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This book provides a step-by-step guide for developing an ASP.NET 3.5 application using the latest features in Visual Studio 2008. The Problem Design Solution series by Wrox is unique because it describes a large case study and builds an entire solution chapter by chapter for each incremental step. This book uses a wide variety of new features in Visual Studio 2008, explains each in detail, and produces a solution that you can use as a starting point for your own applications.

If you are responsible for designing or developing enterprise-wide applications, departmental applications, portals, or any line of business application, then this book is for you. Many applications have a similar set of features, and this book builds an application with some of the most common features of enterprise applications. Let’s face it: Every application has the same general set of features, but implemented in a different way. A database sits in the back end and you, as the developer, are responsible for enabling users to add, update, select, and delete records. If only it were that simple, no?

The real development work starts when you sit with users and try to understand the business process and why they need a new or improved system in the first place. A lot of companies have departments that use Excel and Access wizards to create small systems that eventually become a lifeline for some part of the business. Usually something bad happens because of the nature of the tool they are using. Senior-level management is called in, project managers are hired, programmers are contracted, and the Project Management Office (PMO) is called to save the world. Suddenly this loosely defined process is high priority and people want documented standard operating procedures, audit reports, more productivity, less people, and of course a system that can do it all, which is where you come in. When you think about it, it’s a pretty daunting task. You’re expected to become an expert in someone else’s business process, flaws and all, and create a system that the company will rely on as the backbone for their existence. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit, but when you go looking for that raise you might want to phrase it that way.

This book will give you the tools necessary to build a framework that can be extended to create a solution to solve your company’s problems. The design pattern uses the normal three layers, the user interface (UI), the business logic layer (BLL), and the data access layer (DAL), but also builds the classes in each layer that encapsulate common business rules such as role-based security, workflow, reporting, dynamic menus, data entry, dynamic querying, notifications, exception handling, and auditing. As the book guides you through the complete solution, each business requirement is thoroughly examined and some of the latest enhancements in ASP.NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 are used to implement them in a reusable framework.

Enterprise applications are typically complex, and the teams that build enterprise applications come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the roles include a project sponsor, a project manager, business analysts, an architect, UI developers, middle-tier developers, database developers, and, if you’re really lucky, testers. Just a side note: Users are not testers. If you ever have the pleasure of working with professional testers, you’ll realize how important they are in the process, and how they truly are “quality” assurance engineers. Unfortunately, a lot of companies aren’t willing to invest in professional testers, so the users and/or developers end up assuming that role. This book is mainly focused on the architect and developers, but testers may find it valuable as well to help them understand the plumbing that goes into developing and architecting an enterprise application.

This book is for the intermediate to senior level developer or system architect. It would be helpful if you have experience with Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, ASP.NET, and C# because that is what the samples are written in, but the design pattern could be used in any language. The book is focused on enterprise applications, but the pattern could be used for any type of application that has a web front end and connects to a database. The application framework built in this book provides a foundation that can be extended to meet the specific business needs of your organization.

The sample application in this book is built using Visual Studio 2008, ASP.NET 3.5, C#, and SQL Server 2005. Each chapter goes into great detail, with plenty of code samples, and uses some of the new features in Visual Studio 2008 and the language enhancements in the .NET Framework 3.5. The solution includes examples for technologies such as LINQ to SQL, master pages, custom controls, GridViews, business objects, data objects, and Crystal Reports. Some of the language enhancements discussed include LINQ, extension methods, partial methods, automatic properties, anonymous types, lambda expressions, and object initializers.

Of course, I realize that the code is what most developers are interested in, and each chapter provides numerous examples.

The Problem Design Solution series is just that. Each chapter has three sections with a description of the problem to be addressed, the design considerations for choosing a solution for the problem, and the solution that ultimately addresses the problem. The solution includes the bulk of the code. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter, and it is recommended that you read them in order. The base classes that are described in the first few chapters are critical to an understanding of the rest of the book. Later chapters build upon the base classes and extend their functionality in all three layers of the application.

