title: Rapid Web Application Development ASP.net vs. Open Source Platforms
body: <p>Good morning -</p>
  
  <p>I'm an intermediate-level developer who wants to build on online data-driven app (CRUD with a few calculations and basic HTML form inputs, nothing fancy) that keeps track of user sessions, and looks "professional" (or at least not "homemade").</p>
  
  <p>I'm looking to develop something with the look-and-feel that users get from sites like:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.datamasher.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.datamasher.org/</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.thisweknow.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.thisweknow.org/</a> (About page says it was made with Ruby on Rails, which I'm unfamiliar with)</li>
  <li>(stackoverflow.com)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Any pointers on whether I should just go the Miscrosoft route, and develop in ASP.net with WebForms, or if there's a quick way to do this kind of development (with a WYSIWYG environment) on an open-source platform? If so, I'm willing to learn, if it's somethat intuitive, and I can use to quickly drag/drop, add code, and publish online. Templates would be a plus, too - I'm not a heavy HTML/CSS developer.</p>
  
  <p>I apologize is the question seems a bit vague.</p>