When you create a new project in Visual Studio .NET, youre presented with a set of templates that you can use as a starting point to creating an application. In the New Project dialog box, youll notice that theres a folder that contains ArcGIS Server Projects as well. Within this folder youll find the Web Mapping Application template distributed with the Web ADF.

The primary advantage of building your Web application with a template is that much of the commonly used functionality is already included, so you dont have to program it yourself.  As with any template, the look of it simply serves as a starting point for your Web application. You can easily customize the layout of the controls on the template and change elements, such as fonts and colors, to suit your needs. If you plan on integrating the application you create into an existing Web site, you might add other components, such as company logos and site navigation tools, so that it looks like your existing Web pages and integrates seamlessly into your Web site. Most likely, youll want to extend the functionality provided in a template and incorporate your own custom operations. Thats when youll start programming with the Common and data source specific APIs.  A description of the Web Mapping Application template is provided below.

Web Mapping Application template

The Web Mapping Application template provides basic map display capabilities. It consists of a main map, a table of contents (legend), a toolbar and an identify window (to display the results of the identify tool).   For any map-centric application, the Web Mapping Application  template offers a good starting point.  A walkthrough illustrating how to get started with the Web ADF using the Web Mapping Application template is provided in the tutorial topic  Creating a Web application with a template.