If you can use 2005, Visual Studio Web Developer Express makes (a) compiling
and (b) running very easy.

It's free
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vwd/download/

Karl

Since Asp.NET 2.0 just came out, my first advice is to lable your questions
as "1.1" or "2.0".
There are different answers for each, so after you decide which one you will
use, then label your questions appropriately.

Do you already have VS2003 (1.1), or VS2005 (2.0).

Unlike the Java IDE (Borland, etc), the IDE's are a little more hard
connected to the version of VS.  (Aka, in Borland , if I remember, you had
some flexibility on which Java version you used).

Do you want free/cheap?
Do you want better?

The "Express" editions are free, but you get some limits, and a few
features.  Ex:  With VS2005, there is a WebControl ...which allows you to
put an Image on a web page using a stream.  This WebControl isn't available
wiht the Express editions.

VS2005 Professional would be what I would get, if free wasn't the biggest
issue.

If not, then you can get the Web Express
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
(get instructions here
http://www.asp.net/
)

At the end of the day, ASP.NET (development tools) are just super duper
fancy tools for creating html on the client.  But they are super-duper, and
make things very nice.  Ex, you need a calender on your web page.  Drap a
WebControl (a calender) on your IDE web form.  Boom.  When you compile and
run the page, all the <table><tr><td> tags are created for you....... You
don't have to do it.

You also get "Code Behind" pages, where you can handle events, and get to
your BusinessLayer objects.

..