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• Simple Introduction to Extensible Applications with the Managed Extensions Framework

  Recently my team has been working on the Managed Extensions Framework (MEF)... I have gotten a chance to explain the concept to folks and I think I have discovered a way to talk about MEF that folks can easily get. So I thought I'd spend a little time walking through a *very* simple MEF example as a way to introduce folks to the power of extensible applications in general, and MEF in particular. BTW, you can download the current MEF CTP and the final working sample . Background Let's start with the most simple example: Hello World! 1: using System; 2: 3: class Program 4: { 5: public void Run() 6: { 7: Console.WriteLine( "Hello World!" ); 8: Console.ReadKey(); 9: } 10: static void Main( string [] args) 11: { 12: Program p =... Posted Sep 29 2008, 11:21 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework, MEF

• Evolving a .NET Framework 2.0 Application to .NET Framework 3.5

  I reader recently forwarded me an interesting case study that covers a very common scenario: Porting a .NET Framework 2.0 based application to .NET Framework 3.5.  The paper does a nice job of providing resources to get started with, how to learn what is new in .NET 3.5, etc.  As well as details on why this project made decisions it did around using WPF, WCF, etc.  I don't claim to agree with all the assertions made here, but all in all it is a very balanced, pragmatic view of what some of the common choices you will have. The project uses client and server components and the paper talks about not only the design process but how to build AND test these.  They talk about ViewModel in WPF, IoC, NUnit and VSTS, etc  ... Posted Sep 11 2008, 01:33 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework

• VS2008 Multitargeting Gets Even Better with SP1

  One of my favorite features of VS2008 is the ability to target older versions of the .NET Framework.  This allows developers to use the latest and greatest tools even if some client machines can't be upgraded to the latest version of framework right away. While there is really good support for this in VS2008 for example, VS 2008 is smart enough to keep you from adding a reference to assemblies that are not found in the target version of the framework (for example, you can't use WPF if your target framework is .NET Framework 2.0).    But what about the case when new methods are added to existing classes or new classes in existing assemblies?  For example the DateTimeOffsite?   For those we added a new... Posted Sep 02 2008, 12:53 PM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework

• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Allows managed code to be launched from a network share!

  This has got to be one of the most consistently asked for "features" of .NET from the start!     Download .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Run off a network share with local permissions - You have voted and we have listened !  We have brought managed executables in line with native code executables in how they behave when run off a network share.  Yea!    Vance has the full scoop .. If you want to send someone flowers for getting this done, it is Vance... he designed, coded, tested, cajoled, prodded, persisted and advocated strongly for the fix. Download .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Read More... Posted Aug 14 2008, 02:18 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework

• Some Results from Visual Studio and .NET Framework Developer Documentation Survey

  Recently our documentation team hosted a survey on how you use VS and .NET Framework documentation.  Here are a few things that I thought was interesting.  I'd love to have your comments as well...  Any thoughts from you on this?   It seems that the the majority of developers in our community are using the latest (3.5) version of the .NET Framework.  Most are also using 2.0 as well...     On the question of how you would like to see .NET version information in the docs, it seems most folks want to see it all, with a filter!  Documentation should be specific to the .NET Framework version I am developing with Documentation should be cumulative (including all versions of the .NET Framework with version... Posted Aug 11 2008, 11:52 PM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework

• Loving the South African Developer Community

  I just got back from South Africa and I am happy to report that the .NET Developer community is very strong there.    User's Group Meetings in in Johannesburg and Cape Town User group meeting in Johannesburg  - thanks for setting this up Craig Nicholson ..  I had a great time showing off Silverlight 2.  We had lot of fun talking about Silverlight wit these slides and demo that I did.  I also showed HardRock DeepZoom , the video wall and HSN.TV User group meeting in Cape Town - Thanks to Hilton Giesenow for setting this up.  This time I did a drill down into the ASP.NET MVC framework.  The response was excellent!   Thanks folks for your questions and interest!  Here is the slides... Posted Jul 01 2008, 01:12 PM by Brad Abrams Filed under: Ajax, ASP.NET, WPF, Silverlight, .NET Framework, Mix08

• .NET Framework Client Profile

  As I mentioned a few days ago , with .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta we are taking some MAJOR steps toward making it easier for customers to acquire the .NET Framework. One of the ways we have done that is creating a client profile of the .NET Framework that includes only those parts of the framework that are relevant to client developers.  Several customers have asked me recently exactly what is in this subset.  Well the good news is it is a very large subset of what you need in a client application.  We profiled tons of client apps to be sure we got the right set.   But we'd also love your feedback.  Justin Van Patten has recently blogged out the official list of what is in this profile .   This includes... Posted May 22 2008, 12:47 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: WinForms, WPF, .NET Framework

• Enhanced Mix08 Videos Posted

  We recently finished the post product work required to get enhanced videos posted.  The videos not only include slides\demos, but also include a separate video stream of the speaker  so you get a deeper experience.   Mix08 Session Overview: Building Great AJAX Applications from Scratch Using ASP.NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 [ Watch this video ] Unfortunately, this videos are not available for download, so you have to watch them on line.. Enjoy this and the rest of the sessions at http://sessions.visitmix.com/ Read More... Posted May 16 2008, 12:25 PM by Brad Abrams Filed under: Ajax, ASP.NET, .NET Framework, Mix08

• Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 "SP1" Beta

  VS2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 offer a ton of customer value from Linq to Ajax and much more.  The service pack we have been working on to round out this release adds even more new value in addition to fixing a 100s of customer reported bugs!  All of it is driven by customer asks and I am excited about how we have begun to embrace a model of providing great customer value on a very regular cadence.  Omar Khan and I recently recorded a DotNetRocks episode where we talked about all these great things.  I thought it would be fun to list just a few of my personal favorite new features in this SP...   What is your favorite one?    For Web Developers: - ASP.NET Dynamic Data makes building data driven web applications... Posted May 06 2008, 01:12 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: Ajax, ASP.NET, Framework, CLR, WinForms, VB, WPF, .NET Framework

• Managed Extensibility Framework

  Krzysztof recently announced on his blog that we have begun working on an extensibility framework for .NET..   We will blog more details about MEF in the upcoming months, but here are some early details (subject to changes, of course): MEF is a set of features referred in the academic community and in the industry as a Naming and Activation Service (returns an object given a “name”), Dependency Injection (DI) framework, and a Structural Type System (duck typing). These technologies (and other like System.AddIn) together are intended to enable the world of what we call Open and Dynamic Applications, i.e. make it easier and cheaper to build extensible applications and extensions. [....] And finally here is some code showing basic... Posted Apr 28 2008, 09:14 AM by Brad Abrams Filed under: .NET Framework, MEF