `HttpHandler` is just a *section* of the request which is being executed before `Page` section. — Oleks, Mar 29 '11 at 11:03

score 88 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 01 '12 at 08:50

88

.aspx uses a full lifecycle (Init, Load, PreRender) and can respond to button clicks etc.
An .ashx has just a single ProcessRequest method.

edited Feb 01 '12 at 08:50

Oleks

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answered Mar 29 '11 at 08:24

Hans Keﬆing

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What is meant by 'reusable' in this context? – redcalx Feb 06 '13 at 11:16
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That the web server is not obligated to create a new object instance per new request. If IsReusable=true on the Handler, then the server may reuse existing handler objects to process next requests – quetzalcoatl Feb 14 '13 at 13:04
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So it creates an instance of handler and keeps in the memory to reuse it. It never give it back to GC. – uzay95 Jan 24 '17 at 13:02

score 29 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 16 '15 at 13:06

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.aspx is a rendered page. If you need a view, use an .aspx page. If all you need is backend functionality but will be staying on the same view, use an .ashx page.

edited Sep 16 '15 at 13:06

bwegs

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answered Mar 29 '11 at 07:58

Babak Naffas

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that I know, I wanted more technical answer maybe with numbers, does ashx handle more connection than aspx ? – Arrabi Mar 29 '11 at 08:26

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 17 '19 at 00:38

For folks that have programmed in nodeJs before, particularly using expressJS. I think of .ashx as a middleware that calls the next function. While .aspx will be the controller that actually responds to the request either around res.redirect, res.send or whatever.

.aspx vs .ashx MAIN difference

4 Answers4

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