A team of MVP authors guides you through the .NET 4 Framework

Written by a group of experienced MVPs, this unparalleled book delves into the intricate—and often daunting—world of .NET 4. Each author draws from a particular area of expertise to provide invaluable information on using the various .NET 4, C# 4, Silverlight 4, and Visual Studio tools in the real world. The authors break down the vast .NET 4 Framework into easily digestible portions to offer you a strong foundation on what makes .NET such a popular and successful framework for building a wide range of solutions.

• Breaks down the .NET 4 Framework into easily understandable sections
• Features more than a dozen MVPs serving as authors, each of whom focuses on a particular area of expertise
• Covers such topics as Windows Presentation Foundation, Silverlight 4, Windows Communication Foundation, ASP.NET performance, the entity framework, and more
• Shares C# tips and tricks and .NET architecture best practices from a team of Microsoft MVPs

Real World .NET 4 and C# is the ultimate resource for discovering and understanding the .NET 4 Framework.

DVD includes Visual Web Developer 2010 Express and ASP.NET 4

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you’ll learn how to build complete, professional-quality web solutions with ASP.NET 4 and Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll master the entire process, from site design through data collection, user management through debugging and deployment. Scott Mitchell, editor of top ASP.NET resource site 4GuysFromRolla.com, shows how to use the newest ASP.NET 4 enhancements and make the most of free tools like ASP.NET Ajax and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a strong, practical foundation for success!

Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common ASP.NET 4 development tasks.

Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge.

By the Way, Did You Know?, and Watch Out! boxes point out shortcuts and solutions.

Learn how to…

• Get started fast with ASP.NET 4 and Visual Web Developer 2010
• Use Visual Web Developer 2010 to quickly build professional-quality ASP.NET websites
• Design, create, and test ASP.NET web pages
• Collect, process, and validate input from your site’s visitors
• Build a website that supports user accounts
• Create web pages that access, display, and edit database data using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition
• Define site maps to provide efficient, easy navigation
• Use master pages to build more consistent and well-designed sites
• Create more responsive and interactive web pages with ASP.NET Ajax
• Host, upload, deploy, and update production web sites

Pro .NET Best Practices is a practical reference to the best practices that you can apply to your .NET projects today. You will learn standards, techniques, and conventions that are sharply focused, realistic and helpful for achieving results, steering clear of unproven, idealistic, and impractical recommendations.
Pro .NET Best Practices covers a broad range of practices and principles that development experts agree are the right ways to develop software, which includes continuous integration, automated testing, automated deployment, and code analysis. Whether the solution is from a free and open source or a commercial offering, you will learn how to get a continuous integration server running and executing builds every time code changes. You will write clearer and more maintainable automated testing code that focuses on prevention and helping your .NET project succeed. By learning and following the .NET best practices in this book, you will avoid making the same mistakes once.
With this book at your side, you'll get:

• Real-world, no-nonsense approaches to continuous integration, automated testing, automated deployment, and code analysis
• Tips and tricks you'll need to clear hurdles that keep others from putting these common sense ideas into common practice
• Guidance from the minimal, essential approach all the way to what's necessary to deliver at the highest levels of quality and effectiveness

Benefit immediately, even before finishing it, from the knowledge, workable advice, and experience found in Pro .NET Best Practices.

What you’ll learn

• How to set up a continuous integration server that executes builds every time code changes
• How to create automated tests that are easier to write, easier to maintain, and focused on making sure the code-under-test works the way it’s intended to work
• How to write a common automated deployment script that deploys to all target environments
• How to perform meaningful code analysis that gives the kind of information you can take action upon
• Why some best practices, which were once fresh, are now stale; avoid this trap by following best practices grounded in correct principles that endure
• How to gain support for following best practices from all project stakeholders by recognizing and overcoming biases, highlighting gaps, and demonstrating value

Who this book is for

Pro .NET Best Practices is for the .NET developer who is ready to learn realistic, practicable, and truly helpful best practices. It's for the .NET developer who wants to take the initiative and get started following best practices today, quickly producing results. It's for .NET developers who want to stay away from practices that only have theoretical benefits and move toward ones with real value, especially within a skeptical project environment. It's for the technical lead who has seen best practices get started only to fall out of practice, and wants to understand what goes wrong and how to implement suitable best practices likely to be followed by project teams.

