Question

When I deploy an ASP.NET project to the server which contains many ASCX files, the first page load can take a while presumably because the ASCX files are being compiled. Only the ones that are actually on the page are compiled though, so part of my deployment process is to navigate to a bunch of pages on the site. Once all pages have been navigated to, the site operates smoothly.

I would rather that ASP.NET compiles all those ASCX files immediately when I deploy, to remove this sloppy deployment step.

What is the best way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

Sounds like you’re looking for ASP.NET Precompilation:

You can precompile a Web site project before it is made available to
users. This provides many advantages, which include faster initial
response time, error checking, source-code protection, and efficient
deployment. This is particularly important in large sites where there
are frequent changes in Web pages and code files.

You can also compile a project by using the Web application project
model. In that model, all code files (standalone, code-behind, and
class files) in the project are compiled into a single assembly and
stored in the Bin directory. Because compilation creates a single
assembly, you can specify attributes, such as assembly name and
version. You can also specify the location of the output assembly if
you do not want it to be in the Bin directory.