Apress has released one of the first books for the ASP.NET Model-View-Controller Framework: Pro ASP.NET MVC Framework by Steven Sanderson.
The ASP.NET MVC Framework is the latest evolution of Microsoft’s ASP.NET web platform. It introduces a radically new high–productivity programming model that promotes cleaner code architecture, test–driven development, and powerful extensibility, combined with all the benefits of ASP.NET 3.5.
An integral benefit of this book is that the core Model–View–Controller architectural concepts are not simply explained or discussed in isolation, but demonstrated in action. You’ll work through an extended tutorial to create a working e–commerce web application that combines ASP.NET MVC with the latest C# 3.5 language features and unit–testing best practices. By gaining this invaluable, practical experience, you can discover MVCs strengths and weaknesses for yourself—and put your best learned theory into practice.
Brian Genisio has just released an early version of HTML Utilties for Silverlight on CodePlex. The primary target for this library is someone who develops software in Silverlight and uses the HTML DOM libraries in Silverlight.
The library wraps all of the HtmlPage classes with wrappers that implement interfaces. For instance, HtmlPage is wrapped around a proxy that implements IHtmlPage. HtmlElement has a proxy wrapper that implements IHtmlElement. By using this approach, you can substitute anything you want in the Html DOM when you test. This may be any test object that implements the interfaces. Some prefer to use Moq, but there are several other approaches to testing now that the system has interfaces to replace.
Download the HTML Utilties for Silverlight
Project Kobe is a “getting started” resource kit for planning, architecting, and implementing Web 2.0 applications and services using the Microsoft Platform. This resource kit is targeted toward technology decision makers, hands-on solution architects, development managers, and developers in the aspiring web startups community and in enterprises and businesses looking to invest in new Web 2.0 application/service development projects.
Project Kobe
Moonlight, the open source implementation of Silverlight for Unix systems, has officially reached its 1.0 level. Moonlight 1.0 contains a plugin for Firefox 2 and 3 on Unix systems using the X11 windowing system. Moonlight 1.0 comes with a graphics pipeline, video and audio frameworks, and a JavaScript bridge.
Download Moonlight
More about Moonlight
BlogEngine.NET is an open source blog platform for .NET. The version 1.5 final release is now available. New features include:
- Nested comments
- Superb Windows Live Writer integration (including tags)
- Latest TinyMCE text editor
- Mono 2.4 support that just works
- Doesn’t screw with jQuery and Prototype anymore
- Better database support out of the box
- Higher performance
- Many general improvements, tweaks and bug fixes
Download BlogEngine.NET 1.5
Microsoft has designated ASP.NET MVC as open source software licensed under Microsoft Public License. Ms-PL is an OSI-Approved Open Source License that can be summarized as:
"The MS-PL contains no platform restrictions and provides broad rights to modify and redistribute the source code."
That means you can change the source code, redistribute your changes, and even fork it if you want.
Download ASP.NET MVC Source Code
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, a collection of stand-alone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2008, is now available for download. Features include:
- ADOMD.NET is a Microsoft .NET Framework object model that enables software developers to create client-side applications that browse metadata and query data stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services.
- Analysis Management Objects (AMO) is a .NET Framework object model that enables software developers to create client-side applications to manage and administer Analysis Services objects.
- Analysis Services 10.0 OLE DB Provider is a COM component that software developers can use to create client-side applications that browse metadata and query data stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services.
- SQL Server Compact is a free, easy-to-use embedded database engine that lets developers build robust Microsoft Windows desktop and mobile applications that run on all Windows operating systems including Windows XP, Vista, Pocket PC, and Smartphone.
And many more features!
Download SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack
Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2008 is now available for download. The update is a roll-up of cumulative updates 1 to 3, quick fix engineering updates, and other minor fixes requested by the SQL Server community. Key improvements in SP1 include:
- Slipstream enables administrators to install SQL Server 2008 and Service Pack 1 in a single instance. This decreases installation time and the number of reboots.
- Service Pack Uninstall enables administrators to uninstall the service pack separately from the database release.
- Report Builder 2.0 Click Once makes it easier to deploy reports to business users.
Download Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2008
More info about SQL Server 2008
.Net RIA Services is to ASP.NET what ASP.NET was ASP pages. It’s a bold move from Microsoft and represents the future in business oriented applications.
Announced at MIX 09, .Net RIA Services demonstrated how to create concrete, end-to-end, Application Patterns to build business oriented applications without have to deal with all the fuss and the piping required today to build a Rich Internet Application (RIA). You can think of it as RAD for RIA.
.NET RIA Services March ‘09 Preview
.NET RIA Services Explained
The ASP.NET team wants to ensure that the “top customer pain-points” in ASP.NET are considered or acted upon in every new release. So they have created a new website where you can submit your top "pain points" such as:
- Problems in understanding complex or cumbersome features
- Problems where coding is too complex, not possible, or requires too much code
- Bugs in the product with no easy workarounds
- New features that are needed
Shape the future of ASP.NET