Table of Contents

1. Ruthlessly Helpful
2. .NET Practice Areas
3. Achieving Desired Results
4. Quantifying Value
5. Strategy
6. .NET Rules and Regulations
7. Powerful C# Constructs
8. Automated Testing
9. Build Automation
10. Continuous Integration
11. Code Analysis
12. Test Frameworks
13. Aversions and Biases

Appendix A: Resources
Appendix B: Scorecard

This book starts by reviewing the overall architecture of .NET in order to give you the background you need to be able to write managed code. After that, the book is divided into a number of sections that cover both the C# language and its application in a variety of areas.

Part I: The C# Language: This section gives a good grounding in the C# language itself. This section doesn’t presume knowledge of any particular language, although it does assume you are an experienced programmer. You start by looking at C's basic syntax and data types, and then explore the object-oriented features of C# before moving on to look at more advanced C# programming topics. Objects, types, inheritance, generics, arrays, tuples, operators, casts, delegates, lambdas, events, strings, regular expressions, collections, Language Integrated, Query (LINQ), Dynamic Language Extensions, memory management, pointers, reflection, errors, and exception are all covered in part 1.

Part II: Visual Studio: This section looks at the main IDE utilized by C# developers worldwide: Visual Studio 2010. The two chapters in this section look at the best way to use the tool to build applications based on the .NET Framework 4. In addition, this section also focuses on the deployment of your projects.

Part III: Foundation: In this section, you look at the principles of programming in the .NET environment. In particular, you look at assemblies, instrumentation, security, threading, tasks, synchronization, localization, System.Transactions, networking, interop, XAML, Managed Extensibility Framework, Manipulating Files and the Registry, transactions, how to build Windows services, and how to generate your own libraries as assemblies, among other topics.

Part IV: Data: Here, you look at accessing databases with ADO.NET, ADO.NET Entity Framework, data services. This part also extensively covers support in .NET for XML and on the Windows operating system side, and the .NET features of SQL Server 2008.

Part V: Presentation: This section shows how to build applications based upon the Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight, and covers writing components that will run on web sites, serving up web pages. It also has coverage on building classic Windows applications, which are called Windows Forms in .NET. Windows Forms are the thick-client version of applications, and using .NET to build these types of applications is a quick and easy way of accomplishing this task. Finally, it includes coverage of the tremendous number of features that ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, and ASP.Net Dynamic Data provide.

Part VI: Communication: This section is all about communication. It covers services for platform-independent communication using the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). With Message Queuing, asynchronous disconnected communication is shown. This section looks at utilizing the Windows Workflow Foundation 4, as well as peer to peer networking, and creating syndication feeds.

The book closes with an appendix covering Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 development.

Online Chapters: Even with such a large book, we can't fit in everything we'd like to tell you about C# and using this language with other .NET technologies, so we've made ten additional chapters available online at wrox.com. These chapters include information on a variety of topics: GDI+, which is a technology that is used for building applications that include advanced graphics; .Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO); NET Remoting for communication between .NET clients and servers; Enterprise Services for the services in the background; web services with ASP.NET, LINQ to SQL, Windows Workflow Foundation 3.0, and the Managed Add-In Framework (MAF). It also includes examples showing .NET 4 in others supported languages including Visual Basic, C++/CLI, and F#.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

The first edition of this book was released at the 2001 Tech-Ed conference in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time, the .NET platform was still a beta product, and in many ways, so was this book. This is not to say that the early editions of this text did not have merit—after all, the book was a 2002 Jolt Award finalist and it won the 2003 Referenceware Excellence Award. However, over the years that author Andrew Troelsen spent working with the common language runtime (CLR), he gained a much deeper understanding of the .NET platform and the subtleties of the C# programming language, and he feels that this fifth edition of the book is as close to a “final release” as he’s come yet.

