Microsoft SharePoint Web Parts
Web parts are server controls which can be added to Web Part zones on a SharePoint page. These controls allow users to modify the appearance, content, and functionality of a web page. SharePoint provides a variety of built in web parts such as announcements, contacts, calendar, task lists, etc that can be added by the user with a few clicks of the mouse. In addition to the built in web parts, SharePoint leverages the reliability, scalability, and functionality of ASP.NET version 2.0. This includes support for the ASP.NET version 2.0 Web Part Model (with added backward compatibility support for Windows SharePoint Services V2 SP2 Web Parts). Building on ASP.NET not only provides a deep technical foundation for WSS, but also allows WSS to leverage the Visual Studio development environment for application development.