Site development overview

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Kentico provides two basic development models. You can choose the approach that best suits your needs:

Portal engine

Recommended for most developers. Does not require programming and using Visual Studio. You can build websites using page templates and web parts in a browser-based user interface.

To learn the basics of the portal engine, see Creating pages using the portal engine, then Walkthrough - Creating a new site using the Portal engine

ASPX templates

Can be chosen by ASP.NET developers who prefer to create websites using standard ASP.NET architecture and standard development tools, such as Visual Studio. You need to be familiar with ASP.NET development and have at least basic programming knowledge of C# or VB.NET.

To learn the basics of ASPX template development, see Creating pages using ASPX templates, then Walkthrough - Creating a new site using ASPX templates.

Both approaches are fully supported and provide the same level of flexibility and extensibility. We recommend using the portal engine, but if you are an advanced .NET developer or wish to integrate existing functionality built on standard ASP.NET architecture, you may want to use ASPX templates.

It is also possible to create websites or specific pages using the Model-View-Controller architectural pattern (based on the ASP.NET MVC framework), but this is beyond the scope of this basic tutorial.

If you’re not sure which development model is best for you, see Choosing the right development model.