This new edition has been comprehensively revised and rewritten to make it accurately reflect the C# 4 language specification for the .NET 4 platform. You’ll find new chapters covering the important concepts of dynamic lookups, named and optional arguments, Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), improved COM interop, and variance for generics.

If you’re checking out this book for the first time, do understand that it's targeted at experienced software professionals and/or graduate students of computer science (so don't expect three chapters on iteration or decision constructs!). The mission of this text is to provide you with a rock-solid foundation in the C# programming language and the core aspects of the .NET platform (assemblies, remoting, Windows Forms, Web Forms, ADO.NET, XML web services, etc.). Once you digest the information presented in these 25 chapters, you’ll be in a perfect position to apply this knowledge to your specific programming assignments, and you’ll be well equipped to explore the .NET universe on your own terms.

What you’ll learn

• Be the first to understand the .NET 4 platform and Visual C# 2010.
• Discover the ins and outs of the leading .NET technology.
• Learn from an award-winning author who has been teaching the .NET world since version 1.0.
• Find complete coverage of the WPF, WCF, and WF foundations that support the core .NET platform.

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone with some software development experience who is interested in the new .NET Framework 4 and the C# language. Whether you are moving to .NET for the first time or are already writing applications on .NET 2.0 or .NET 3.5, this book will provide you with a comprehensive grounding in the new technology and serve as a complete reference throughout your coding career.

Table of Contents

1. The Philosophy of NET
2. Building C# Applications
3. Core C# Programming Constructs, Part I
4. Core C# Programming Constructs, Part II
5. Defining Encapsulated Class Types
6. Understanding Inheritance and Polymorphism
7. Understanding Structured Exception Handling
8. Understanding Object Lifetime
9. Working with Interfaces
10. Understanding Generics
11. Delegates, Events, and Lambdas
12. Advanced C# Language Features
13. LINQ to Objects
14. Configuring NET Assemblies
15. Type Reflection, Late Binding, and Attribute-Based Prog
16. Processes, AppDomains, and Object Contexts
17. Understanding CIL and the Role of Dynamic Assemblies
18. Dynamic Types and the Dynamic Language Runtime
19. Multithreaded and Parallel Programming
20. File I/O and Object Serialization
21. ADO.NET Part I: The Connected Layer
22. ADO.NET Part II: The Disconnected Layer
23. ADO.NET Part III: The Entity Framework
24. Introducing LINQ to XML
25. Introducing Windows Communication Foundation
26. Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation 40
27. Introducing Windows Presentation Foundation and XAML
28. Programming with WPF Controls
29. WPF Graphics Rendering Services
30. WPF Resources, Animations, and Styles
31. WPF Control Templates and UserControls
32. Building ASP.NET Web Pages
33. ASP.NET Web Controls, Master Pages and Theme
34. ASP.NET State Management Techniques

The most comprehensive book on Microsoft’s new ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET 4 Unleashed covers all facets of ASP.NET development. Led by Microsoft ASP.NET program manager Stephen Walther, an expert author team thoroughly covers the entire platform.

The authors first introduce the ASP.NET Framework’s basic controls and show how to create common site-wide layouts and styles. Next, they cover all aspects of accessing, presenting, organizing, and editing data. You’ll find thorough and practical sections on building custom components and controls, providing effective site navigation, securing sites and applications, and much more. This book presents hundreds of realistic code examples, reflecting the authors’ unsurpassed experience with ASP.NET both inside and outside Microsoft.

