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Introducing .NET 4.5

Authors: Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Publisher: Apress

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

Microsoft has introduced a large number of changes to the way that the .NET Framework operates. Familiar technologies have being altered, best practices replaced, and developer methodologies adjusted. Many developers find it hard to keep up with the pace of change across .NET's ever-widening array of technologies. The introduction of Windows 8 and its new style of applications only compounds the problem.

You may know what's happening in C#, but what about the latest innovations in the cloud? How is that going to affect your work? What possibilities do the new async capabilities bring? What you need is a roadmap. A guide to help you see the innovations that matter and to give you a head start on the opportunities available in the new framework.

Introducing .NET 4.5 is designed to provide you with just that roadmap. It serves as a no-nonsense primer that will help experienced .NET developers understand the impact of the new framework and the technologies that co-exist with it. This book will keep you updated on the changes and help you to seize new opportunities confidently and quickly.

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Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

Welcome to Introducing .NET 4.5.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 2. IDE Improvements

Abstract

The last release of Visual Studio 2010 saw a radical overhaul of the internals of the IDE with much of the interface rewritten in WPF and a new MEF-based extension model introduced. With this release, the IDE has a fresh new look and the team has concentrated on making it easier than ever for developers to navigate around their code.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 3. The BCL and the CLR

Abstract

Generics, LINQ, the Task Parallel Library (TPL) … these are some of the big-ticket items that have been introduced in previous versions of the .NET Framework. With this release of the framework, it is not so much about game changers or new features but rather about consolidation for the future.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 4. MEF 2 in 4.5

Abstract

The first version of the Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) was released as part of .NET 4 and with .NET 4.5 we see the release of MEF 2.0. The MEF team has added a number of new features that will be the focus of this chapter. These features include, but are not limited to, improved lifetime management, convention-based parts registration and, via NuGet, a new lightweight composition engine for web and Windows 8 apps.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 5. Language

Abstract

One of the dominant themes throughout this release of .NET is the ability to perform work in an asynchronous manner. Each release of .NET has given us new (and easier) ways to write async code such as the Asynchronous Programming Model (APM) and the Task Asynchronous Pattern (TAP) in C# 4.0. In the latest release, a new model using the new keywords async and await is introduced. Although this book is C# focused we will also briefly cover the new changes in VB.NET.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 6. ASP.NET 4.5

Abstract

Although ASP.NET MVC continues to grow in popularity, Microsoft estimates that between 80% and 90% of their customer base is still using ASP.NET Web Forms as their development platform of choice (Damian Edwards, ASP.NET program manager, Build Conference 2012).

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 7. ASP.NET MVC 4

Abstract

ASP.NET MVC 4 contains improved project templates, a new API for serving up different views under certain conditions, a number of tweaks to Razor syntax, better support for async scenarios, and improved integration with Entity Framework.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 8. Windows Communication Foundation and Web API

Abstract

In this chapter, you will be introduced to all the changes that have been made in .NET 4.5 with respect to Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). These changes include the use of async-await from the client side, improvements made to WCF configuration, and the inclusion of new bindings— HttpsBinding and UdpBinding. In addition, you will also learn about Web API, which is the new way of creating RESTful services.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 9. Working with Data

Abstract

In this chapter, we are going to look at what has changed in terms of working with data in .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012. Most of the action is around Entity Framework, but there have also been some changes made to the SqlClient data provider around streaming and asynchronous programming. Also with this release we see the introduction of LocalDb.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 10. Windows Azure

Abstract

In this chapter, you will be introduced to Microsoft’s cloud platform—Windows Azure—and how you can create applications that run in this platform. After a brief introduction to the cloud, you first learn about Web Sites, Cloud Services, and Virtual Machines. You then learn about table storage and blobs, which are used to store data in Azure. You finish off the chapter by learning about Windows Azure’s SQL Database, which is the Azure version of Microsoft SQL Server.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 11. Windows Workflow Foundation

Abstract

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) was one of the key features of the .NET 3.0 release along with WPF and WCF. Unlike WPF and WCF, Workflow Foundation never seemed to quite get wholehearted support from developers; however, WF has remained viable. A major overhaul in .NET 4.0 saw considerable improvements to the designer and overall performance as well as integration with WCF. The .NET 4.5 release builds on the 4.0 release by adding further functionality to the designer as well as the addition of new features, which stem from developers’ feedback.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 12. WPF

Abstract

.NET 4.0 introduced a number of nice changes to WPF—a lot of them inspired by Silverlight, such as the Visual State Manager and Easing functions. In addition, there were several controls, such as DataGrid, Calendar, and Datepicker, which were introduced. In contrast, .NET 4.5 brings only one new control of significance to WPF—the Ribbon control—but it is a pretty important one. We start this chapter by introducing you to the Ribbon control. We then discuss some of the changes that have been introduced in WPF 4.5 around databinding—things like the Delay property. We also explore new features for VirtualizingPanel and how to access collections on the non-UI thread. We finish the chapter by talking about some of the changes that have been introduced around events and the new methods that have been added for the Dispatcher class.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 13. Silverlight 5

Abstract

Silverlight’s release cycle is separate from the release cycle of Visual Studio, but it occupies an important place in Microsoft’s line of products that depend on Visual Studio—so important that it warrants a Chapter on its own. This chapter covers all the changes that have been added to Silverlight 5. We start by walking you through a brief history of Silverlight itself followed by each of the changes. These changes range from the addition of new controls (PivotViewer and RichTextBlockOverFlow controls) to changes made to databinding and improvements to graphics (3D and independent animations). We finish the Chapter talking about how you can call native code from Silverlight.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Chapter 14. Windows 8 Applications

Abstract

From a .NET developer’s point of view, one of the most significant releases in 2012 is Visual Studio 2012. But from Microsoft’s point of view, the most significant release would have to be that of Windows 8. Applications specifically written for Windows 8 bring a big paradigm shift not only in how users experience applications, but also in how developers write them. This chapter talks about how you can get started creating these new styles of applications using Visual Studio 2012.

Alex Mackey, William Tulloch, Mahesh Krishnan

Backmatter

Title: Introducing .NET 4.5
Authors: Alex Mackey
William Tulloch
Mahesh Krishnan
Copyright Year: 2012
Publisher: Apress
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-4302-4333-5
Print ISBN: 978-1-4302-4332-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4302-4333-5

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