When you download and install asp.net MVC, does it just add code to the .net framework class library? Or does it also modify the installed Visual Studio editions?
Another question: If it is just adding code to the .net framework class library, why can it not be installed on top of .net 2.0?
Best Answer
To be clear, the ASP.NET MVC framework is built upon the ASP.NET framework, which in turn is built upon the .NET framework. So when you download and install ASP.NET MVC, it can both add code to the .NET Framework class library (it adds
System.Web.Mvc) and can also modify the installed Visual Studio edition if one is installed. You could just install the class libraries and build ASP.NET MVC applications from scratch if you really wanted to without the aid of Visual Studio. If you look at the current MVC 3 installer packages you'll see there are two separate .exe's: one for the .NET class libraries, and the other for the Visual Studio tools.ASP.NET MVC versions 1 & 2 target .NET 3.5. ASP.NET MVC 3 targets .NET 4.0. MVC v4 will target .NET 4.5 - it is because they build upon those specific framework versions that you cannot expect ASP.NET MVC to install and work with .NET 2.0 'out-of-the-box'.