• Build interactive Web Forms, validate form data, and upload files
• Provide interactive calendars, wizards, site maps, and other valuable features
• Design efficient, maintainable sites with Master Pages and Themes
• Build data-driven applications with database controls, ADO.NET data access components, QueryExtender, LINQ to SQL, and WCF Data Services
• Generate charts on the fly with the new Chart Control
• Extend ASP.NET with custom controls and reusable components
• Create site registration and authentication systems that store membership data in SQL Server or Active Directory
• Use URL Routing to build dynamism, flexibility, readability, and SEO-friendliness into your URLs
• Improve performance and scalability with caching and preloading
• Maintain state with cookies, cookieless session state, and profiles
• Localize, configure, package, and deploy ASP.NET applications
• Use the ASP.NET MVC Framework to improve agility, testability, speed to market, and extensibility
• Retrofit existing ASP.NET applications with Ajax and build pure client-side Ajax web applications
• Construct a complete ASP.NET 4 website from start to finish

The release of .NET 4.0 this year brings in a wide range of changes to the .NET Framework across a broad front ranging from C# to Silverlight, from WPF to ‘Oslo’. Many familiar technologies are being over-hauled, best practices are being changed and developer methodologies altered. With so many new ideas appearing developers are finding it hard to keep track of the opportunities that are opening up.

Introducing .NET 4.0 crystallizes their options and provides them with a roadmap to the new releases. It clearly maps the whole range of changes, showing what’s new, what’s changed and what has stayed the same. Crucially, it provides clear-cut examples of best practice and shows how the technology can be put to work. This massively reduces the amount of time readers need to spend in understanding how the new releases are going to affect them and gives them a head-start towards seizing the opportunities that are opening up.

With Programming ASP.NET 3.5, you'll quickly learn to create state-of-the-art applications using Microsoft's popular web development technology and Visual Studio 2008. This updated bestseller provides comprehensive and easy-to-understand information to help you use several .NET 3.5 technologies for faster development and better web application performance-including ASP.NET AJAX for interactive user interfaces, LINQ for data access, and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) for web services.
Programming ASP.NET 3.5 includes examples and sample code that let you explore development with ASP.NET in more depth. With this book, you will:

• Learn about AJAX and ASP.NET server controls included with Visual Studio 2008
• Discover how to use the DataSource and data-bound controls in ADO.NET
• Use the new LINQ API and learn how to make use of it within ASP.NET pages
• Create a uniform look and feel throughout your application with Master Pages
• Use navigation controls to build site maps, menus, and breadcrumbs quickly and easily
• Build and use various web services with WCF
• Detect errors during development and handle them in your production code
• Learn how to configure and deploy your website

Written by Microsoft technology experts Jesse Liberty, Dan Hurwitz, and Dan Maharry, Programming ASP.NET 3.5 is the best book for learning how to build dynamic, interactive web applications using Microsoft's latest technologies.

Get a thorough introduction to ADO.NET Entity Framework 4 -- Microsoft's core framework for modeling and interacting with data in .NET applications. The second edition of this acclaimed guide provides a hands-on tour of the framework latest version in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. Not only will you learn how to use EF4 in a variety of applications, you'll also gain a deep understanding of its architecture and APIs.

Written by Julia Lerman, the leading independent authority on the framework, Programming Entity Framework covers it all -- from the Entity Data Model and Object Services to WCF Services, MVC Apps, and unit testing. This book highlights important changes for experienced developers familiar with the earlier version.

• Understand the core concepts you need to make the best use of the EF4 in your applications
• Learn to query your data, using either LINQ to Entities or Entity SQL
• Create Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms, and ASP.NET MVC applications
• Build and consume WCF Services, WCF Data Services, and WCF RIA Services
• Use Object Services to work directly with your entity objects
• Create persistent ignorant entities, repositories, and write unit tests
• Delve into model customization, relationship management, change tracking, data concurrency, and more
• Get scores of reusable examples -- written in C# (with notes on Visual Basic syntax) -- that you can implement right away